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“The Soldier” and “Dulce et Decorum Est”
“The Soldier” and “Dulce et Decorum Est”
World war one research paper
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Poetry Essay: Dulce Et Decorum Est
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The title of Wilfred Owen's famous World War I poem, 'Dulce Et Decorum
Est', are the first words of a Latin saying which means, 'It is sweet
and Right'. The full saying, which ends the poem, 'Dulce et decorum
est // Pro patria mori', means it is sweet and right to die for one's
country. This was the saying that was commonly understood and used
widely in the propaganda at the beginning of the War. It made war out
to be honourable and heroic. Owen shows in this poem, by depicting the
horror and cruelty of the War, how far the common belief that war was
proud and honourable, was from the truth.
In the first stanza we are introduced to the setting of the poem as
well as to a few of the horrors of the war. The men are leaving the
battlefield and are moving to a place of rest when they are hit by gas
filled artillery shells. It gives a description of how fatigued and
weary the men were and how badly injured many of them were after
spending time in the trenches of the front lines. The image of
tiredness and sleep is introduced in the first stanza phrases such as
'Bent-double' (line 1), 'distant rest' (line 4) and 'Men marched
asleep' (line 5). The men are so tired they turn their backs on the
flares that are sent up to show the bombardiers where to shoot their
shells. Another image that Owen uses that appears in the first stanza
and is seen through out the poem is how there is a lack of
co-ordination and sense. This can be seen by 'Knock-kneed' (line 3),
'limped', 'lame' and 'blind' (line 6) and 'drunk' and 'deaf' (line7).
Owen shows how these men's senses had been numbed by the ghastly
occurrences in the trenches and how these numbed senses cause the men
to not realise they are under attack until it is almost too late.
The second stanza describes the dramatic reaction the men have when
they realise they have been attacked by gas. The ecstasy of fumbling -
shows how desperate the men where to find the odd fitting gas masks,
how a mask was the difference between a cruel death and life. Owen
compares the unlucky man to someone who has fallen in a fire or pile
of lime and is being engulfed by the pain. He is compared to a
drowning man; he is drowning in the gas, in the pain of death. The gas
is so thick that it takes on a liquid appearance.
During times of war, man is exposed to the most gruesome aspects of life such as death, starvation, and imprisonment. In some cases, the aftermath is even more disastrous, causing posttraumatic stress disorder, constant guilt, as well as physical and mental scarring, but these struggles are not the only things that humans can take away from the experience. War can bring out the appreciation of the little things in life, such as the safety people take for granted, the beauty of nature, and the kindness of others. These universal consequences of fighting all contribute to what war is really capable of doing, sometimes bringing out the best and worst in people, and constantly shaping society. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien goes through this himself when he writes about setting up base camp in the Vietnamese pagoda, the return to site of Kiowa’s death, the story about the old poppa-san guide, and Mitchell Sanders’ “moment of peace”. When O’Brien includes these stories, it is not to insert joy into a tragedy, but rather to create a more wholesome and authentic feel into a tough, realistic war story. O’Brien’s’ “sweet” stories are there to show the hope he had during war, and also serve as a universal example that even in the darkest tunnels, it is always possible to find rays of light.
...horrific war, the men do not believe they will have psychological and physical power to continue on with life outside of the war.
“War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead,” (80). In the fiction novel The Things They Carried, the author Tim O’Brien reminisces fighting in the Vietnam War and the aftermath of the war with his platoon mates through short stories and memories. He goes in depth about the emotional trauma and physical battles they face, what they carry, and how Vietnam and war has changed them forever. O’Brien’s stories describe the harsh nature of the Vietnam War, and how it causes soldiers to lose their innocence, to become guilt-ridden and regretful, and to transform into a paranoid shell of who they were before the war.
When men see tragedies such as, dead men (from both sides) literally stacked upon each other and floods of bodies so thick you can’t walk through, it takes an emotional toll and can even effect the most resilient soldier. This is why Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was and is one of the most serious illnesses for soldiers in war. Often times we forget that the immediate danger is not always the worst part of war. It is only after the war when men start to think about what they saw and did that they can fully assess what happened and sometimes that can be too much for a man to bear on his
On the first read-through of Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est it seems to just be a poem describing a soldiers experience in World War I, but there is much more to the story than that. Through the use of several literary techniques, Owen is able to vividly describe the speaker’s experiences and at the same time make them relatable to the people reading the poem. He also is able to criticize the people who he thinks are at least partly responsible for “tricking” a younger, more gullible him into the situation in the first place.
