SMALL PAIN IN MY CHEST

The soldier boy was sitting. a small pain in my chest

1.
A.

Who was the soldier boy? Why was he referred to as boy?

He was a young soldier. By referring to him as boy, the poet is emphasizing that the youth of the
country is perishing in war. They meet an untimely death. This shows that war is inhuman.

2.

Where was the young soldier seated? What was his condition? What did he do when he saw the
narrator?
A.
The young soldier was seated under a tree. He was sad, tired and exhausted but appeared calm.
When he saw the narrator pass that way he gestured to him to come to him.
3.
A.

What kind of battle did the soldier participate in? What was the result of it?
It had been a long and hard battle. It had begun the previous day and continued all through the night.
This hard battle resulted in many casualties. Many soldiers had lost their lives. Scores of bodies lay on
the ground. As day broke, the field presented a tragic sight.

4.
A.

What did the young soldier ask the narrator?

In a polite and decent manner he asked the narrator if he could help him to get some water to drink.
He probably thought that a sip of water would not only provide relief from the pain and discomfort but
also make him feel active and energetic again.
As I looked at him, while I just have a small pain in my chest

1.
A.

Who is the I in the above lines? What did he notice?

I refers to the narrator. He noticed a large blood stain on his shirt probably due to a wound caused
in the battle.

2.
A.

Explain: all reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt
The background of the poem is the Vietnam War (Asian country) in which the poet took part. The
warm young blood of the soldier mixed with the soil of the land and looked reddish-brown in colour on
his shirt.

3.
A.

What does not much mean? What does this tell us about the young soldier?
Not much means he does not feel much pain due to the wound caused during the battle.
This tells us that the soldier boy was brave. He was modest and willing to bear the pain without
complaining.
He does not know the gravity of the situation and so felt that it was a small burning pain in his chest.
Such small injuries do not bring any anxiety to soldiers.

4.
A.

Why does the soldier consider himself lucky? Is he really lucky?

The soldier boy considers himself luckier as all the other soldiers of his troop are dead, whereas he
has just survived with a small pain in his chest.
However, he is not lucky at all because he eventually succumbs to the injury in his chest.
Must be fatigueI felt this small pain in my chest.

1.
A.

Must be fatigue, what does he mean by that?

The soldier boy means that the reason for his physical weakness could be fatigue caused by the
battle of the previous night. He guessed he was feeling fatigue perhaps because he was getting old. In

fact he was unable to understand what was happening to him. His condition was getting worse as there
was a lot of blood loss from the injury he had received in his chest.
2.
A.

Explain: I see the sun is shining bright and yet Im feeling cold.
The condition of the soldier was deteriorating. Yet, he put up a brave face, smiled and said that the
reason for his weakness is perhaps fatigue. He feels that he is getting old because though the sun
shines brightly he feels very cold. The loss of blood was making him weak and his death seemed to be
approaching.

3.
A.

We climbed the hill. Who climbed the hill? What did they accomplish?
The young soldier and two hundred of his fellow soldiers had climbed the hill. They defeated the
enemy and cleared the top of the hill. They had accomplished the task assigned to them.

4.
A.

How did the night explode? What was the result?

Land mines or bombs exploded on the hill top. The young soldier was hit either by a bullet or by a
splinter from a bomb. His chest received the wound, and he felt what he described as a small pain in
his chest.
I looked around to get some aid sat down with this small pain in my chest

1.
A.

What did he look for around?

He looked for some aid (help), some first aid to control his bleeding wound after the explosion.
2. What is a crater ? What caused the craters and bodies on the ground?
A. Crater is a hole in the ground made by an explosion. There was an explosion caused by a land mine
or bomb and as a result many soldiers died and their bodies were lying around.
The deep crater symbolically suggests how warfare is a big depression for humanity at large.
3. What did the soldier continue to do?
A. Though he was wounded he kept on firing mechanically. He continued doing his duty but finally he
sat down with that small pain in his chest. He ignored his pain, showed utmost courage and did
whatever he could. Though he calls it a small pain, in fact it was a serious wound.

Im grateful, sir,.defeated by a small pain in his chest

1. Who was grateful? To whom? For what?
A. The young soldier was grateful to the narrator for the bottle of water and his feeling was expressed
in his smile.
2. What comment does the narrator make about the smile? What does this imply?
A. The narrator calls it the brightest smile that he has ever seen. It was expressive of the genuine feeling
of an innocent heart. It shows that he is grateful for the help he received from a stranger. It shows the
spirit of a soldier, who gives up his life for a cause, with a smile on his face.
3. What made the speaker feel silly?
A. After taking a sip of water and regaining some energy, the young soldier said that it seemed foolish
that a man of his size, full of vim (energy) and zest (enthusiasm) could be overpowered by a small
pain in his chest. He is unable to reconcile to the fact that a small pain in his chest has made him
immobile and inactive.

