‘Mental Cases’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ are two outstanding pieces created by Owen, each using techniques such as hyperboles, personification and imagery that associate the two poems, giving us, the readers, a bigger picture of what is happening in the poets eyes. In the poem Mental Cases Owen expresses his perception that war is taking away a soldiers future, a life full of happiness. It illustrates the bloodshed and suffering of war, using a series of graphical description of young men who are treated for war-related illness’, such as shellshock. It was a heart-wrenching poem for Owen because he himself was a patient of shellshock. The repetition of question marks and dashes illustrate the confusion and frustration witnessing Owens fellow comrades, it is a demanding tone begging for explanation for the entrapment of victims.
In Martin and the Hand Grenade, and Harry Wood, this brutality is extrapolated in regard to man. In the other two poems, For the fire and A crow that came for the Chickens, the underlying theme lies in the cruelness of nature. This alone is evident through the titles of each poem. However, the common theme of both survival and death is established throughout all four of John Foulcher’s
Through his poems, Owen highlights the unjust experiences of soldiers to create a protest against the bureaucracy because of how they justified the harming and killing of many for their own political gain. He does this by highlighting the actions and inactions of the bureaucracy that contribute to benefit of the administration. This can be explored in his poems ‘Parable of the Old Man and the Young’ (Parable) and the epic war poem ‘Disabled’. These two poems employ Owens message of anti-war sentiment to establish a connection with the audience through his manipulation of poetic techniques. Owen highlights such unjust experiences of the soldiers to augment his argument against the bureaucracy.
‘Guernica’ is not just one of Pablo Picasso’s most famous artworks but also perhaps represents his most persuasive political statement. Picasso used ‘Guernica’ to portray his views on the destruction of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. It represents the horror of war and is now recognized by many as an international symbol of peace. Picasso used this work to portray his views on the total destruction caused by the German raid on Guernica in which hundreds of innocent civilians were killed. Picasso uses images such as fallen soldiers, animals suffering and women in pain as well as destruction of buildings to portray his sorrow and the suffering of war.
It has a strong effect because of the death and destruction in his photographs and it made him feel like a priest who was about to lead a mass funeral. The final line of the first stanza begins with “‘Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh’ All flesh is grass’’. It informs the readers about the locations he had shot his photography on and the intonation of the vowel sounds in these words mimic explosions and gunfire.
In this poem Wilfred Owen describes many of the harsh sounds of war on the battlefield. It starts off with a question, “What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?” The question contains a simile, “die as cattle”. This refers to the soldiers being treated as cattle and creates an image of cattle being slaughtered in huge numbers. Nobody mourns the death of cattle; similarly, a soldier’s death was one of little meaning. This has a great effect on what you think about the poem and the war.
Owen wants his reader to feel exactly what he felt about the war, persuade his reader to believe the terror, pain and torture of the war, how devastating can a war effect a human being. He uses imagery and innovative metaphors through the poem. In the first two lines, ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge’, Owen is using figurative language combined with simile and alliteration literary devises to reveal the reality of the war. Soldiers are
Owen's use of diction and figurative language emphasizes his point, showing that war is horrid and devastating. The use of very graphic imagery also adds to his argument. Through the intense content of the poem "Dulce Et Decorum Est," Wilfred Owen shows the reader the horrors of war. Owen compared the soldiers to animals in order to bring out their suffering. "Knock-kneed" is a condition that makes knees hit together when walking.
Brooks contrasts a strong feminist theme and positions us to see their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies. Joss Bont is one of the villains of the plague year. Brooks positions us to see that Joss views the tragedy merely as an opportunity, and his extreme greed and insensitivity know no bounds. His exploitation of the dying and their families makes us see that Anna is glad she no longer shares a last name with him. When Bont adds attempted murder to his other crimes, the demoralized village finally calls him to account.
Kenneth Slessor’s “Beach Burial” and “An Irish airman foresees his death” by William Butler Yeats are two poems each related to war and death. Both poems which really stood out are that they both have symbolisms of war and death. The poem decries the tragic, wanton waste of life. In Slessor’s “Beach Burial” he uses onomatopoeia, “sob and clubbing of the gunfire”. It gives us the impression of a muffled sound where sobbing is grief.