Essay Database

War Photographer By Carol Ann Duffy (Poem Analysis) "In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. The only light is red and softly glows, as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass. He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays beneath his hands which did not tremble then though seem …

…A war photographer earns his living through recording the pain of other people. Tone: You need to decide whether the poet is: condemning us, the people who read the Sunday magazines and do nothing, in a bitter and cutting way. Sympathising with those suffering through war (particularly innocent women and children). Praising the war photographer. It is possible that all these feelings are present in the poem. Which do you think is the most important?