Bruce Dawe Drifters Poem Analysis

Bruce Dawe was born on 15th February, 1930 in Fitzroy, Victoria. He is a renowned Australian poet who writes about ordinary people and their lives. His phenomenal 1968 poems, ‘Homecoming’ and ‘Drifters’ examine abiding human emotions such as loss of hope and loss of identity through the use of metaphors, personification and symbolism. ‘Homecoming’ is an anti-war poem written about the Vietnam War, which describes the process of collecting and processing the dead bodies, then shipping them home. It portrays a sense of moral outrage at the futile and dehumanizing war. The issues related to the emotions and the futility of war are universal in their implication regardless of the cultural context. However, we can presume that ‘Drifters’ refers …show more content…
Dawe dramatizes the homecoming of dead soldiers and explores how the soldiers became merely a number to fight in the war. Dawe joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1953 and was highly critical of the Australia’s involvement in war. Soldiers were being categorized as “curly-heads, kinky-hairs, crew-cuts, balding non-coms”, a detached tone, which provides an anonymous image. This indicates how the soldiers fought courageously and passed away, are referred to by their haircuts as opposed to their individual self or names. Perhaps, the bodies were so badly mutilated they could not identify them, which effectively highlights the shocking brutality that has manifested in all wars throughout history. Reinforcing the loss of identity, the harsh “c” sound is maintained, which explicitly state alliteration and harshness of the morbid war. The ongoing loss of life is a pattern or routine of men dying and the bodies by process underpins how the soldiers were desensitized. Overall, loss of identity is a timeless matter that people in the contemporary world still experience and can relate to today. The underlining message readers can derive from it is that people should not be categorized as this treatment is unjust and should be respected for who they are and treated with equality and …show more content…
The idea of Dawe’s nomadic existence in his childhood, emerged into his poem ‘Drifters’, which revolves around the difficulties to establish one’s identify when incessantly moving. The symbolism of the “green tomato” suggests that the tomatoes are still growing and haven’t ripened yet. The family have not been in the place for long enough to have a chance to settle and therefore, perhaps feel as though they don’t belong anywhere as they’re not tied to a particular place. The lack of identity was emphasised when “the oldest girl was close to tears because she was/ happy here”. The enjambment creates a pause between the next sentence which signifies how her voice is trembling and we can vividly visualise her emotions at that point. The older sister was on the verge of tears because she is emotionally attached to her current home and may have made friends already. Also, the interrupted flow of the poem mimics how her life is interrupted by this move. Thus, this relevant subject conveyed in ‘Drifters’ enables contemporary audiences to learn how factors that contribute to our sense of identity like jobs, residential area and hobbies and interests act as an imperative aspect of our