Wilfred Owen Trauma

Wilfred Owen suffered from shell-shock, so in his poem, he expresses the consequences of those who suffered from these symptoms. Because there was no diagnosis or treatment for the physiological symptoms associated with shell-shock, Owens recreates the lasting images he lives with. In the poem, he states, “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” (Owen 11-12). Owen was unable to help his fellow solider during the battle and this scene haunts his mind. If Owen was to receive the proper treatment for the shell-shock he experienced, he possibly may not be so haunted by this event. The ignorance and lack of diagnosis of the physiological traumas of Wilfred Owen left him to a life of horrific images

Once a man who loved literature, Septimus is but a shell of himself after returning from the war. Because he lives with the emotional trauma as a result of witnessing his friend Evan’s death, he no longer enjoys the literature he once loved and suffers from frequent hallucinations. According to Panichas, “Clearly Septimus’s friendship with Evans is a “sacramental” one, of the ethereal kind that developed among the combatants, now necessarily free of class distinctions, confronting a common enemy and a common danger, with a common loyalty and solidarity. But the shock of warfare and its grim consequences in the end robbed Septimus of his human feelings” (237). The soldiers on the battle field formed a bond because they were fighting for the same country. It didn’t matter what class they were or where they live because they were both fighting the same enemy. The relationship formed between Septimus and Evan was one that haunted Septimus for the rest of his life. Because the pair was so close during their time fighting for their country, Septimus feels guilty that Evans died and he did not. These feelings along with the images that haunt Septimus have such an effect on his personality because he feels that he should have died along with his