Dulce Et Decorum Est Analysis Essay

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Recommended: Wilfred Owen's ideas about war

Hardships from hostile experiences can lead to the degradation of one's mental and physical state, breaking down their humanity. Wilfred Owen's struggles with the Great War has led to his detailed insights on the state of war, conveying his first-hand experiences as a front-line soldier. 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and 'Insensibility' displays these ideas and exposes the harsh and inhumane reality of war. From the imagery and metaphors, Owen's ideas about the deterioration of human nature resonates with the reader of the repercussions of war. Metaphors can detail the emotions soldiers feel from their endurance of war and the methods soldiers use in order to survive. The second stanza of the poem is an extended metaphor for conveying the pain soldiers feel when they breathe in gas. 'Flound'ring like a man in fire or lime…' portrays what sort of pain the soldier is going through and helping the reader understand what's it like in the battlefield. 'He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.' These metaphors show the comparison between a person who was attacked by the gas and a person drowning, the feeling of …show more content…

'As under a green sea, I saw him drowning' this detail portrays what the gas attacks were like and how devastating it was, equivalent to waves crashing down, this image of a green sea also shows us the misery soldiers experienced, correlating it to drowning and how powerless they were. Therefore, this imagery details the horrors of war and moreover, gives a detailed representation of what the conditions were like. 'In all my dreams before my helpless sight'. Owen states the soldier's drowning forever haunts him and is continuously reminded of how helpless he was when he couldn't even save the soldier right in front of him. The idea of drowning becomes central to the poem because of its powerful portrayal of pain and a horrific reminder of the brutality of

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