Futility Through Poems by Slyvia Path and Wilfred Owen

882 Words4 Pages
To what extent are there common threads in the poetry of at least two poets you have studied this year? Futility is an inevitable aspect of human nature. Throughout the creative elements of poetry, the poets Sylvia Plath and Wilfred Owen have extensively explored the central concept of futility through varying perspectives. By the utilisation of poetic techniques such as metaphors, symbolism, and irony, the effects of conformity, death, and loss of self-identity have been reflected upon by the poets. A society is a place where people should feel a sense of belonging, but a society exhibiting a lack of compassion is one that is sure to crumble. Confessional poet Sylvia Plath and Pacifist Wilfred Owen explore the effects of a society that lacks compassion through their poems The Applicant, and Anthem for Doomed Youth respectively. Owen’s likening of troops to worthless animals in the line: “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” illustrates the extent to which society has a lack of compassion for the young men and women they tricked into war. Similarly, Plath depersonalised females by referring to them as “it,” and “thing(s)” that may only “(come) out of the closet” when there is a use for them. Plath does this to show how traditional conformist roles play a part in the gradual deterioration of hope and enthusiasm in members of a community. Owen personifies guns with “monstrous anger” to act as a symbol for the societies who initiated war and the privates instructing the troops. They, much like guns, are only good for harm and lack the emotional capability to sense the traumatic experiences they are directly instilling onto countless people. Plath uses a tone of bitter irony to explore a similar concept. The tone, paired with a minor theme of commercialism, compares women to products ultimately criticising a materialistic society that cares less about

More about Futility Through Poems by Slyvia Path and Wilfred Owen

Open Document