The term “if I should die” was probably a used phrase when the soldiers were writing letters to their loved ones. This poem captures the attitudes of the time of much patriotism. The men were willing to sacrifice themselves for England and dying with happy hearts. The beginning of the war was not as volatile so the view on the war was very calm and collective. The enthusiasm of winning the war and the confidence that it would be over by Christmas was very high.
Like, Nguyen Van Khien, he had his leg blown off during the war. He felt “sad and wanted to cry” because now he has only one leg (Adams). Many other soldiers in the north must have experienced injuries like him as well. Even with a severe injury though, the soldiers believe that “life is still good” because at least they made it out alive (Adams). The three things that affected North Vietnamese, hating Americans, living in harsh conditions and receiving severe injuries were all things they had to deal with during and after the war.
Eric Bogle’s poem, The Green Fields of France, depicts the detrimental effects of war on individuals and the society. The use of hyperbole in, “The killing and dying was all done in vain…whole generation that were butchered and damned,” reflects how the society was ripped apart due to the death of loved ones, which lead to an unhealthy community. It further explains that families had to go through so much grief and anxiety for a war that did not achieve anything. Likewise, Bogle demonstrates the pointlessness of the war. “…Did they really believe that this war would end wars…it all happened again, and again, and again,” this use of rhetorical question and repetition emphasises the anti-war sentiment that both Bogle and Dawe capture.
Throughout ‘The War poems’ Owen creates a sense of sympathy for the soldiers who fight in war and are forced to endure horrific atrocities that either they themselves commit, or are committed against them, the continual assaults on their physical and emotional wellbeing. In the poems Owen recreates his experiences being an officer on the ‘Western Front’ in World War I, and voices his bitterness towards and rejection of the futility of war; the never ending loss of life at the hands of the British Military. Owen condemns those who encouraged young men to go to war and used rhetoric to give off the impression that war rewarded young men with glory. Owen rejects this in his poems by reflecting his own experiences as ‘Glorious’ and investigating the horrors of war, and their effect on the physical and emotional wellbeing of soldiers. Owen’s poems are riddled with references to the loss of youth, innocence and life.
written by Jessie Pope, and finally contrast this with the poems by Owen. DISABLED I think that in the poem 'Disabled', Wilfred Owen is trying to convey the real tragedy of war. Many people think only of those killed but reading the poem you remember that many people who were not killed in the war could still have suffered a lot more. In the poem Owen focuses on one young man, a single victim of war. It shows the effect the war has on the young man's life, when on returning from the war he has been maimed "legless, sewn short at elbow" Owen writes the poem with style.
In All Quiet on the Western Front the protagonist is Paul Baumer because we experience the story from his point of view and thus we sympathize with him. Paul’s situation is troubling because his life and the lives of other soldiers his age “have become a wasteland” (20). War has changed them and the world so much that they don’t really know what they are going to do once the war finishes. They don’t know any trades; all they know is war. The value of their lives was also changed by war.
Dear America challenges the assumptions of mainstream America about the war. Allen Paul illustrates in a letter to a woman his first experience of war by stating “…it sure was an ugly sight.” This enforces the falsity of the assumption made by mainstream America about the war being easy and painless. The brutality of war is further recognised when George Olsen describes in his letter a wounded soldier momentarily dying being resuscitated by stating “...in a way, he was the luckiest one out there” purely because his injuries resulted in him returning home. Mainstream America assumed the war to be quick, easy and painless; when for the soldiers it was a long, hard and painful experience that only other combatants would
Restrepo The documentary Restrepo portrayed war life in the most vivid way. Blood and Gory didn’t need to be shown for viewers to understand the hardships that come with being a soldier. Restrepo, showed the real emotion behind war, and situations that make average life seem like a piece of cake. Soldiers step out knowing the risks and the consequences, but step out with pride to fight for their country. With firefights, life and death situations, and the mourning of their fellow soldiers, Restrepo showed that when it comes to war, even when we win, everyone still loses.
‘Owen’s poetry is essentially a protest against the uselessness of War.’ To what extent do you agree? Wilfred Owen’s Anthology, The War Poems makes use of many different styles, forms and various other techniques to convey a very specific singular point, war in itself, is an entirely pointless endeavour. The cost is too high, the gains, too low, and in the end, we are left with a world scorn and in ruins. Owen explores the physical and psychological effects of war on the soldiers that put their lives on the line to serve their country. He then examines the way in which these soldiers are treated as nothing more than a commodity to be spent on the battlefield.
DISABLED How successfully does the writer compare the ideas of sports and war in “disabled”? Throughout the poem ‘Disabled’ Wilfred Owen portrays the conditions of an incapacitated worrier who lost his soul at the battle fields for vain reasons. At one occasion Owen brings out the contrast between sports and war. The irony here is that these two topics; sports and war have one thing is common, that is both sports and war have opposite sides and there is a battle occurring ,yet they are set in contrast. The effects of war conflicts with the effects of sports.