In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis

Although are many different definitions given to term “irony,” Blunden uses a very specific form of the literary device in his memoir. His version of irony can be defined as “the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning” (“Irony”). Alternatively, it can also be seen as “a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., especially as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion” (“Irony”). Additionally, it can be used “draw attention to some incongruity or irrationality” (“Irony”). Overall, Blunden uses his version of irony throughout the memoir as a way to convey a message hidden by his words. However, without knowing

much about Blunden’s background and the context he wrote his memoir in, this irony gets lost in translation.
From the very beginning, Blunden uses irony to convey his message. He recounts meeting his new fellow soldiers, and the friendly love he grew for his comrades during their times of leisure. However, he also acknowledges that this peace is only temporary, as they all held “the knowledge that the war had released them only for a few moments, that the jealous war would reclaim them, that the war was a jealous war and a long lasting war” (Blunden 3). The irony in Blunden classifying the war as having the emotional ability to be jealous, and the physical capacity to reclaim them, is his secret way of telling the audience that he felt held captive by the war effort. By becoming a soldier, Blunden has entered an abusive relationship, and has lost his sense of autonomy. The only thing he can do is enjoy the company of those doomed to a similar fate.
Blunden recounts other moments that he describes with more irony. He recollects his mother accompanying him to the station “between pride and revolt—but the war must be attended to” (Blunden 4). The pride is inferred to be in seeing her son fight in the war for his country, while the revolt is in knowing that it is very possible that he will not return alive. It is this combination that ironic, as most do not experience these emotions concurrently, and if so, probably not in the same capacity. Similarly, after meeting two members of the British Expeditionary Force and telling them his age, which would have been 18 or 19 at most, one starts to cry for him, “while his mate grunted an angry sympathy” (Blunden 4). By the use and context of the term “angry sympathy,” Blunden lets the audience know that the phrase is meant to designate both empathy for Blunden, and condemnation for the circumstances that forced him into fighting. Blunden himself seems to hold the same “angry sympathy” for his fellow soldiers as well, and seems to adopt the older men’s anger at the personal cost of the soldiers fighting in the war.
An interesting aspect of the memoir is the lack of respect and esteem for authority that Blunden holds.

Given his apparently gentle and modest nature that was earlier established, it is surprising to see his general hostility towards the war effort as an organization. However, individually, Blunden warmly regards his fellow soldiers with a more positive attitude. He recounts that a captain of one of the army’s battalion’s “was obeying the expensive mandate, when he was hit and killed” (Blunden 16). Instead of going more in detail of the fallen captain’s war status and accomplishments, Blunden instead tells his audience that the captain played cricket for the county of Surrey. By doing so, Blunden puts more emphasis on the man’s achievements outside of the war effort, and gives the audience more information to construct a persona for him outside of being just a war soldier. The irony in this situation is that, by focusing on the man’s recreational hobby, Blunden creates a short obituary for this man that completely omits his military history, aside from the cause of his death, which was following the “expensive mandate” of

authority.
Although not as often, Blunden does detail moments of situational irony.

In the memoir, Blunden tells a story of rifle-training with an experienced Highland sergeant-major. During this session, the instructor, who claims to have never had an accident before, fires a grenade from his rifle to teach the new soldiers how to use the weapon. Due to a malfunction, the grenade detonates within the rifle, and the sergeant is left “lying with mangled head, dead, and others lay near him, also blood-masked, dead and alive. So ended that morning’s work on the Bull-Ring” (Blunden 5). Aside from serving as a brief moment of levity through dark humor, Blunden includes this incident to let his audience that the soldiers were prepped for what they would experience during the war. In addition to being trained how to handle equipment and weapons, the soldiers were mentally primed for the horrors that they would soon

witness.
In Undertones of War, Blunden also includes a number of poems in addition to his memoir. These poems, like the memoir that they accompany, are disjointed and unconnected in narrative and plot. However, they are stylistically similar to each other. Each contains Blunden’s stylistic flourishes and vivid descriptions. These poems mostly contain Blunden’s pensive thoughts, although some describe moments of activity during Blunden’s occupation. The moments of action and movement seem to interrupt the periods of reflection. The differing characteristics of the poems helps show how Blunden skillfully uses irony to show his dissatisfaction with war.