Norman Morrison self -immolation

Norman Morrison burned himself in Pentagon as a way of protesting to convince the United States to stop its participation in the Vietnam war. However, since his death, many poets developed different poems illustrating the reasoning behind his actions. Although the poems use different figurative language, they all address the death of Norman Morrison. For instance, there are various similarities and differences between David Ferguson's and Adrian Mitchell's poems, Norman Morrison. Some similarities include that both poems portray Morrison as a selfless man who could not withstand other people's pain and sacrificed his own life as a way of protesting. However, there are numerous differences between Ferguson's and Mitchell's poems. For instance, Mitchell directly and calmly describes Morrison's act. Mitchell uses imagery to describe the situation, " He simply burned away his clothes, his passport, his pink-tinted skin, and put on a new skin of flame and became Vietnamese" (Norman Morrison Poems - Mejia-Foster's AP Language and composition). Through her description, Mitchell illustrates Morrison's staunch beliefs and values to the extent of sacrificing to save innocent souls. Also, Mitchell portrays Morrison as a Hero as he brings to light the increased immorality in the Vietnam war. For instance, she states that people got burned in the dark corners where nobody could see, but Morrison set himself on fire during the day and in the open for everyone to see. In contrast, Ferguson's poem is more ambiguous and includes a lot of figurative language. He states that Morrison "spoke in a tongue of flame" instead of stating that he set himself on fire. (Norman Morrison Poems - Mejia-Foster's AP Language and composition). He also uses similes such as " his ears like a whirlwind"(Norman Morrison Poems - Mejia-Foster's AP Language and composition).  However, unlike Mitchell, Ferguson does not give a detailed analysis of Ferguson's death, and one has to think critically to decode the hidden meaning in his work as the poem is short and complex. Thus, although there are differences between Ferguson's and Mitchell's Norman Morrison poems, they portray him as a hero and a selfless man who could not withstand seeing other people suffer.

Norman Morrison set himself on fire in public, where everybody could see him illustrating the immorality that the Vietnamese faced. However, different poets use figurative language and writing styles to describe his actions, although the themes are the same. For instance, both Mitchell and Ferguson's poems portray Morrison as a hero despite their differences in the choice of words and writing techniques.

Works cited

Norman Morrison Poems - Mejia-Foster's AP Language and Composition. http://www.mejialangcomp.weebly.com/uploads/1/7/7/0/17702677/norman_morrison_poems.pdf.