Compare and Contrast the Attitudes to War as Reflected in for the

1206 Words5 Pages
Jennifer Thron Comp 1 Week 8 3/19/13 Compare and contrast the attitudes to war as reflected in for the fallen and the sendoff. 'For the fallen' and 'The Send-off' are poems written demonstrating attitudes towards war. Whilst banyan conveys an idealized, romantic picture of war that depicts the soldiers as heroic and courageous, Owens attitudes towards war are more pessimistic in nature. Owen uses appearance versus reality to show the corruption and misery of war. Banyan and Owen convey their attitudes through the language, structure and poetic devices they employ The attitudes to war in 'for the fallen' are patriotic and romanticized. The opening lines, 'with proud thanksgiving,' suggest grandeur, prestige and honors. Banyan conveys the ideas that fighting for your country, and serving in the war is honorable. To emphasize the honor of fighting in the war banyan employs a metaphorical representation of England as the capital mother. 'a mother for her children,' through personifying England as a mother it is almost like England has nurtured and shaped her children which are symbolic of the soldier which depicts the view that it was the soldiers duty to fight for their country. The repetition of the words 'for her,' evokes guilt in the readers as banyan illustrates the attitude at the time being that England has done so much for the soldiers that it was expected of them to give back to their country. Contrasting to the patriotic and idealized image of war and serving your country the representation that Owen conveys of war, is eerie and daunting,' the darkening lanes.' The imagery of the 'darkening lane' could reflect the lives of the solders sent to war, it suggests that their death were almost inevitable and they were bound to death before they were even sent off. The use of the word darkening eliminates any
Open Document