An important theme throughout the poem is the concept of war used to glorify violence. The title of the poem which was widely used propaganda at that time exalts the concept of war, saying it’s a good and honourable thing to die for your country, but in reality, as evidenced by the soldier in the poem could not be more different. The idea of suffering is explored with the use of depressing and dismal language. The use of simile such as “bent double like old beggars” gives the impression that the soldiers have been prematurely aged, and seemingly deformed by the harsh conditions of war. This simile is an important contrast of the information people were fed at the time of soldiers being strong and proud.
Compare the ways the distinctively visual is created in The Shoehorn Sonata and one other related text of your own choosing. War is indeed an unconventional and traumatic experience that anyone would be ruined to endure. These experiences of war can be lived out through memory of hardships and war time acts of injustice and through the post-traumatic stress that is developed due to the experience. John Misto, play writer of “The Shoehorn Sonata” and Wilfred Owen the composer of “Dulce et decorum est”, have both undoubtedly condensed this thematic perception of war and how individuals can live out their experiences. This concept has been achieved through the employment of both visual and language techniques.
HOW DOES WILFRED OWEN CONVEY THE HORRORS OF WAR IN POETRY ? Many of Owen's poems direct anger towards the generals and those at home who have encouraged war.Owen's war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' or mental torment such as in' Disabled'. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy. Owen sympathizes with the vain young men who have no idea of the horrors of war, who are 'seduced' by others (Jessie Pope) and the recruiting posters.
This unspecified and detached account of this action and the death in general, shows the way in which the members of the platoon deal with the complexity of the war experience. So much so that O’Brien is able to turn the story of Curt Lemon to a love story. Many go into a war story expecting to hear about triumph, pride, courage, and sacrifice. However, O’Brien claims that a true war story will shatter all previous expectations of a war story and instead be about evil and more obscene things. O’Brien says, “A true war
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.
The poem focuses on the effect of conflict and is focused on an injured, probably dead soldier. Owen uses this soldier to question to point of life being created it can be destroyed so easily. A Charge, which is what is what Tennyson portays, is patriotic with celebrating the courage and obedience of the soldiers. This can be seen in his use of glory, honour and noble in the poem. This positive representation of conflict could be linked to Tennyson’s role of Poet Laureate under Queen Victoria’s reign.
As Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The connection between families and soldiers is affected by the war. Eric Bogle’s poem, The Green Fields of France, demonstrates the anti-war sentiment through the impact on the society due to the loss of young lives. Homecoming, by Bruce Dawe, explores the dehumanisation and pointlessness of war that thoroughly implicate the imperative relationship between soldiers and their families. The poem, The Charge of The Light Brigade by Lord Alfred Tennyson, presents the bravery and courage of the soldiers to sacrifice themselves in battle to defend their nation. The poets are using clear visual and aural poetic techniques to explore the relationship between the
How does Owen use language to convey the horror of War in ‘The Sentry’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’? ‘The Sentry’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ both convey the harsh reality of war that Owen personally experienced however, ‘Dulce...’ focuses on the pain of the gased soldier whilst Owen widens the perspective in ‘The Sentry. There are many similarities between both poems, such as the way Owen presents a dramatic image of war by use of language techniques, however there are also many differences. Owen uses language to show the reality of war. The simile “like old beggars under sacks” illustrates the dirty, weak image of the soldiers which contrasts the strong, heroic image which was portrayed of them at the time.
Also the use off an oxymoron "restless silence" foreshadows the tragedy that is to come. Larkin presents loss off time with the adverbs "never", "all day", "domesday", "past", "lasting" and "leaving" these adverbs represent the negative impact of war and how time passed so fast. Larkin places capitals at the beginning off line, this reinforces authorities power at he beginning of the war, and how they had such a massive impact on people's loss of lives. Larkin uses both poetic devices and language devices technically through out his poem, all of these devices highlight the impact off war and the extreme losses people had
As the poem progresses, Mikhail begins to mock the routine of war, (wakes the sirens…dispatches ambos…swings corpses through the air) therefore showing us the harmful effects of war. Dunya Mikhail portrays the realities of war through the use of personification and lack of punctuation. As you can see the structure of the poem almost resembles that of a list, creating the effect of life during the war, long and routine. Through the use of action verbs such as swings, summons and digs for example she is using this language to show what the war does by giving it human qualities (read examples). The start of the poem (read first 3 lines) has quite a sarcastic tone and I think this shows how she feels towards the military glorifying war, doing whatever they can to convince you to join.