Hurt Locker

Brian Turner

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Hurt Locker

“Hurt locker” is United States military slang that first emerged during the Vietnam War. After the Vietnam War, the slang remained popular due to media, movies, documentaries, and literature. The phrase became popular again in 2008 after the release of the film Hurt Locker, which depicted an army bomb squad. However, Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver claimed he coined the slang in 2004, even though the slang appeared frequently in previous wars and military venues. Sports writers also use the phrase “the hurt locker” to describe injured players or those teams that are having a poor season. In other areas, such as economics, the phrase “hurt locker” is often used to describe a poor economic season during which stocks and investments have taken a significant plunge. In the poem “The Hurt Locker,” the “hurt locker” represents a place of deep pain and significant discomfort. It is a place of uncomfortable memories the speaker keeps hidden and rarely, if ever, shares. Because the phrase can also refer to a state of agony or injury, the speaker’s reliance on the imagery of the locker can represent the speaker’s affected mental and emotional state.

The Opening of the Locker

In the poem, the speaker twice commands, “Open the hurt locker” (Lines 15, 17). After the first command, the speaker states, “and see what there is of knives / and teeth” (Lines 16-17). The speaker continues, “Open the hurt locker and learn / how rough men come hunting for souls” (Lines 17-18). The images accompanying the speaker’s command are violent images of “knives” (Line 16) and “teeth” (Line 17). These are sharp objects that can be used for defense and killing, and by willing the locker to open, the speaker is admitting to their role in violence, killing, and war. The opening of the locker is also symbolic of the speaker’s self-awareness and catharsis; they cannot continue living with the pain and suffering caused by their experiences in the war. The opening of the locker is therefore an educational act for both the speaker and the reader. The speaker’s catharsis occurs via the act of admittance and confession, and it results in revelations about themself and their experiences. The speaker’s catharsis allows readers to learn from the images and experiences shared by the speaker.

Hurt

The speaker uses the word “hurt” (Lines 1, 6, 15, 17) four times throughout the poem. Instead of describing or naming the hurt, the speaker uses other violent and war-associated words to help define the term. At the poem’s beginning, the word “hurt” (Line 1) appears after the phrase “Nothing but” (Line 1). This careful placement communicates that all the speaker has remaining of their experiences and perhaps their self is the “hurt” (Line 1). In the first stanza’s final line, the final word in the line is the word “hurt” (“Nothing left here but the hurt” [Line 6]). Again, the speaker communicates that the only thing that remains is the hurt from their war experience.

Later in the poem, the word “hurt” (Line 15) appears as an adjective for the word “locker” (Line 15). A “locker” (Line 15) is a place where one stores items and others cannot access those items. The speaker continues and reveals what they keep inside the locker. The items include “knives” (Line 16) and “teeth” (Line 17). The speaker again uses the word “hurt” (Line 17) as an adjective for the word “locker” (Line 17) to form the phrase “hurt locker” (Line 17). They then command readers to “Open the hurt locker and learn” (Line 17). The poem concludes with images of “rough men” (Line 18) who “come hunting for souls” (Line 18). Again, the images the speaker uses are associated with violence, but the speaker once again avoids attributing any specific type of hurt—mental, emotional, or physical—to the actual hurt.