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Diameter of the Bomb (Amichai) 698 Views
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Description:
Why would Yehuda Amichai write an entire book on the diameter of a bomb and the diameter of its range? Is he trying to convey a message? Is his book, Diameter of the Bomb , a metaphor for something else? One last question: do you think this video is da bomb?
Transcript
- 00:04
Diameter of the Bomb, a la Shmoop. We know that bombs are awful things…
- 00:09
…capable of unleashing unimaginable devastation and destruction.
- 00:15
But do we really need the math lesson? In Yehuda Amichai’s <<yuh-hoo-duh ahm-ih-kye>>
- 00:19
poem Diameter of the Bomb…
- 00:21
… the poet reflects on broad issues, like the loss and sadness brought about by the
Full Transcript
- 00:26
horrific event he describes
- 00:27
…but he also seems pretty concerned with the minor details.
- 00:31
Why did Amichai feel it necessary to tell us the exact diameter of the bomb…
- 00:37
…and the diameter of its range?
- 00:40
Are we being tested on this stuff later? Perhaps he felt that a bunch of details about
- 00:48
the bomb would help us to really see it…
- 00:51
…so we could envision everything that followed. He eventually expands the diameter to encompass
- 00:56
all of heaven and earth…
- 00:58
…so by making his initial measurements very specific, it makes the magnitude of the ending
- 01:03
seem all the more overwhelming.
- 01:05
Or could it be that Amichai was simply a “numbers guy?”
- 01:08
Check these out:
- 01:09
“The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters…”
- 01:12
“…the diameter of its effective range about seven meters”
- 01:15
“…with four dead and eleven wounded.” Seems like maybe this guy was just a big ol’
- 01:20
integer fan.
- 01:21
He could have simply said, “the dead and wounded lay scattered” or something like
- 01:27
that.
- 01:28
But instead, he was more specific than was probably necessary for this piece.
- 01:33
Or maybe he was using that specificity as a device…
- 01:36
…to demonstrate how mind-numbing these scenes of war were to those who experienced them.
- 01:41
By concentrating instead on the minutiae, it allows a witness to hide behind intellectualism…
- 01:47
…and by thinking, they no longer have to feel.
- 01:52
At the beginning of the poem, it’s almost as if the narrator can’t face the reality
- 01:56
of the bodies in front of him…
- 01:57
…and instead has to occupy his mind with numbers and trivial details…
- 02:01
…so he can distract himself from the carnage. What was Amichai’s reasoning?
- 02:06
Was he just creating a meticulous mental image?
- 02:09
Was he Mathlete of the year?
- 02:11
Or was he trying to express what effect the shock of such horrors can have on the human
- 02:16
mind? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
- 02:19
[1]
- 02:19
[1]I like panels 8-10
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