Rainbow Death Conflict
This conflict occurred during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. The reason why this conflict was significant both to the Vietnamese and the Americans was because of the Americans engaging in Herbicidal Warfare with their gas weapon code named “Agent Orange”. Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant, contaminated with TCDD, used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. This Herbicide weapon cased much agony and deaths of the Vietnamese people due to its horrific effects, Birth Defects and disabilities. Agent Orange was by far the most widely used herbicide in the range of herbicides developed by the American Army called “Rainbow Herbicides” which ranged from Agent Blue to Agent White. Agent Orange resulted in 400,000 deaths and disabilities along with 500,000 children born with birth defects.

Analysis of Rainbow Death
1. Point of View (Elaboration): This poem is written in an intellectual point of view which zooms in the situation as a whole, this point of view sufficiently shows the horrors and pain the Americans had caused even on the innocent Vietnamese people. This is evident from “America did not foresee”, “Now Thinking Twice?”, “Nefariously America led astray”. This shows their wrongdoing and urgent need to stop such herbicide warfare to prevent any more agony to occur. It could also be written in a third person point of view because “America” which is repeated in the poem for its wrong acts from their herbicide weapon could instead be personified as another person in the poem.

2. Situation and Setting (Elaboration): The situation as stated in “Rainbow Death” is extremely dire and poses as a great threat to the Vietnamese people and this situation takes place in a setting combining both history ( “New step towards Herbicide Warfare for the Americans”) and agony ( Horrific effects of Agent Orange). The nature of this conflict is a combination of ethics and social characteristics. “ America did not foresee” and “Green, pink, purple and other colour deaths potpourri” shows that America did not truly expect that the effects of their different coloured herbicides would be so horrific but it also shows the element of development of their herbicides weapons because the development of Rainbow Herbicides effectively meant advancement in such a warfare , the success could also be derived from the horrific effects of the herbicides. “Generations untold WILL pay”-“Execrable effects of the Orange Spray” shows that the horrific effects of the “Agent Orange” Spray will be passed on to the next generation of Vietnamese people ,affecting the lives of the children about to be born. Thus, there is a signal for low ethic level of the Americans as they did not care for the next generation and also a social signal as the conflict involving the herbicides will leave a mark , permanently scar society forever.

3. Language and Diction ( Elaboration ) :The Language can convey the poet’s main message as it is used to reveal the truth behind the American’s herbicidal weapons in the Vietnam War. Personification is used as America was personified as a person causing untold suffering towards the American people. The Diction magnifies the speaker’s tone which seems sarcastic. This is evident from “America did not foresee” and “Now thinking twice?”, this had established the tone of sarcasm. Despite America not being able to foresee the pain and agony the herbicides would cause to the people to such a great extent , they failed to think twice as seen from the “?” , implying that even after the Americans realised the horrific effects of herbicidal warfare , they continued to implement such a measure , signifying their little regret and guiltiness. Moreover, “Nefariously America Led astray” and “Generations untold will PAY” implies more of a tone of sarcasm and being adamant from reality. America consistently implemented herbicidal warfare which led to America going against its principle of freedom and morale, America’s thirst to defeat the enemy had overwhelmed their principals which in turn will cause the birth defects and disabilities of future generations of the Vietnamese people.

4(a) Personal Response (Elaboration): I finally learnt an important principal : We should never resolve to war and all matter should instead be resolved diplomatically. This is evident from “Generations untold will PAY” this magnifies the horrors and agony war could cause and so the disappearance of what we termed as a human if we continue on a bloodthirsty quest to start wars and wipe out our enemy without any consideration of the pain that would be implemented on them. War causes us to override our life principals , the pillars which create our conscience and war ultimately unleashes the evil within all of us.

Bibliography: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

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