Online Language Arts Lesson 2 Task 2: Rainbow Death

Point of view

The poem “Rainbow Death” is from the Vietnam soldier’s point of view. The soldier is the poet, Hubert Wilson, and he had been sent to an Agent Orange hot spot before and so, he is trying to depict the damage that the Agent Orange had caused. He might have seen deaths or damages caused by the Agent Orange himself so he was very frustrated at the Americans because “America did not foresee” the “Toll on the innocent and unborn.”

Situation and setting

The poem depicts the war between Vietnam and America. “America did not foresee” the “Toll on the innocent and unborn.” and used the Agent Orange on the Vietnamese, trying to defeat them. However, the Agent Orange caused sufferings of the adult and children and even caused deaths and birth defects. The Agent Orange also caused appalling death and suffering, not only to the Vietnamese, but even the USA themselves. The poet who was an American soldier was sent to one of the Agent Orange hot spot, Shemya Island, Alaska, along with the 6984th Security Squadron. Hence, the poem was written with a background of the war between Vietnam and America and the use of Agent Orange in the war.

Language/ Diction

Irony

The title “rainbow death” is an irony itself because the author use the word rainbow to connect with death. Although the rainbow in the poem is about the Agent Orange but it is very hard for the reader to associate “rainbow” with “death”. Rainbow is usually about beauty and colorfulness but the title suggest that that rainbow which is the Agent Orange actually kills. Hence, this is an irony.

Alliteration

“thinking twice” is alliteration and it suggests that we should be thinking twice before starting a war. The use of alliteration emphasizes the phrase. “Execrable effects” is also alliteration. This phrase emphasizes on the effects of the Agent Orange as it caused many deaths and sufferings. The use of alliteration also suggests that how the people who are exposed to the Agent Orange suffers.

Personal Response

I am disturbed after reading the text. The poem is about the war between Vietnam and America and it talks about how the people suffered when they were exposed to Agent Orange. This makes me sad because many people were suffering and dead. Many babies were born with defects. Hence, I am very disturbed after reading this text.