THE GIFT IN WARTIME BY TRAN MONG TU

This heart-touching poem "The Gift in Wartime" has been composed by a Vietnamese
poet named Tran Mong Tu.

This poem has presented the inhuman picture of war. The title of the poem itself is a
satire for all those people who give more preferences to wars rather than their lives.
Here, the speaker as a widow has put forward the painful feelings of her lonely life in
this poem after losing her lovable husband in the terrible war between America and
Vietnam. Here, we find her talking to an absent person (husband) relating him about
the bad aspects of the inhuman war which has invited a dark future for her. The
speaker is seen making her lovable person realize about the inhumanity and cruelty of
war and even her sorrows of her lonely life after his death. She wants to pass on a
serious lesson to all her readers that war never provides happiness to others but only
snatches happiness of others and provides the gifts as death, blood, pains, loss,
sorrows etc

MAIN SUMMARY

There are altogether seven different stanzas here in this poem. The main theme of this
poem is the inhuman aspects of war and its effects over humans. The speaker has
presented a terrible picture of war which has snatched all her happiness of her life.

In the very first stanza, the speaker is offering roses to be buried in the new grave of
her lovable person (her husband who is no more). The speaker wants to offer her
wedding gown to cover his tomb which is still green with grass. Here, in the first
stanza, we find the speaker's deep love feelings for her lovable person. She offers
roses and her wedding gown to him to present her deep love and affection for him.

In the second stanza, she talks about the bravery of her lovable person and even his
awards which she has still kept in his memory. The gifts of war to his lovable person as
the medals with the silver stars and the yellow pips on the badge are still shining with
the pride of his bravery. But, these awards are of no use because the person who got
them with bravery is no more now.

In the third stanza, she relates to him about her youth days with him where she had
offered her youth to him as a wife. They were in deep love in those days.
Unfortunately, when she got the bad news from the officers about her lovable person's
death, she also lost her youth along with the death of her dear one.

In the fourth stanza, she relates to him the inhuman picture of war and its gifts to
humans. She relates to him about the blood's smell and blood of his enemy. For her,
the dress of war only provides her with blood in return so that she may be moved.
Here, she wants to put forward her idea that the war only invites bad results for the
humans. It only invites terror, pains, destructions, blood, deaths etc.

In the fifth stanza, the speaker reminds her lovable person about the clouds and cold
winters which she has provided him. But, she only gets the eyes full of tears on
summer days in return. Her springtime of life even becomes cold without him. The
speaker shows her deep sorrows due to the lack of her lovable person.

In the sixth stanza, the speaker relates to her absent lovable person about all those
things which she has got from him. Due to the bad impacts of war, her lovable person
has left her providing lips without a smile, arms without tenderness, eyes without
sight and the body without motion. This stanza has shown the pitiable condition of the
speaker's lonely life without her lovable person.

In the final stanza, the speaker apologizes to her lovable person and even promises to
meet him in their next life. She says that she will hold shrapnel as a token which will
help both of them to recognize each other. Here, the speaker has presented the deep
meaning related to the inhuman picture of war. She wants to hold shrapnel as proof to
show him the reason how this inhuman war had snatched his life and separated them.

In this way, this poem has presented very bad impacts of war over humans.

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SHORT SUMMARY:

This poem "The Gift in Wartime" is a nostalgic poem by a Vietnamese poet Tran Mong
Tu. Here, we find her addressing an absent person and relating about the sufferings of
her lonely life. She has presented the inhuman picture of war here in this poem. She
has given various examples related to her offerings to her beloved and the gifts which
have got through her beloved or this inhuman war.

She offers various things in different stanzas to her beloved as roses, her wedding
gown, youth, clouds, cold winters etc. But, she has got various things that have added
her sufferings as unused but still shining medals and badges with yellow pips, bad
news, the smell of blood, tears on eyes, lonely springtime, lips with no smile, arms
without tenderness, eyes without sight, body without motion etc

The speaker apologizes to her beloved and promises him to meet him in their next life
along with proof that has separated them from each other. She promises to hold a
piece of shrapnel as a token with the help of which they will recognize each other.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE TEXTBOOK:

a. Have you ever experienced the death of someone close to you? If yes, how did you
feel?

Answer: Yes, I have experienced the death of someone close to me. I felt shocked to
hear about my close friend's death in a terrible bus accident at the age of thirty.

b. Is war always destructive?

Answer: Yes, war is always destructive. War is always against humanity. It doesn't
have advantages at all. It always invites disparity and dark future for all. It destroys
each and everything.

a. Who is the speaker addressing and why can that person not hear or understand
what she is saying?

Answer: The speaker is addressing an absent person ( a lovable person). That person
cannot hear or understand what she is saying because the person is no more.

b. What can you infer about the speaker’s feelings for the person addressed as “you”?
Answer: I can infer that the speaker's feelings for the person addressed as 'you' are so
deep. She thinks him as her life. She misses him a lot. She remembers him every
moment in her life. She feels her life incomplete without him. Her deep feelings can
easily be seen in the first stanza where she offers roses and her wedding gown for her
lovable person's tomb.

c. What is the speaker’s attitude toward war?

Answer: The speaker's attitude toward war is quite negative. She has experienced the
terrible war between America and Vietnam. She has lost the most lovable person of
her life due to war. Due to the lack of him, she has been experiencing pitiable lonely
life. She has presented various negative aspects of the war in her poem.

d. In what ways do you think this person’s fate has affected the speaker?

