How is suffering presented in the poem ‘War Photographer’?

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War photographer is a particularly powerful poem which conveys a sense of suffering as it sympathises with both the photographer and the person in need. Suffering is the main theme of the poem and it depicts an anonymous character going through the struggle between two completely different worlds, documenting the lives of those who are suffering but for completely different reasons. The poem does not just depict the two contrasting worlds but the two contrasting meanings of suffering. Is suffering through your own visually impacted hardship or the suffering of those in desperate need of our help.
The speaker is an omniscient speaker, which acts as an observer. The tone of the speaker is definitely impassive. We can empathise more with an observation piece as if the poem were to be written in first person then it may seem as if they are asking for our sympathy. There seems to be a culture in modern day generations to react less to people talking about their own hardships rather than observations made on a particular person. Although the speaker has more knowledge then the reader does as he/she has access to the photographer’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. ‘He remembers the cries’, ‘a strangers features faintly start to twist before his eyes’ are examples of where the speaker has more knowledge then we can observe. These extra details of more raw emotion help to convey suffering in the poem.
The setting is a key part when presenting suffering. The poem is set in a ‘darkroom’; the concept of being in a dark place (both metaphorically and theoretically) is associated with emotions such as suffering and depression. The dark room can not only signify his place in mind but also the darkroom could reflect his deepest and darkest thoug...

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...it also has a lot of symbolism in it. Whereas the second stanza is much more straightforward and meaningful. This could suggest suffering in the sense of how simple it is in England compared to the complexity of those less fortunate. This links back to the idea of two different types of suffering that are presented in the poem.
In conclusion I think ‘War Photographer; is very effective in presenting suffering. The most striking thing about it is the contrast in the type of suffering and it is thought provoking when thinking about issues that we consider as suffering in our everyday life compared to those disadvantaged. It also poses the question of what actually is suffering? This poem presents it to be suffering through hardship and through visual impacts. The main theme of this poem was suffering so I think it was incredibly effective for the essay of the title.

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