How does Kenneth Slessor explore life and death in Beach
Burial?
Life is wasted for these soldiers in war. The only life Slessor
discusses is the lives of those who bury the dead. The dead
soldiers lives are anonymous, Unknown Seaman, but even this
inscription washes away with time. Slessors main message; it does
not matter who they were in life, in death they are just anonymous
casualties of war.Dehumanised The opposite of being human.
Kenneth Slessor explores life and death through his poem Beach
Burial using a variety of techniques such as metaphors, sibilance
and personification. His use of alliteration and a metaphor
describes how the mens bodies are taken from the ocean and buried
hastily, To pluck them from the shallows and bury them in the
burrows. This conveys to the reader that the bodies are
dehumanised, and instead associated with animals. (Technique and
quote).
In the last stanza, Slessor uses sibilance to express his belief
that life lost in wars is life wasted, Dead seaman, gone in search
of the same landfall. The repetition of s gives a bitter tone to
Slessors voice, enforcing his belief. (Technique and quote).
(Technique and quote).
