Wislawa Szymborska the polish poet who is well
known for her relatability to the reader's
conscience through her literary work was
granted with the Literature Nobel prize in 1996.
In her poem "The Terrorist, He is Watching" she
captures the theme violence in the de
humanized world. And in a very authentic way
she related the true sene of terrorism to us.
As the setting of the poem she has choosen a
bar where in general innocent ordinary people
are seemed to be crowded. So the terrorist has
alredy set the bomb in the bar who is optunistic
to accomplish his target of undergone confusion
among the general public. In order to emphasize
the theme more relatable , the poetess has
emerged with different types of techniquesin the
poem. So let's pay attention to what were
Wislawa's skills of using appropriate
techniques.
With the usage of an ambiguous and
suggestive title" The Terrorist, He is Watching"
has increased the curiosity in readers mind.
Apart from that when enjoying the poem she hasmanaged to mention the time frequently by
highlighting it.
The bomb in the bar wil explode at thirteen
twenty
Now it just thirteen sixteen
Thirteen twenty minus ten seconds
Sometimes she mentioned the time in minutes
but when it comes to seconds it heightens the
tension and evokes the scary nature towords the
terrorism.Now it is more obvious that Wislawa
has used countdown technique to build up the
tension and urgancy of the situation.
And from the beginning Szymborska has
subjected the de humanized terrorist to an irony
as he has already crossed the street after
setting the bomb in the bar and impatiently
watching the whole incident until his task is
accomplished.
The terrorist has already crossed the street
The distance keep him out of danger
What a view just like a movie
In the above stanza the poetess used a simile bycomparing this tragedy to a movie in the
thoughts of the terrorist. So this technique has
applied a cinematic effect to the poem.
And in some instances Wislawa questioned us
to emphasize the theme that our fate or destiny
decide that we are going to live or die.
Was she that dumb did she go in or not?
Inclusion of a rhetorical quetion in here
hightlighs the girl who is with a green ribbon life
is decided under the fact of destiny. And no one
apart from it is not able to
In addition to that she has inserted various
types of imagery to convey the massage of
tragic violence. Through the views appears on
the eyes of the narrater and the terrorist vivid
picture of the appearance of the general public
is expressed.
A women in yellow jacket she is going
A man in dark glassws he is coming out
Teenagers in jeans they are talkingThis stanza proves the poetess, ability regarding
the usage of visual imagery inside the poem to
wooven the characters and behaviour of these
ordinary uninformed public who is going to be
the victims of the violence. And used these
victims to symbolise different types of social
states and different ages which depicts that
nothing is considered for the eligibility for death.
Afterall in the last stanza at thirtern twenty
bomb explosion was much more relative to
readers as the auditory imagery is acivated.
Any second now
No not yet
Yes now
The bomb it explodes
Through the word explodes readers begin to
feel that bomb has exploded with a heavy voice
and the tragedy has brought death to the
ordinary innocent people.
When considering these facts it is much moreconfirmed that Wislawa Szymborska has used
her pen in an appropriate way to express the
themes such as violence , de humanization
which are coming along with the terrorism
activated in the contemporary society.