Comparing Dulce Et Decorum Est And The Things They Carried

A Nightmarish Reality

The poem, “Dulce et Decorum est” by Wilfred Owen and short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’brien are first hand descriptions of war. Owen fought in World War One and O’Brien fought in the Vietnam War; two of the most devastating wars of the the 20th century. As a result of their experiences both authors relate the hardship of war through characterization, setting and symbolism.

In the “Things They Carried”, O’Brien characterizes the soldiers and conveys the emotional burden of war by the things the men carried with them. The emotional burden of leaving their belongings, friends and family at home was incredibly difficult for the soldiers so anything the soldiers brought from home was a good representation

of their personal identity “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a Junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey,”(O’Brien 564). O’Brien goes on to characterize many soldiers through the items they carry such as comic books and even dental floss. While letters, comic books and dental floss might seem trivial at the surface the things they carry is the last remaining thread of who they are and where they come from. The fact that these men hold such small items so dearly is evidence that the soldiers deeply miss their homes and family. Not only do the things these soldiers carry play an important role in the character development but is a strong recurring symbol of the emotional burden of war. O’Brien uses the physical weight of the things the men carried as a symbol for the emotional weight of leaving friends and family. For instance, O’Brien strategically writes two seemingly non-sequitur sentences right next to each other “They carried the PRL-77 Scrambler radio, which weighed 30lbs with its battery. They shared the weight of memory,”(O’Brien 571). The lack of transition between the two ideas implies that the physical weight of the 30lb radio is similar to the emotional burden of carrying each other's memories of home. If O’Brien had placed these two sentences separately the symbolic meaning of the physical weight of the items they carried as emotional weight would be lost. Finally, the setting of the poem is another important key in understanding the reality of war “Lee Strunk crawled out of the tunnel...while the others clapped Strunk on the back and made jokes about the rising from the dead. Right out of the grave. Fuckin’ zombie,”(O’Brien 570). The Vietnam war killed a lot of people so it is not by accident that the tunnels and the accompanying dialogue about Strunk rising from the tunnel like a zombie out of a grave is so oddly specific. Owen is implying that when you go into the tunnels you will not come back alive. Similarly, the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, portrays the harsh reality of war through character development, setting and symbolism.

Owen conveys this message through symbols, setting and characterization; but, unlike the short story in which the characters are described through the items they carry, Owens develops the characters and setting using imagery.

During wartime, soldiers have very few luxuries and can even look as if they are homeless. For example, the opening line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,”(Owen 1) makes comparison between soldiers and beggars. Firstly, a comparison between a soldier and a solicitor implies that just like solicitation is often futile so is fighting in a war. Therefore, the beggar is a symbol of desperation of soldiers and the futility of war. Secondly, it is possible that the phrase “Bent double” is acknowledgment that war has a good and a bad side. For example, while many people die in war, sometimes it is for the better such as in the case of the Civil War in which we were able to make large strides in the abolition of slavery. Nonetheless, Owen’s imagery is disturbing so even if he acknowledges the good aspects of war, he does not approve of war in general. Therefore, a more likely explanation for characterizing a soldier as being “Bent double” is that the soldiers have two personas: the men they were before the war and the creatures they are now. Owen compares soldiers and fictional monsters like werewolves or vampires because they also have two identities; one that is human and one that is inhuman. Also, soldiers are civilians but in war they kill just like werewolves are civil until it is time to kill at night. Similar to the monsters which Owen alludes to, the imagery to describe the setting of the battlefield is equally horrifying “Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning,”( Owens 13-14). In this scene the reader imagines a soldier in the trenches, among his fellow soldiers, suffocating under a sea of green mustard gas as “if in some smothering dream(Owen 17)...the blood come gargling from

the froth-corrupted lungs,”(Owen 21-22). Superficially, it might seem unimportant to compare the experience to a “smothering dream” although it is purposeful because it causes the reader to compare war with a nightmare so horrifying they awoke feeling as if they were suffocating. Coupled with the allusion to monsters and reference to a dream Owen is implying that war is like a nightmare. Owen is saying that while people glorify war, thinking it will be like a dream, soldiers often become trapped inside of the reality of war; a nightmare far from what they had expected. The author's personal experience in war was the inspiration for this poem and the reason he has a negative connotation of war as he writes in the last few lines of his poem “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(Owen 27)... The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”(Owen 28-29) or in English “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”. The allusion to the Latin verse from Roman poet, Horace, symbolizes the long perpetuated lie, promoted for thousands of years, since the Romans. Owen places this reference at the end of the poem because it mocks the idea that dying for one’s country is noble. If Owen had begun the poem referencing Horace then delved into the suffocating of a soldier then the sarcastic tone would be lost and the entire meaning of the poem would be changed.

The desire for power is a key aspect of the human condition. “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “Dulce et Decorum est” by Wilfred Owen take the perspective of the soldier in the fight for their nations power. While O’Brien addresses the deep emotional burden of leaving home for war and Owen addresses the psychological impact of watching somebody die in war, both pieces support their message through character development, symbolism and setting. While the setting was described to be bleak in both works the symbolism and character development were illustrated more by vivid imagery in “Dulce et Decorum est” whereas O’Brien was more descriptory. In conclusion, while the strategies of two war veterans to convey their message differed in a couple ways, there is no doubt that the glory of war is often only a dream and reality is more of a nightmare than we imagine.