ally young people, to not truly understand the gravity of death. This narrator, however, fully understands that he will die.
This already tips the reader off that the narrator may have little to no regard for his own life, as many people would not be so calm about dying in a war. This could be considered a kind of ‘foreshadowing’ for the rest of the poem’s contents.
Furthermore, the narrator does not hate his enemies, which can be a somewhat common sentiment for people fighting in a war. There are often many reasons that two countries are at war, and none of them help the civilians of those countries foster empathy for the opposing side. Not to mention, dehumanizing the opposition is one of the main aspects of wartime propaganda, so the narrator having no hatred for his enemies may make the reader question why the narrator is even fighting at war in the first place.
It might be tempting for the reader to then assume that the narrator is at war with the other nation because he loves his people, but that would also soon be proven incorrect. The narrator says outright that he does not love the people he guards “Those I guard I do not love” therefore there must be another reason for his inscription into the war. It also shows that the narrator most likely doesn’t have any family, or even acquaintances, that he cares about.
The narrator also defies the norms of patriotism by identifying his ‘country’ as Kiltartan Cross, rather than Ireland. The poem’s name An Irish Airman foresees his Death tells us what side of the war he’s on, but the narrator himself doesn’t call his nation Ireland. Instead, the narrator doesn’t seem to care at all about what side of the war he’s on, or who he’s fighting for. This isn’t exactly surprising, given what we have already gleaned about the narrator so far.
We’ve already established that the narrator doesn’t care at all for his country, people or his enemies, which begs the question, why? As stated before, I believe that it’s because the narrator has a low sense of self-worth and doesn’t have anyone around to help him. The reason the narrator has no one he cares about is not confirmed anywhere in the text, but it doesn’t matter in the long run. Leaving the reason for his lack of companionship up to interpretation may make the reader think more about the poem, and the outcome is still the same. Whatever the reason may be, the narrator does not think his death will affect his people positively or negatively, which confirms that he likely does not have family or friends back home that will miss him. This could also refer to how he believes his death will be inconsequential, in that it will not further the war effort in any way.
The narrator didn’t join the army to find glory, since he finds no need to find any. In his eyes, any life he might live is a waste of breath, even if he somehow managed to get home unscathed.
The narrator was not forced to fight in the war and chose to join willingly. This is important, since during times of war, unless you have some sort of disability you will likely be forced to join the army whether you like it or not. If the narrator was not forced to go to war, then he likely sought out the army on his own volition. This becomes quite morbid, since the reader now knows that the narrator has only become an airman to die.
This poem defies many stereotypes of who a fighter pilot might be. He isn’t in it for glory, for love or for hatred, he is just a lonely man who sees no point to continue living and sees his life as a waste. This may show the reader a new perspective about war that they never thought about before.