One of the most evident themes in the novel would be loss of innocence. It is constant throughout the book that the innocence of the boys is quickly being destroyed. The books obvious context of civilization versus savaging is essential to show where the innocence is lost. But because civilization is lacking, the boys become cruel and barbaric and even kill each other. The loss of innocence is evident in most characters of The Lord of The Flies.
With his effective use of imagery, diction and irony, Wellford Owens strips away the glory of war and reveals the horror of what it was really like to fight in WWI. Imagery is one of the powerful devise Owen uses to show the realities of war in his poem. Owen uses descriptive words and graphic imagery to provoke feeling and deep emotions within the reader as a way of driving home his anti-war message. For instance, he writes of “froth-corrupted lungs,’’(22)”sores on innocent tongues” (24)and even describes the dying man’s face as a “devil’s sick of sin“(20). As a reader one cannot help but get a mental picture of the terrible war condition as well as feel deep compassion for the soldier.
The simile, "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of skin" highlights to the reader the worst possible illustration of war. His words portrays the terror soldiers feel. "Gas! Gas! Quick boys!"
“That regiment of spire behind the shed: it was no place for rest” the word spite underlines how malicious nettles are, they have strong desire to hurt in this case the young boy. Saying “regiment” links to battle and that these nettles want to cause harm and pain, they are linked to war, the poet sees them as soldiers and described using the metaphor “spears” with in the
One might alternatively interpret Gene’s statement to mean that this enemy was himself, his own resentful, envious nature, which he “killed” either by knocking Finny from the tree or by obtaining forgiveness from Finny for doing so. In either case, the overall theme is clear: all humans create enemies for themselves and go to war against them. Everyone, that is, except Finny, the champion of innocence, who refuses to believe that anyone could be his enemy. In a sense, Finny’s death is inevitable: his innocence makes him too good for the war-torn
Whilst opening the poem almost conversationally Owen quickly reverts and sets the scene of a frantic and relentless attack of gun fire. The sudden impact of the words mimic the abrupt shock of the attack whilst the rhyme and repetition used in “gave us hell, for shell on frantic shell” adds sound and speed to the experience, you can almost feel the force, velocity and relentless pounding of the shells as they “Hammered on top, but never quite burst through”. As well as the heavy bombardment another enemy weighs down heavily on Owen and his platoon and incurs just as much of a threat if not more. The men are at the mercy of the elements and the rain is falling fast and “gutter down in waterfalls of slime”. This is almost an oxymoron as waterfalls are typically emblematic of beauty and tranquillity, a clear cascade of a nourishing life force.
It has helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention. At first look, the text gives a very chaotic feel because the objects and people drawn there are all over the place, giving a messy feel. Almost every segment of the picture has a significant symbol that tells a story. Because of this, every part of the text screams something at the reader, thus the text is very chaotic. Picasso also chose to paint in black and white, depicting the bleak and dismal nature of a country during wartime.
This shows the loss of ‘idealism’ when faced with challenges presented by society. Such as man’s selfishness, desire of power and corruption. In Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding was trying to emphasize his point at the end of the book; the imperfections of mankind. It was shown when most of the boys were killing Simon. Everyone was screaming, “ Kill
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce Decorum Est” is a bleak poem designed to shock the reader by using provocative and interesting word choices to condemn and contradict the government and its supporter’s war propaganda. Particularly the quote “obscene as cancer” includes and interesting word choice. The impact of the word “obscene” is the reader thinks of something completely repulsive and disgusting. This would imply that Wilfred Owen finds cancer disgusting and derogatory. Owen is comparing the effects of cancer to the horror of war.
Not only are their lives wasted, gone without the holy rite of a funeral, but the lives of their loved ones at home are also ruined. The technique of comparison is used a lot in this poem. Owen explores the monstrosity of war in various examples of comparison. The boys "die as cattle," this conveys the idea that the young men going to war is the same as cattle going to a slaughter house to be killed. With no real purpose but to be mindlessly massacred.