Answer: I think this person's fate has affected the speaker. The absent person who is
mentioned here in this poem was a brave soldier who had got medals and a badge for
his bravery in the war. In the war of America and Vietnam, he got killed in the bomb
explosion. After his death, the speaker is experiencing his lack. She is quite sad in her
lonely life. She keeps on remembering her lovable person all the time. The ill-fate of
the person has made her helpless, loveless and miserable.

e. What does the speaker promise at the end of the poem? Why do you think the
speaker does this?

Answer: At the end of the poem, the speaker promises to meet her lovable person in
their next life. She wants to hold shrapnel as proof to show him the reason behind his
death and their separation. According to her, it will help them to recognize each other.
I think the speaker does this because her love for the absent person is so deep. She
wants to love with him again and again.

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a. What is the theme of the poem?Answer: The theme of the poem is the inhumanity
and cruelty of the war and its negative impacts over humans. War never brings
happiness for others but only snatches the happiness of others. It only invites
disparity and dark future for others. Humans get extremely affected by war. War only
provides gifts as death, blood, pains, loss, sorrows, destruction, downfall etc.

b. What imagery from the poem made the greatest impression on you? Why?

Answer: The imagery is a literary device to represent things through the use of
images. The speaker has used various images here in this poem to put forward her
feelings against war. Here, we find images as roses on grave, wedding gown as a
cover, a tomb with green grass, medals, badge, youth days, wardress with blood,
clouds, winters, lips without a smile, arms without tenderness, eyes without sight, the
body without motion, shrapnel as a token etc. Here, the imagery from the sixth stanza
made a great impression on me because here in the sixth stanza, the speaker relates
to all those things which she has got from her missing lovable person. Due to the bad
impacts of war, her lovable person has left her providing lips without a smile, arms
without tenderness, eyes without sight and the body without motion. This stanza has
shown the pitiable condition of the speaker's lonely life without her lovable person.

c. Which figurative language is used in the poem? Explain with examples.

Answer: Figurative language is phrasing that goes beyond the literal meaning of words
to get a message. We find the use of irony, apostrophe, anaphora, and metaphor as
the figurative language here in this poem. The poet has used imageries and metaphors
much.

The title of this poem itself is ironic which refers to the gifts of war as pains, sorrows,
losses, blood etc to humans.

Next, the poet has also used the literary device of the apostrophe, which refers to a
sudden exclamatory piece of dialogue addressed to someone or something, especially
absent. Here in this poem, the speaker addresses an absent person and says him
about the inhuman picture of war.

Anaphora refers to the repetition of the same words at the beginning of a line. Here,
the poet has used the same words at the beginning of the line as " You give me" in the
second, fourth and sixth stanza. These words have been repeated thrice in the sixth
stanza. Here, the poet has presented an irony relating with the gifts which the war, as
well as her lovable person (a soldier), has provided her.

Finally, metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two, unlike
things which isn't literary true. Here in this poem, the poet has compared the clouds
with her eyes full of tears on summer days and cold winters with her life's springtime.

d. What does the speaker “offer” in this poem? What does the person addressed as
“you” give in return?

Answer: The speaker offers various things in this poem to her lovable person. She
offers roses, her wedding gown, her youth, clouds, cold winters etc. The person
addressed as "you" gives her the medals with shining stars, badge with yellow pips,
the smell of blood from wardress, lips without a smile, arms without tenderness, eyes
without sight, body without motion etc.

e. An apostrophe is a literary device in which a writer or speaker addresses an absent

person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and can understand.
Discuss the poem in relation to apostrophe.

Answer: This poem "The Gifts in Wartime" is about the inhuman picture of war and its
effects on humans. Here, the speaker has perfectly made use of apostrophe where she
is seen addressing an absent person. Here, she is using her convincing lines for the
person who is no more. She tries her best to make him realise about her deep lovable
feelings for him. From the first stanza to the last, she keeps on making the absent
person realise about her presents, sacrifices, lonely feelings, helplessness, the gifts of
war as medals, badge, army dress with blood, painful feelings, death, etc. She relates
to him about her lonely life where she has experienced a lot of pains without him. She
has even made him realise the main reason behind his death and their separation. This
poem has presented the speaker and her dialogues for the absent person in such a
way if the person is listening and understanding all her words. This poem has shown
the bitter reality of war on humans through the speaker's dialogues for her absent
lovable person using the apostrophe.

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a. One way to get relief from grief is to write or talk about it. In your opinion, how
might the speaker in this poem have benefitted from saying what she did? Explain.
Answer: The speaker here in this poem has become successful to convey a serious
message about the inhumanity of war to all her readers. War always invites a dark
future for all. The victim in the battlefield isn't only the sufferer but also all those
people who are closely connected with him/her. The speaker of this poem has also
become the victim of the war along with her lovable person's death. Here, the saying
of the speaker related with her acts and her sacrifices in her lonely life might have
benefited her to forward her experience of war as a sufferer to all her readers. The
readers have got ideas about the bad impacts of war and its long term effects on
humans through her painful feelings.

b. Write an essay on the effects of war.

Answer: War is a situation or a period of fighting between countries or groups of

people. War generally involves the use of weapons, a military organization and
soldiers. War is a situation in which a nation enforces its rights by using force. War is
the bitter reality through which the downfall of humans is created. It is good for
nothing. War and its effects on humans are seen in both aspects: physical and
psychological. War creates long term effects on humans. War invites a dark future for
all. War never provides happiness to others but snatches the happiness of others. The
victims of war always remain in fear. It snatches thousands of lives. Death, injury,
sexual violence, malnutrition, illness, and disability etc are some of the most
threatening physical consequences of war, while post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), depression, and anxiety are some of the psychological effects.

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