Poetic Language In David Malouf's Fly Away Peter

The consequences of the Great War have been explored in literature throughout history ever since the atrocity occurred. Yet the true horrors of World War I are difficult to convey through traditional written word. David Malouf’s Fly Away Peter is a novella which uses an array of poetic language along with vivid imagery to truly channel the anguish and confusion of soldiers into the reader. Distinct characterisation further evolves this idea and provides a way for audiences to engage with such a terrifying event through relatable characters. Juxtaposition is Malouf’s greatest asset, coupling this technique with allusion and religious symbolism to create a novella of dualities. These techniques allow Malouf to condemn war and illuminate the power behind life in its purest form.

Poetic language use in Fly Away Peter amplifies the strong imagery that Malouf creates. The

Jim constantly is on the brink of death, with Imogen stating, “What had torn at her breast in the fact of Jim’s death had been the waste of it, all those days that had been gathered towards nothing but his senseless and brutal extinction.” Malouf has written Fly Away Peter as a war book where only one bullet is fired. This star on a soldier’s body could also be a bullet wound. This self-references the first death Jim witnesses in the trenches by sniper, a head-shot on a fellow soldier, reconciling the beginning and the end, echoing the continuance of life. Time continues even through war, evidenced by Jim’s encounter with the man on the hill sowing his seeds. Imogen’s realisation when the news of Jim’s death hits her is startlingly complex in its simplicity: “A life wasn’t meant for anything. It just was.” Malouf’s climactic message again is rooted in duality, as time and life continue on with or without Jim, forever, and human life is only what an individual makes of it, an ending of hope after the book’s relenting