Use of Figurative Language in Marione Ingram's Operation Gomorrah

Marione Ingram was only eight when she saved her mother from committing suicide and when she fled her home during the bombings of Hamburg in 1943. Her experience as a German-Jewish girl shapes a unique perspective of the horrors of World War 2 in the time of the Nazi Regime. To convey how this event impacted her life and to show her cultural identity as a survivor the author uses language features such as figurative language, detached tone and idioms to explore this historical event.

The use of figurative language throughout ‘Operation Gomorrah’ allows Ingram to establish her identity as a survivor of war. In this piece, she reflects on what it was like to be a child during a war. The author is comparing the horrors of one of the deadliest air raids during WW2 to very simple and unsympathetic examples. Using a simile Ingram states, “through unmistakably human they looked like huge bratwursts” (132). We can recognise Ingram is comparing the bodies in a way an innocent child would interpret them. This is significant because it demonstrates its impact on her as an adult still recalling the dead people and the bombs exploding around her. Other similes such as “some had faces as swollen and red as Chinese lanterns” (133). As readers, we can understand how the author would have a very different perspective from a child to an adult. She remembers every detail highlighting how impactful it is to her. Ingram continues to describe her experience through her childhood lens. “When we emerged, we seemed to be in a winter snowstorm, with white flakes of ash flying in the wind” (123). The author uses imagery to explain the innocent way she saw the results of explosions dropped by allied forces. She continues to describe how “They looked so cool that I wanted to stick out my tongue to taste them” (123). This allows the reader to understand the way an eight-year-old interprets such a traumatic and impactful experience. Having survived the war Marione will always recall the way she remembers these events through her childhood lens. This theme continues to develop when Ingram plays with tone to tell her story of her experiences in WW2. 

Ingram uses a detached tone when describing her experience to help construct her identity as a survivor of war. Throughout the piece, Ingram’s identity develops as she recounts her experience during the bombing of Hamburg. At the beginning of the text, Ingram refers to herself as “eight years and a respectful, obedient child” (123). Very quickly the tone changes dramatically when she states, “my mother asked me to do something, and I disobeyed her and I shall be forever glad that I did” (123). The author is referring to her mother’s choice to attempt to commit suicide due to the deportation notice she received. It is clear the impact the war has already had on the author and in the first paragraph, we can see the change in her identity. This is a direct result of war and the discrimination against her family because of their religion. Throughout the text, there is a clear contrast between the way Marione explains her experiences. Some statements would be described through a child-like innocence and others detached and matter of fact. An example of this is the way she described the exploding bombs, “A false dawn lit the southeastern sky, rouging Mother’s cheeks and painting the walls of buildings on our side of the street a lurid red” (128). The use of imagery shows the innocent lens she remembers such horrific events. This is compared to “I don’t know whether this was because of all the gas she had inhaled or because she was so upset by our deportation order” (126). This statement is very different to the previous quote, and it is confusing to a reader how someone can be so comfortable with such a difficult memory. At the end of the piece, the author’s reflection has changed from how she remembers the events to how it has affected her now. “The bombing had left me with such a fear of fire that my heart would begin to pound whenever I heard and siren.” After surviving the war, she cannot forget that night when she lost her childhood innocence and how that has impacted her in her future. The use of tone is a successful tool to demonstrate how surviving the bombings has created her identity as a survivor of war. Ingram continues to use other techniques such as idioms to depict her unique experience.