Summary Of The Poem Overload By Lily Brett

Poets express their concerns about human suffering, the cruel nature of Nazis and the living conditions of War camps through the use of poetic devices in order to create a response in the readers. Through poetic devices used by Lily Brett and Trish McCallister, they make the reader sympathise with the victims of World War Two, specifically the Jews, and they create hatred towards the Nazis and their actions towards these victims.

The poems Sport and Arbeit Macht Frei both written by Lily Brett convey the poor living conditions that many Jews had to endure in during their time in camps. In the poem Sport, Brett used imagery to convey how torturous and demeaning these exercises were to the Jews, by discussing the ‘ragged pack of eager gymnasts’

as they acted as entertainment for the Nazis. The imagery reinforces the sarcastic tone of the poem as the Jews were threatened to participate in the menial exercise. In Brett’s other poem, Arbeit Macht Frei, she conveys the idea of the ‘broken barracks’ which reiterates the idea that the barracks somehow represent the Jews, malfunctioning and useless, because of mistreatment. Furthermore, the imagery conveyed through these poems creates a sympathetic and shocked response in the readers as they can intensely visualise the depressing and rundown living conditions of the camps. In the poem Sport Brett discusses the ‘eager gymnasts’ and uses the metaphor to convey the sarcastic tone, which reinforces how dominant and powerful the Nazis were. The poem, Arbeit Macht Frei accentuates the poor living conditions and a day in the life of the ‘boisterous band’ and what they were put through, this metaphor conveys a sense of irony as the Jews walked to start their day of work. In the poem Sport, Brett conveys confronting and powerful ideas through short, sharp lines and similes. These similes created convey how rundown the Jews were as the ‘hop like frogs’ through their orders commanded by the despicable Nazis. In Brett’s poem, Arbeit Macht Frei she conveys how even though they were dead they were still being dehumanised and disrespected, as the dead Jews were ‘propped like deformed dolls’, this simile conveys how many Jews died during the night because of the living conditions and made the reader feel disgusted in the Nazis. The poor living conditions that the Jews had to endure were conveyed through poetic techniques which expressed their sympathy for the Jews and hatred for the Nazis to the readers.

Furthermore, the poems Overload and Children II, both created by Lily Brett, convey the appalling and wicked actions of the Nazis during World War Two.

In the poem, Overload written by Lily Brett made the readers question the morality of the Nazis, as the poem conveyed the utter disrespect for the victims, as they were ‘burning for five hours’. This imagery helps convey the idea that the Nazis treated the Jews, or their corpses, with respect or dignity they deserved, which led the readers to feel socked and hopeless. Lily Brett’s other poem, Children II, presented the idea that the Nazis didn’t care who died, and they found it easier to kill the children, which questions the psychological side of the Nazis, as it should be harder to kill children because of their innocence. Additionally in the poem Overload, the onomatopoeia helps emphasise the Nazis malicious actions against the Jews, as the ‘hissing, spitting, glistening’ bodies were burned. The ‘hissing, spitting, glistening’ assists the readers to comprehend what the fire and bodies would have looked and sounded like. Furthermore, in the poem Children II, Brett uses the poetic technique onomatopoeia to communicate the children’s dreadful deaths, as the Nazis were ‘snapping their backs’ and ‘flung into the air’. Onomatopoeia helps express the tragic acts of killing the innocent and vulnerable children, which leaves the reader to resent the cold-blooded Nazis, as the readers believe it is harder to murder children than

adults, which is why they are appalled to greatly from this technique. In Overload, as the Brett conveys the image of Jews being seen as objects not people and the ‘best burning arrangement’, which suggests ironically that it was convenient for the Nazis as they ridded of the burdened bodies. In Children II, which discusses the murder of young vulnerable children, and how ‘the lucky ones walked with their mother to the gas’, which is ironic because none of these children were lucky as they were still walking to their premature death. The poetic device, irony, leaves the reader feeling disgusted and sickened by the Nazis actions. Through all of these poetic devices they clearly help to convey the poets ideas that the Nazis were pure evil as they tortured so many in the camps.

Additionally, the poems Another Selection by Lily Brett and The Dream by Trish McCallister convey the idea of suffering of the victims of the Holocaust and their families.

The poem Another Selection expresses the idea of countless malnourished Jews, the personification of the ‘mourning’ snow covered in black ash conveyed how there are similarities between the ‘rows and rows’ of Jews. The black ash represent misery that has come over the Jews whom were once happy, this personification helps the reader to relate to the Jews in this situation. In The Dream, McCallister creates a flashback sequence throughout the poem, which enables the reader to comprehend the feelings of the victims, before, after and during World War Two. From her mother’s point of view, she describes fear as her ‘constant companion’, which suggests the idea of strong motherly instincts, the personification of ‘fear’ conveys the idea that there is so much fear that it creates the shape of a human, and it is always at her side. This helps the reader to feel sympathetic and compassionate towards her mother. Furthermore, Another Selection Lily Brett uses imagery of the ‘rows and rows’ of Jewish victims which suggests the sheer amount of victims of the Holocaust, which affects the readers in which they feel saddened by the idea of the enormous size of victims. McCallister’s poem The Dream includes many imagery ideas throughout the poem, yet at the end there is simple imagery as she ‘wakes up with the sun’, which

suggests the idea that the nightmare has ended, the nightmare representing the Holocaust, which means she doesn’t have to think anymore about the torturous camps, she can continue with her life, with her daughter. In Another Selection when the Jews are being tested for who lives and who dies, their ‘thin nipples’ are being ‘whipped’. The onomatopoeia helps give the readers a vivid idea of what the Jews would have felt like to be standing in line and having someone else deciding their fate. Additionally in The Dream by McCallister, from her point of view as the children are anxious for their piece of cake the are ‘banging’ on the table, which conveys the idea that they the only thing they care about is getting a piece of cake, not whether or not they will survive the day or night. This device of onomatopoeia helps convey to the readers that the impact of the Holocaust is still impacting families, and how the next generation, after the Holocaust are so lucky that they are able to celebrate with a party, and not being put into a gas chamber, never coming back out. With the use of these poetic techniques, the idea that the Holocaust in World War two affected and traumatised those there, and their families generations after the war, which is conveyed through the poem.

The poets used many poetic devices to convey their key concerns to their readers, through their literature. The poets, Trish McCallister and Lily Brett conveyed the living conditions, through imagery, metaphors and similes, expressed their concerns about the Nazis morality through onomatopoeia, imagery and irony, and suggested that the Holocaust not only affected the survivor and victims but the generations that followed, through devices like personification, imagery and irony. Many of these poems leaves the reader feeling disgusted, sympathetic, saddened and angry, and some made the readers think more about the Holocaust not just the historical side but the true impact on people specifically.