Diane Thiel's poem, “The Minefield,” is about a man who was traumatized by his memories of war as a teenager. The man saw his friend step on a landmine and saw his body explode into pieces. This horrible experience is etched in his mind and continues to haunt him daily. The trauma he carries with him results in mental and physical abuse towards his daughter (Thiel) and the rest of his family. In the first stanza of the poem, the setting takes place in a field somewhere between Prague and Dresden. The rest of the poem continues as he and his family eat dinner. Thiel uses literary elements, including tone, metaphors, and similes, to demonstrate the impact of the unrelenting pain caused by the war on him and his family. At the beginning of the poem, the tone seems adventurous and playful. In the first stanza, Thiel describes his father and his friend running through the towns of Germany to find lettuce because they had not eaten all day. Thiel's use of imagery makes it seem as if these young boys are going on an adventure. The playful tone sets in when Thiel describes his father and his friend racing against each other. Thiel states, “His friend ran a few steps ahead, like a wild rabbit through the grass” (p. 442). The simile depicts his friend as running free, without a care in the world. Even though these boys were at war, this playful tone helps express that they were still teenagers and wanted to have fun. The tone quickly changes as he watches his friend step on a mine and his entire body is scattered across the field. This horrific image causes the tone of the poem to change from playful and adventurous to dark and angry. Throughout the second and third stanzas, the d...... middle of paper...... same images as his father. His youthful mindset was severely damaged because of the memories of the minefield. The father marked his children with his abuse and took away their innocence. Even though the father doesn't realize it, he is carrying his family through the same experiences he had during the war. The memories caused by the father continue to haunt Thiel and his family for years. “The Minefield” is a dark and traumatic poem that expresses the prolonged pain and suffering caused by war. The memories Thiel's father carried with him led him to mentally and physically abuse his family. Thiel is able to recreate his painful childhood using tone, metaphors and similes. “The Minefield” shows how war can have such a negative influence on someone's life and also affect their family and loved ones..