IT Home Learning: "Rainbow Death" by Hubert Wilson

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Report:

This poem is written from the point of view of an American soldier during the Vietnam War, fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. This poem talks about a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. Approximately 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. Thus, the title of this poem is “Rainbow Death”. During the production of Agent Orange, dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed.

This poem reminds us that wars can have a lasting impact on its victims.

References:

www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

http://www.poemhunter.com/hubert-wilson/


Analysis (Point-Evidence-Elaboration):

1. Point of view

This poem is from the point of view of a Vietnam War veteran from America. During the war, Hubert Wilson experienced health problems due to herbicidal warfare, such as unexplained headaches and limb pains. Furthermore, his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches and progressive limb pains. This shows us that even slight exposure to contaminants used in the Vienam War can have adverse effects. It is evident in the poem that Hubert Wilson disapproves strongly of the use of herbicidal warfare in Vietnam, from "America did not foresee / Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!" and "Nefariously America led astray". Most probably, the poet had witnessed how enemies or even innocent civilians have suffered from the use of herbicidal warfare. He himself even suffered from the contaminants, hence this explains his strong disapproval in his poem.

2. Situation and setting

This war poem is mainly talking about the Vietnam War, which is a war between the communists and anti-communist. The poem describes how herbicidal warfare is a cruel tactic in war and the agony that it has caused. Apparently, the poet feels angry about America's use of herbicidal warfare as he portrays America as the party at fault in the poem. Why was herbicidal warfare even used in the Vietnam War? Early in the American military effort it was decided that since the enemy were hiding their activities under triple-canopy jungle, a useful first step might be to defoliate certain areas. As you know, guerilla warfare was a common tactic employed by both sides. The extent of the damage on the environment was very serious. In 1961 and 1962, the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemicals to destroy rice crops. Between 1961 and 1967, the U.S. Air Force sprayed 20 million U.S. gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. In 1965, 42% of all herbicide was sprayed over food crops. The poet is appalled that even the main livelihood of the innocent civilians was not spared.

3. Language/Diction

It is apparent that Hubert Wilson uses strong language in his poem to show his disapproval of the use of herbicidal warfare. In the first stanza, "America did not foresee / Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!" is closely related to the title of the poem "Rainbow Death". The word "potpourri" means a mixture of ingredients, when the poet links it with the word "death", it is evident that he is mocking the use of herbicidal warfare. The first stanza is mainly implying that it is already too late for America to regret her actions as the suffering has already been caused, especially on the innocent and the unborn. In the second stanza, "Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn. / Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead." personifies the chemical agents as having unlimited power and no mercy at all. The poet puts the blame on these chemical agents, and those who makes use of them, for causing "illness, birth defects and prematurely dead". In the second stanza, the poet even describes America as infamous by being extremely wicked in "Nefariously America led astray". Not forgetting that America is the country that he is fighting for in the war, this shows the cruelty and immorality of using herbicidal warfare. In the second last line, "Generations untold WILL pay", the word "will" is written in capital letters. This not only makes a greater impact on the readers that future generations will continue to suffer, this also gives us a clue of the poet's feelings when he was writing this poem. In the last line, the poet describes the effects of Agent Orange herbicides as "execrable", which means extremely hateful. We can tell from the context of this poem that the effects of these herbicides are not only hated by the victims, but by people who share the same point of view as the poet.

4. Personal response

This poem is a unique war poem as it does not exactly fit into the category of "pro-war" or "anti-war". Instead, this poem criticises the tactics employed in modern warfare. Why is this poem not purely anti-war? Well, if the anti-communists, the side that the poet was fighting for, fought the war without harming the innocent civilians in the process, the poet might not have disapproved of it. I feel that it is very selfish, in a sense, to cause suffering to the innocent just for one's gain. Furthermore, the Vietnam War was not worth all the casualties and suffering. It was not a war of patriotism, it was more like a clash of ideals, between communism and anything anti-communist. Personally, I symphathise with the soldiers that suffered in this conflict, in the same way that the poet symphathises with the victims of herbicidal warfare. I believe that herbicidal warfare will still be in use in the future, due to the unremovable greed of man. As technology progresses, the methods of warfare changes too. Methods of modern warfare are said by some to be good uses of technology, as they have the power to end wars. However, others argue that it is an abuse of technology, as war will not be just fought on battlefields, but possibly at your doorstep.