The Dawn Was Consumed: The Ambiguous Morality of War as Examined Through Pablo Neruda's "Oda al Átomo"

Indianapolis, IN

Known for his membership of the famous "Generation of '27" in Spain and his voice in global politics, poet Pablo Neruda discusses the moral ambiguity of war actions in his poem "Oda al Átomo." Although Neruda's odes usually take on more lighthearted subject matter - such as tomatoes or socks - this poem contains harrowing imagery in its description of the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Japan during WWII. By comparing the bomb to a Greek god, Neruda argues that war technology lauded for its innovation actually stemmed from primitive thought. Furthermore, Neruda's use of images such as ash, burning, and gas tombs remind the reader of the atrocities committed in Nazi death camps, implying that, although the Allied forces saw themselves as the morally just side of the war, both sides undertook heinous acts to win. Near the end of the poem, Neruda highlights the paradox in war: although the United States dropped the atomic bomb to save innocent lives, their act simultaneously took innocent lives. Written almost a decade after the termination of the Second World War, Neruda's poem reminds even modern readers of the cost of war and the construction of a moral narrative.