...re by men who died soon after, especially those in the chapter of last letters. It is important to note, however, that there seems to be two very distinct experiences in the war: one by those in the field, in the jungle, or in the villages, and one by those who remained on base. Without meaning to render their time insignificant, the latter experienced a less traumatic time in the war, with their access to Western luxuries like television and movies. They also had better access to showers, food, and to simplify it: they weren't being shot at all the time. Regardless, these men fought for their country, for themselves, and for their fellow soldier. They would do anything just to get out of the country alive.
walking back to their rest place, when all of a sudden there is a gas
... could not help themselves, they were not going to be helped. If struggle were encountered, men had personalized ways to reconnect with the real world, and if a tragedy were encountered which affected the entire company, they also found a combined way to cope with this pressure. The priorities of men during the war shifted greatly toward emotional connections to people and events other than the war, and it was these connections that helped them survive and return home. Coping with the stress and burden of war is not an easy task for anyone, yet in The Things they Carried, O'Brien depicts men dealing and coping as much as they can, using only their primeval resources. They learn how to cope with the barest necessities in life, and they learn how to make use of the smallest opportunities to obtain the most relief and joy from every moment in life.
Blood here and blood there! Shots are being fired from every direction and screams begin to emerge from deep within the forest. They become louder and louder and seem to come closer with every step taken. Then there is an eerie silence and as everything seems to calm down, a grenade goes off in the distance. Does this seem real? Could this be real? The way war is portrayed in movies is not always the honest truth. Most of the times the way war is depicted very action packed and heroic. Although this is true in some cases, there are sides of war that some do not see. There are days in war where nothing extremely dangerous happens. There are also sides of soldiers, emotionally, that one does not see. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, war and the soldiers are portrayed in way that is rarely seen. The same can be said for a poem by Wilfred Owen titled Dulce et Decorum Est. O'Brien and Owen both portray the reality of war, however O'Brien goes deeper into the truth behind the reality or war.
The three sources I have selected are all based on females. They are all of change and transformation. Two of my selections, "The Friday Everything Changed" by Anne Hart, and "Women and World War II " By Dr. Sharon, are about women’s rites of passage. The third choice, "The sun is Burning Gases (Loss of a Good Friend)" by Cathleen McFarland is about a girl growing up.
"It tumbled over the edge and began to spread out over their heads—drifting on a layer of cold, dank air rising from the pool below them. Jesus. Gas." (Findley, 137)
War has always been inevitable throughout the history of the world. The outcomes can differ greatly; it’s usually either a win or a loss. Wins or losses are just definite statements, but photos can represent these statements. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “V-J Day in Times Square” shows an American sailor kissing a young woman right in the middle of Times Square, despite their surroundings. This iconic photo was taken after the U.S. declared victory over Japan in World War II, and was published in Life magazine a week later. John Gap’s (III) photo shows a young girl being consoled at a soldier’s funeral in a local high school gymnasium, later to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. This humble photo was taken during the war still raging in Afghanistan, showing that these types of losses happen quite often, as there are no iconic photos for Afghanistan compared to the photo shot after the win over World War II. Unlike its counterpart, this photo was published only at a local level on a website. Both these photos show a soldier being dismissed to go home from war. Although the two photos share that common factor, the scenario in which the soldier comes home differs greatly. Through these photos, Albert Eisenstaedt and John Gaps III help evoke pathos and give the observer a sense of the pride and the devastation felt of a home coming from war using photographic elements such as framing, focus, and angles.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
ensues as they try to put on their gas masks. This is effective as it
Starting with very visual stimuli, men bent over like old beggars carrying sacks, tired and numb from the experiences they have lived through. They are no longer men but just hollowed out shells of their former glory as they curse and cough through the mud until the "haunting flares" tell them it is time to head toward safety for rest. The flares are haunting because they give away their location with a soft glow as well as being a beacon hope for end shift. As they march, and dig and pull each leg from the mud to place it in front of the other, all men march in their sleep, others limp with bloody feet as they have lost their boots in the thick blood colored mud. All are lame and blind, extremely tired. They have become desensitized and deaf to the shells falling behind them. Then it gets worse. Just as the men are turning around headed to distant camp for the night, gas shells drop behind them blocking the way home. The speaker yells out like a commander “Gas! Gas! Quick, Boys!” The soldiers scramble for their gas masks in a frantic but awakening moment to save their lives. They don't all get their clumsy helmets on in time. Our speaker watches as a member of his crew chokes and staggers in the toxic fumes, unable to save him from an excruciating certain death. Even through the thick glass eyelets of the helmet and the fog of gas he can see the young man drowning in vomit bile and