Explore the ways in which Wilfred Owen shows you the Futility Of war in his poems

In this essay I will be analysing two poems ‘Dulce et decorum est’ and ‘Futility’. The two poems will show how Wilfred Owen shows futility of war in each poem. Wilfred Owen was one of the leading poets of the First World War. He was born on the 18th March 1983 and was killed in action on 4th November 1918. During his time in war he wrote many powerful poems; the conditions they lived in and how futile it was.

During war propagandists publicised war as daring and heroic, encouraging families to send their sons to join the army. The glorification of war is reflected in the Latin notion; ‘Dulce et decorum est propatria mori’ meaning it is sweet and noble to die for ones country. Owen illustrates this by labelling it as the ‘old lie’. Men were tricked into war considering that after war, they may have a chance of having possessions such as fame and riches. This persuaded males to go out and sign for the war at that time most people were poor and were willing to do anything for fame and riches. Government spreaded propaganda across the areas as they demanded men to join the army this was because their country was in danger. In addition to this, throughout the war millions of soldiers experienced and lived the horrors of trench warfare. Conditions in the trenches were shocking. Soldiers had to live there in all weathers. In winter, trenches flooded, and sometimes froze. The outcome of wet conditions and poor hygiene had left soldiers suffering from ‘trench foot’. Whilst experiencing the horrors of war and how futile it was, Owen frequently wrote back home to his mother. Owens letters to his mother Susan Owen were an insight to his life in war, and he expressed the horrors of war by describing what other soldiers went through, this illu...

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...n the readers mind. Owen starts to talk about the creation of the world, the alliteration of the ‘clays of the cold star’ emphasises the sense of coldness before life began. In war death overcomes soldiers who become weak, therefore soldiers have no life to carry on and joining war becomes pointless, if death was going to overtake them.

In conclusion Wilfred Owen has successfully reached his points across about futility. In both poems Owen reflects the reality of war with a very strong tone and his ideas and themes can be clearly seen in these poems. Both poems show how everything happens in a sudden. Wilfred Owen describes the pain and horrors of the soldiers, unforgettable and if we were in that same situation, we could not encourage the next generation to fight. Wilfred Owen conveyed that these poems show the horrors of war and how pointless and worthless it is.