SMALL PAIN IN MY CHEST

Michael Mack
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree.

As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me.
The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night.
And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning’s light.

Word –notes:

Beckoning – Calling; Underneath – Under; Scores of figures – many a figures

referring to the dead bodies lying all around; Lay still – motionless, dead.

Explanation:

The narrator of the poem was in the midst of a battlefield and noticed a young soldier
sitting under a tree calling him. He approached that tree and saw a tired and wounded soldier
sitting amidst a number of dead bodies. The poet in the stanza it self portrayed a painful
picture of the war front which embodied the destructive aspects of war.

Questions:

1) Where was the narrator at this time? Who was calling him?
2) What do you mean by scores of figures?
3) What is portrayed by the poet in this stanza?
4) Do you think the narrator was the close friend or relative of the wounded soldier?
Comment.
5) What is your opinion about war? Is it noble after or full of suffering, pain and trauma?

Answers:

1) The narrator of the poem was in the midst of a battle field. A wounded soldier with a
small pain in his chest was calling him as he was hit by a bullet while fighting with
the enemy. As the narrator was the only living person in that surrounding so he
thought to get some help from him.

2) ‘Scores of figures’ is used here for the dead bodies lying all around. They all along
with the sounded soldiers had fought throughout the night and at present except him;
they all were lying dead still on the ground. Thus, they all were his companions in the
war and had fought for whole day and night and they all lost their lives in the war.

3) A pitiful picture of the war front which embodied the destructive aspects of war is
portrayed by the poet. On visiting the battlefield, he witnessed the game of
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destruction where a number of dead bodies were lying still and the whole surrounding
was full of depression.

4) No, the narrator was neither a friend nor a close relative of the wounded soldier. He
was quite unknown to him but it is human tendency that they act like brothers in
adverse circumstances. The pitiful condition of the soldier arouse sympathy in
narrator’s heart for him and he reached to him on his call.

5) War is a gory and glorious affair. Those who win wars present its glorious aspect in
terms of heroism, nobility, etc, but defeat in war is kept under cover the common
people as it is nothing but gory. Traditionally, heroism and war were closely
connected and the narratives about was emphasized on the romanticized version of
war, presenting it to be a noble affair. But in reality, it is just the opposite. It is all
about the suffering, pain and trauma and the people fighting the war and the tensions
and suffering of the relative and well-wishers of the soldiers.

2. As I looked at him I could see the large stain on his shirt

All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt.
“Not much”, said he. “I count myself more lucky than the rest.
They’re all gone while I just have a small pain in my chest”.

Word – notes:

Asian dirt – referring to the Vietnamese war. More lucky – should have been
luckier, Gone – (here) used for ‘died’.

Explanations:

The narrator noticed a large blood stain on his shirt. The soldier saw it and said that
the wound was not compared to the other soldiers who had their lives. He considered himself
lucky as he had just a small pain in his chest. On a war front, only the lucky ones survive and
the soldier considered himself lucky till he met the narrator. The reference to ‘Asian dirt’
refers to Vietnam as the poet is Vietnamese war veteran. The soldier moreover added that it
must be exhaustion that was causing him pain. He thought that as he was getting old he must
be fatigued and sold even though the morning light was bright.

Questions:

1) What stain is being referred to just before the extract? Is it merely a stain?
2) What does “Asian dirt” suggest? Is it of any special significance in the poem?

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3) Why hoes he consider himself luckier? Is he really lucky? Who are the rest and what
happened to them?
4) According to the soldier, what is the reason of his pain? Why does he think he was
getting old?
5) Describe the mental state of the wounded soldier here.

Answers:

1) The stain of blood is being referred to just before the extract. If is not merely a stain
but a symbol of horrible destruction in the war. The poet has used the word ‘Asian
dirt’ here which is referring to the Vietnam war. The war resulted in a huige cost in
terms of fatalities.

2) ‘Asian dirt’ suggests the context of the Vietnamese war as the poet was a Vietnamese
war veteran. He suggests about the huge human cost in terms of fatalities. It was only
with the war veterans of the First World War that the poet written on war, about the
soldiers’ life in the trenches. The battlefields were portrayed in gruesome realistic
details which made people know about the physical, emotional and psychological
sufferings of the soldiers.

3) The wounded soldier considers himself lucky as he had just a small pain in his chest.
On a war front, only the lucky ones survive and the soldier considers himself lucky
till he met the narrator. He started fighting the war with his 200 companions and now
he is only surviving soldier, rest are lying dead around him.

4) The narrator thinks that het reason of his pain is exhaustion. He is fatigued and cold
even though the morning light is shining brightly. So he is thinking that perhaps it is
his ole age which is making him exhausted and cold.

5) The soldier was one surviving fellow, sitting amidst the dead bodies of his all
companions. Though he was wounded and having pain in his chest yet he considered
himself luckier as only the lucky ones survive in a war front. He was feeling lonely
and depressed till the poet met him. He urged the poet for a sip of water.

3. “What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown,

If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone?
Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast,
That I’d be sitting HERE one day with his pain in my chest?”

