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How does Wilfred Owen present the reality of war
Critical analysis of wilfred owen poetry
Wilfred owen horrors of war
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Owen presents the horror and pity of war by his use of visual and auditory images. They help to heighten the sense of brutality and graphically describe the fear that soldiers felt. His poems are strongly influenced by that fact that he served in the armed forces and personally witnessed some of the situations expressed in his poems.
Throughout the poem Wilfred Owen uses visual descriptions to create sympathy and pity towards those both experiencing the horror of war and those who feel the toll that war can inflict. This is achieved by the dramatic title “Anthem for doomed youth”. The word “doomed” suggests something dark and morbid in the inevitable future. The use of the long vowel sound ‘oo’ adds to the sense of eeriness and possibly even fear. In the first line of the sonnet ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ uses gory visual images to compare soldiers to animals and illustrate how their deaths are inhumane. Owen uses the phrase “Die as cattle” to create this image. The word “cattle” gives the impression that these men are simply bred to be slaughtered as if they are expendable.“Cattle” is also in the plural suggesting that there are a mass of men being murdered making the image all the more horrific. He also uses the phrase “monstrous anger of the guns” to fully expose the terrifying events that soldiers witnessed. The word “anger” personifies the phrase to make it more effective and “monstrous” adds to the sense of fear. The hyperbole also suggests the malevolence and madness of the guns making the image all the more stronger. Further on in stanza one of “Anthem for doomed youth” Owen uses the phrase “Hasty orisons” to emphasize the speed of slaughter on the battlefield. The use of the word ‘hasty’ is a striking juxtaposition as ori...
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... The word ‘legless’ emphasizes his disability and describes how he has lost his great physical capability and appearance due to the war. Finally, the last contrast Owen makes is of the soldiers attitude towards everything. He uses the phrases “no fear Of fears” to compare his once optimistic attitude to his now pessimistic attitude, “why don’t they come”. The use of enjambment and repetition in the first phrase portrays his courage and boldness before the war. The repetition of the phrase “why don’t they come” in the final stanza adds to the sense of bleak desperation he now feels in his life.
In conclusion, Wilfred Owen uses a variety of poetic techniques to powerfully portray the horror and pity of war . By using these two themes he can fully explore the topic of war and expose the cruel effects that war can have not only in combat but outside of the battlefield.
How Wilfred Owen Uses Language and Imagery in His Poetry to Communicate his Attitudes of War
The use of compelling figurative language helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,"(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Another great use of simile, "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,"(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the colour symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to "[v]ile, incurable sores on innocent tongues."(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.
Owen uses imagery constantly to convey the conditions and feelings experienced during this war. Firstly I will be exploring Metaphor as it is used so much in this poem. The first metaphor which I will examine is: “Haunting Flares” on line 3 of the first stanza. This quote has so many connotations, my first opinion on this was that the flares which the enemy are firing to light up the battle field are said to be representing the souls of the soldiers fallen comrades. This could also be said to represent the power the enemy has on their own mortality as the bright flares would light up the battle-field exposing everything to their view, this indicates that the enemy always seem to have power upon the soldiers, almost godly. The second metaphor which I will explore is:
In ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen compares the solders who are men to ugly, old, sick women through the simile “coughing like hags”, highlighting that the men no longer possess strength, masculinity, exceptional physical skills and potency. As a result, the soldiers’ eradicated youth and innocence portrays the dehumanising effect that the soldier’s have faced through their experiences of the war. Additionally, Owen further explores this dehumanising effect through the exaggerated movement of the soldiers in the hyperbolic metaphor “We cursed through sludge”, illustrating the ghastly and gruesome environment made up of a mix of materials such as body parts of other fellow soldiers, blood and mud. The horrendous conditions the soldiers faced for a long period of time had a drastic impact on the soldier’s mental health which in turn lead to post-traumatic stress disorder or shell-shock disorder and lost of potency. Owen also portrays that not only did the war affect a few soldiers, but all the soldiers through the repetition of “all”. Ultimately, it is conveyed that the soldiers had to unwillingly sacrifice their human attributes and was dehumanised as a result of human conflict. Similarly, in ‘The Next War’, Owen
As a poet, Wilfred Owens wants to show the effects of warfare from the viewpoint of a soldier during a War. Owens uses his own experience as a fighter to capture the reader’s attention and get across his point. He often uses graphic imagery and words to depict his thoughts about war. Wilfred Owens, poems, “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for doomed youth” talk blatantly about the effects of warfare on the soldiers, their loved ones, and those who make an ultimate sacrifice by making a statement about the efficacy of war.
