I vs. We

I have a lot of problems sometimes with poems. I absolutely love them. I love the way the words stream together to become beautiful music. I love the combinations of words that just seems to flow effortlessly together. That doesn't mean I always understand what the poet is trying to say. That was definitely the case with the short poem "The Death of the Ball Turrent Gunner" by Randall Jarrell.
On the first few readings, all I thought of it was that it was the death of the ball turrent gunner. I didn't think anything more of it than the title basically. It wasn't until almost the end of the class and everyone had been discussing it that I had a huge realization of the meaning. It was an I vs. We thing. This poem was making an individual out of something that was never really thought of in that way. The military is usually talked about as a whole. We someone dies, you don't really care unless you know that person specifically. This poem was talking about an individual death, which I thought was really powerful. It illustrates this one man last moments of life and his death. So many people in the military die, you don't really take the time to consider how scary it is for each individual person right as he/she knows he/she is about to die. As the reader, you see the instance this person is about to die and how as soon as he dies, his remains are washed out like it's nothing. Your individuality means nothing in the military. As soon as the remains were washed out, the next person probably went in.I thought it was kind of sad. Sure, you become part of bigger force in the military, but your life becomes so meaningless and unimportant. You don't matter as person anymore. The only thing that matters is the greater good which is decided by some other person.