Yehuda Amichai's 'The Diameter Of The Bomb'

The domino effect explains how one small action can start a wave of events all leading to one large result. Like when a child pushes over one domino which leads to the next falling over, a small event in life can lead to another occurring. “The Diameter of the Bomb” written by Yehuda Amichai shows how a small bomb, with a diameter of only thirty centimeters, can change the world. At first, the bomb has an effective range of only seven meters and kills four people. However, the blast of the bomb is where the domino effect beings as the effective range spreads and spreads till it engulfs the entire world. Amichai uses both imagery and tone in his poem to convey how one person’s death can affect the whole world. Notably, throughout Amichai’s poem he uses imagery to paint a picture of the effective range of the bomb growing as the death of the four people influence society. The definition of effective range is: “The maximum distance at which a weapon may be expected to be accurate and achieve the desired result” (Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms). On the contrary, as Amichai explains how one woman’s death can affect another
“The Diameter of the Bomb” shows the domino effect one loss of a life can have on the world. Even a small, thirty centimeter bomb, had an effective range that spread throughout the human race. Amichai uses imagery as he illustrates of the range of the bomb slowly spreading across seas and continents until the entire world is in the circle. Moreover, words like death, solitary, mourning, and howl set the somber stage and support the effectiveness of the theme being understood by the audience. The theme that just one death can affect the world shows how powerful war can be. A war is never distant nor far away. A single death can start the domino effect and engulf the world in an atmosphere of