The poem is divided into three sections with each part dealing with a different stage of the experience. In the first stanza, Owen describes the state the soldiers are in. The first line states that the platoon is “Bent double, like old beggars” (1). This gives the reader a vision that they are exhausted and compares them to the look of beggars on the street, who often times, look very ragged and shabby. The line “coughing like o...
Just as the poem is written in a rhyme and rhythm that makes poetry easy to follow, the vivid imagery helps one to picture more easily what is going on in the poem. Owen brilliantly chooses words and phrases that illuminate the scene, making the reader feel as if he is physically in the scene along with the characters. For example, Owen describes that the Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;/ Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots/ Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind (Gioia 782). A feeling of sadness and pity is felt as one hears the previous words. It is almost as if the scene of the soldiers trudging through the battlefield is being painted for the reader to actually visually ...
...e see a young boy being taught how to use weapons. In “Exposure”, Owen depicts a group of soldiers freezing to death at war, even though they aren’t in the midst of fighting. Lastly, in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” we read about a soldiers who struggles to get his mask on during a gas attack (when the enemy releases a gas deadly upon inhale). Owen describes the soldiers slow death in detail. Not only do these images provide the reader with first hand accounts of war, but they also show Owen’s feelings towards the war. All of these images that are glued into his head will be there forever, which is why he incorporates these realities in his poems, so that everyone can realize that war is nothing more than a inhumane act of terror.
... Instead of idealizing war in a romantic way, war poets such as Wilfred Owen aimed to expose gruesome truths about these wars and how they impacted lives. It points a finger and criticizes the governments and authorities that wage these wars but don’t fight in them themselves but rather watch as lives are lost. It exposes propaganda for what it is, a tool for brainwashing. It puts into question the notion of dying for ones country to be noble, honourable and admirable.
To draw into the poet’s world, the poet must draw relations between them, including the reader, making them feel what the poet feels, thinking what the poet thinks. Wilfred Owen does this very creatively and very effectively, in both of his poems, Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori and Anthem of Doomed Youth, who is seen as an idol to many people today, as a great war poet, who expresses his ideas that makes the reader feel involved in the moment, feeling everything that he does. His poems describe the horror of war, and the consequences of it, which is not beneficial for either side. He feels sorrow and anger towards the war and its victims, making the reader also feel the same.
The words Owen chooses to use in the poem describing the soldiers are peculiar choices. The speaker refers to them as “[b]ent double, like beggars in sacks” (line 1), very different from a typical idea of a soldier. From the beginni...
Owen begins the poem with a depressing description of a man in a wheeled chair “waiting for dark”. The use of the word ‘dark’ gives connotations of death, implying that he’s waiting for his death to come. It also conveys a sense of isolation and sadness as the soldier no longer has a family. The mention of ‘sleep’ in the last line of the stanza can be an indication that death is near, since death is sometimes described as eternal sleep. Personification is used a...
The poetic techniques used in Wilfred Owen’s war poetry sweep the reader from the surface of knowing to the essence of truly appreciating his ideas. Through sonnets, Para rhymes, ironic titles, voices and strong imagery, not only is the reader able to comprehend to the futility and the horrors of the Great War, but also they can almost physically and mentally empathise with those who fought. Through the three poems examined, it is evident that Owen goes to great effort to describe the conditions and thoughts of the First World War, thus his works are considered an invaluable asset to the modern literature.
It goes through the worst parts of the war and describes them in detail. The horrors in these descriptions contradict the glorification of the war The poem consists of four stanzas, the first describes the soldiers, the second a gas attack, the third Owen’s nightmares and last an accusation to the people back home. Owen’s poems are suffused with the horror of battle, and yet finely structured and innovative. The first stanza sets the scene as it describes the conditions the men fought in and their feelings. Owen immediately shocks the readers by describing the young soldiers as ‘bent double’ emphasising their exhaustion and the way they slump along, deformed by fatigue, I think this is an effective simile because no one back home will be expecting their proud soldiers described as beggars.
...oem ends with a rhetorical question, ‘’why don’t they come?’’, this again shows how the soldier is dependent on others, however, nobody is interested as he is not ‘’whole’’ compared to the other men. This suggests the soldier feels a sense of jealousy. ‘’why don’t they come?’’ is repeated twice, this is effective as it concludes the poem, summarizing the soldiers thoughts, thus making the reader feel sympathetic towards the soldier.