The American writer Randall Jarrell published "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" in 1945, the final year of World War II. The poem's speaker suggests that he slips from the protection of his mother's womb into "the State," where he finds himself in a ball turret (the round compartment on a bomber plane from which a gunner shoots). Metaphorically presenting the turret as another kind of womb, the speaker implies that he's as helpless as a baby—a comment on the vulnerability of innocent young men who suddenly find themselves facing the horrors of war. The final line, in which the military matter-of-factly rinses the dead speaker's remains from the plane, is a grim reflection on the way war treats young soldiers as expendable pieces of equipment.

• Read the full text of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Summary

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Themes

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    The Dehumanization of War

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 4-5
  • 

    The Vulnerability and Innocence of Soldiers

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-5

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

  • Line 1

    From my mother’s ... into the State,

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 2

    And I hunched ... wet fur froze.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-4

    Six miles from ...
    ... the nightmare fighters.

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 5

    When I died ... with a hose.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Symbols

  • 

    The Ball Turret

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Line 5

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Line 3
    • Line 5

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “From,” “my mother’s,” “sleep,” “fell,” “State”
    • Line 2: “fur froze”
    • Line 3: “loosed,” “life”
    • Line 4: “flak,” “fighters”
    • Line 5: “When,” “washed,” “with”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “From my mother’s,” “sleep,” “fell,” “State”
    • Line 2: “belly till,” “fur froze”
    • Line 3: “Six,” “miles from,” “loosed,” “dream,” “life”
    • Line 4: “woke,” “black flak,” “nightmare fighters”
    • Line 5: “When,” “washed,” “with”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “From,” “mother’s”
    • Line 3: “miles,” “life”
    • Line 4: “black flak,” “nightmare fighters”
    • Line 5: “I died”

  • Onomatopoeia

    

    

    

    

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    Where onomatopoeia appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “black flak”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “State,”
    • Line 2: “froze.”
    • Line 3: “life,”
    • Line 4: “fighters.”
    • Line 5: “hose.”

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • The State
  • Fur
  • Loosed
  • Flak
  • Turret
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “the State”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Speaker

• “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

• More “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Death of Randall Jarrell — An interesting essay in Virginia Quarterly Review about Randall Jarrell's own untimely death.

    • Hear the Poem — A reading of the poem, along with images of ball turrets during World War II.

    • More About the Ball Turret — For more information about the use of the ball turret in World War II, check out this very short documentary about the technology and the men who used it. 

    • The Poet's Voice — Hear a recording of Randall Jarrell reading his own poetry at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

    • Jarrell's Life and Work — Learn more about Randall Jarrell in this brief overview of his life and work.

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