Analysis
Point of view
This poem is written from the point of view from the poet. i think it is reliable because the author has first hand experience as to what happened back in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. He uses a helpless tone in the poem. from here we can see that the author wishes to do something for the young children in Vietnam but he cannot do anything. we can also see that the writer is an upright person.
Situation and setting
the place is in Vietnam, probably about 1967-1968, and I think that it is about the Vietnamese war, whereby the boys are being forced to go to war, which is the main point about writing the poem.
Language/diction
the language used here is rather simple and i think the reason for doing so is to reinforce the fact that the children did not receive any education. there is a repetition of the words "darkness" and "could we''. from here we can see that the repetition of the word darkness shows that the future of the children are dim and there is no bright future waiting for them, instead the word darkness shows that they would be lost. the repetition of the word "could we" shows the helpless in them because as much as they want to help the children, they know that they could not do so, and is using a last ditched effort to appeal to the government.
Personal response
I feel sad for the children, because they are the future leaders of the nations, but instead of giving them the education that they should receive, they forced them to move to the front line to fight for the country. at the end of the day, it will only cause grief to the relatives of the killed child on the battlefield.
