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''The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner'' is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. It is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft.
Jarrell, who served in the Army Air Forces, provided the following explanatory note:
Reviewer Leven M. Dawson says that "The theme of Randall Jarrell's 'The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner' is that institutionalized violence, or war, creates moral paradox, a condition in which acts repugnant to human nature become appropriate."〔Leven M. Dawson. (from The Explicator 31.4 (December 1972) ), Item #29.〕 Most commentators agree, calling the poem a condemnation of the dehumanizing powers of "the State", which are most graphically exhibited by the violence of war.〔Patrick J. Horner. (from ''The Explicator'' 36.4 (Summer 1978) ), pp. 9-10.〕 Due partly to its short length, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" poem has been widely anthologized. In fact, Jarrell came to fear that his reputation would come to rest on it alone.〔Charlotte H. Beck. (from ''Worlds and Lives: The Poetry of Randall Jarrell'' ). 1983. Associated Faculty Press, Inc.〕 The poem inspired the play, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Anna Moench, which premiered in New York City at the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2008 and was extended to play at The Space in Long Island City. A nod to the poem can also be found in John Irving's 1978 novel ''The World According to Garp,'' in which the protagonist's father died from a "rather careless lobotomy" by enemy gunfire while serving as a ball-turret gunner in World War II. ==References== 〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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