What would my wife. HERE one day with this pain in my chest
1. Why did the speaker feel guilty about sitting there with pain in his chest?
A. The wounded soldier was feeling guilty that he was sitting there, too weak to stand independently.
He was feeling ashamed of his condition. He wondered what his wife and mother would think of
him if they saw him in such a helpless condition.
2. What does the soldier say about his wife?
A. The soldier says that his wife thinks of him as a strong and grown up man and she cant think of him
at any time so weak a person who is unable to stand up without help from others.
These thoughts come to his mind for he always wanted his wife to think of him as lion hearted and
he didnt want to fall in her eyes by acting weak, fearful and unchivalrous.
3. What does the soldier say about his mother?
A. His mother who must have loved him immensely would have never thought that one day he would
be sitting helplessly on the battlefield with a small pain in his chest.
4. What does the poet wish to convey by the above lines?
A. The poet wants to portray a pathetic picture of the pain and affliction which the separation of loved
ones brings. He wants to portray the horrors and tragedies of war and how war can be devastating
for individuals and families.
5. Why is the word HERE written in capital letters?
A. The soldier wants to emphasize on the word HERE as he is helplessly sitting at a place which he
considers incorrect of him. He may also be pointing to the place where he is sitting to the narrator.
Can it be getting dark the boy died from the small pain in his chest
1. Why does the soldier say Can it be getting dark so soon?
A. The soldiers health suddenly deteriorated further. Though he was aware that it was morning,
presently he sees darkness falling as he is losing his consciousness.
As the soldier is dying, the sun for him is becoming dim even though it is morning. It symbolizes the
darkness that is entering the soldiers life.
2. What shows that though he felt it was getting dark, the sun was shining?
A. The soldier looked up at the sky and when he did so, he winced (strained) his eyes which tells us that
it was really bright. This physical reaction shows that the sun was shining.
3. Why was the soldier confused?
A. The soldier was confused because he knew that the day had just begun but darkness was growing
before his eyes.
4. What was the soldiers plan?
A. The soldiers plan was to sit there and rest for a while and continue his journey. Life was slowly
ebbing out of him. He hoped to travel on, but before that, he wanted to get some rest.

5. What is the significance of the series of dots at the end of the line a little rest.

A. The soldier is unable to complete the sentence and in the middle of the sentence he died. Even the
poet does not close the inverted comma as death happens suddenly and symbolically the poet leaves
the sentence with a dotted line.
6. Was it really a small pain in his chest? The line is repeated many a time in the poem. What is
the purpose of this technique?
A. It was really a big pain in his chest. The line is repeated in the poem to make everyone realize that it
was really a big pain. It was his modesty and courage that made him understate (play down) his
pain.
It has been used to emphasise the pain and suffering a soldier has to undergo as a consequence of
war.
In stanza seven, it is changed a little, as the word small has been deleted here. This is because it
refers to the feelings of the soldiers wife and mother, who may not be able to judge form outside
the intensity of his pain if he uses the words a small pain in my chest and therefore, the poet has
used pain in my chest here.
I dont recall what happened. against the small one in his chest.
1. Why cant the narrator recall what happened?
A. The narrator was unable to recall what happened immediately after the wounded soldier passed
away. This was because he was so overwhelmed and overpowered by emotions. He was shattered
and shocked at the death of an innocent soldier. He was so pained to see a man die before his eyes
that he was oblivious (ignorant) of what actually happened at that moment.
2. What are the two things the narrator must have done one a possibility, the other a certainty?
A. At the moment of the death of the soldier, the narrator must have cried; he is not sure about that.
However, he put his arms around the soldier and pulled him to his side as soon as he realized that he
had died. This he remembers well.
3. What wound does the narrator have?
A. The narrator was moved by the suffering and death of the soldier boy. It shows how war is an
inhuman activity and a meaningless waste. The suffering and the inhuman aspect of the war
wounded the narrator and it was a big blow to his heart i.e. his human self.
A small pain in the soldiers chest is a big pain in the conscience of humanity.
The larger wound symbolizes the greater guilt on the part of humanity at not being able to give up
wars.
4. How are the wounds pressed?
A. As the soldier boy died, the narrator pulled the soldier closer to himself, and the narrator could feel
that their wounds were pressed against each other the narrators wound in the heart and the
soldiers pain in his chest.
Note: Kindly learn themes, symbolic poem and anti-war poem from the workbook pg no.62,64 &
65.