Dehumanization
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Two poems can have the same theme, but express this point in different ways and through different levels of emotion. This is true in the poems "The Secretary Chant" by Marge Piercy and "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell. The combined theme that both poems share is that many people lose their individualism and become dehumanized because of their occupations. Through the use of its narrator, commanding visual images, and its theme, "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner" is a more dynamic and compelling poem than "The Secretary Chant."
The speaker, or voice talking, in the poem "The Secretary Chant" is less compelling than the speaker in the poem "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner." "The Secretary Chant" is written in the first person present tense, using "my" and "I" as seen in "My hips are a desk", "my head is a switchboard" and "I am about to be delivered." The poem "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner" is also first person point of view, however, the poem is told in the past tense, the speaker already dead, making it more powerful - "When I died they washed me out.";. "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner" is more compelling because the speaker is killed while in the womb of a bomber. The plane returns home, and the speaker's remains are washed out with a hose...