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“Can it be getting dark so soon?” he winced up at the sun.
“It’s growing dim and I thought that the day had just begun.

Word-notes:

HERE – the word ‘HERE’ is written in capital as the poet wants to emphasize on the
battlefield. Winced up –shut one’s eyes on account of bright light or pain.

Explanation:

The soldier, moreover, was worried about what his wife and mother would think
about hm. They thought of him as strong man with extraordinary zest for life, but on the
other hand, he was not able to stand up because of the pain in his chest. He is of the wounded
soldier that it was getting dark. He wondered as it can not be as the day has just begun. He
looked at the sun and it was growing dim.

Questions:

1) What would his wife think? Is it ant way significant?

2) What would his mother opine? What image does the poet want to evoke through this
passage?
3) Comment on the poet’s intention of humanizing soldier in the war front? What
purpose does it serve?
4) Is war about heroism, strength or masculinity? Comment on the basis of the poem
“Small Pain in My Chest”.
5) What opinion does the poet have about the death portrayed in these lines?

Answers:

1) The poet here portrays the emotional state of soldier when he is preoccupied with
thoughts about his wife. He would think of him when she hears that a strong man like
him could not bear the pain in his chest and is not able to stand alone. People like
soldier’s wife have the romantic notion about war who thinks that is bravery, strength,
masculinity, about being strong and having the power of bearing immense pain.

2) The soldier thinks about his mother and says what his mother would think about him.
She would never imagine of his pathetic condition that he would be sitting with pain
(unable to move) in the battlefield as no mother would like her son to loose his life in
a war.

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3) The poet’s intention is to put light on the meaningless death and destruction of the
war on both sides. The poet presents a picture of war which would make us look at
the life of soldier from close quarters. It is not romantic at all and on the opposite it
makes us shiver in pain, anger and disgust at the utter meaninglessness of war we
figure out how the soldier is shot, and about to die, yet hoping that he will survive.

4) No, war is nowhere about heroism, strength or masculinity but it is about selfishness,
destruction and small mindedness and moreover, meaningless and brutal. Many
soldiers of both sides sacrifice their lives, leaving behind immense sufferings, tears
and pain for their near and dear ones.

5) The poet opines that war brings suffering, pain, trauma of the people fighting the war
and the tensions and suffering of the relatives and well-wishers of the soldiers. It’s
outcomes is death and destruction which is meaningless. The soldiers have to fight
without any personal enmity. Most often they shoot the soldier of rival army
otherwise they might be killed by him.

4. I don’t recall what happened then. I think I must have cried.

I put my arms around him and I pulled him to my side
And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed
The large one in my heart against the small one in his chest.

Word-notes:

Our wounds – the wound of the soldier in his chest and the wound caused by sorrow
that the narrator suffered in his heart.

Explanation:

As the soldier died, the narrator could not recall what happened at that moment.
Probably he cried, but definitely he put his arms around the soldier and pulled him to
his side. As the narrator pulled the soldier to himself, the narrator could feel that their
wounds were pressed against each other- the narrator’s wound in the heart and the
soldier’s small pain in the chest.

Questions:

1) Who can not recall? What he can not recall? Why?

2) What wound does the speaker have?
3) How are the wounds pressed?

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4) Critically comments on the last line of the poem.
5) Do you think that the narrator of the poem ‘Small pain on the chest’ romanticized the
war? Give a reasoned answer.

Answers:

1) The narrator can not recall what happened at that moment. His heart was filled with
boundless grief as if he had lost his kin. He definitely put his arm around the soldier
and pulled him to his side. He did so as he found himself quite close to him.’

2) The speaker has the wound of immense grief on the death of a soldier who was
talking to him just before a moment. He makes his useless effort to hols the life of the
soldier by taking him close to his heart but his death leaves a wound in his heart and
he curses the war.

3) The narrator pulled the soldier to himself, he could feel that their wounds pressed
against each other as the narrator got wound in his heart. On seeing the pathetic
outcome of the war the soldier was having small pain in the chest as the bullet hit on
his chest.

4) Last line reflects the narrator’s agony and small mindedness of those who initiate
wars. He calls his wound in heart larger than the soldier’s small pain in his chest. The
soldier shave to face bloodshed and violence of war face to face but common people,
relatives friends or well wishers of soldiers get unhearing wound in their heart. Here
the poet represents common people for whom war is nothing but gory. It is about the
suffering, pains and plight of the soldiers and the tensions and suffering of the
relatives and well wishers of the soldiers.

5) The narrator of the poem ‘Small pain in my Chest’ is romanticized. According to him,
it is not a noble affair. He wants to show that it can apply to nay war anywhere, as
soldiers are soldiers and no matter where they are or what they are fighting for, they
go through similar plight, similar fate and similar emotions. The war shows
‘smallness’ of the minds who initiate and perpetuate war. War is unnatural,
meaningless, foolish, brutal enterprise in which there can be no winners as soldiers of
both the armies suffer a similar fate in the war front. It is in way a noble and heroic
enterprise.