Question

THE SOLDIERS AGONY IN THE POEM 'A SMALL PAIN IN MY CHEST ' BY MICHAEL MACK...... PLZ HELP

Answer 1

The soldier thanks the narrator when the latter gives him a bottle of water and says that he was grateful to him. The soldier smiles at the narrator which makes the narrator feel that it was the brightest smile he had ever seen. It was because the soldier was hiding the pain which he was undergoing with his smile. The soldier then feels bad and tells the narrator that though he is an enthusiastic and big man, still he was defeated and left with a small pain in his chest.

Answer 2

the soldier boy in the poem is described as a young man full of vim and zest.he does not want to accept his grave injury and his defeat and thus he repeats to the poet that his injury was just a small pain even though it was a grieve one.he also thinks about his wife and mother as well as the society and thinks that he has not been able to fulfill their expectations.he undergoes psycological agony.he under goes a traumatic stress disorder when he looks at the dead bodies around him.