Wilfred Owen free essay sample

How does Wilfred Owen convey his central concerns about war in his poetry? Powerful poetic devices allow one to convey his or her themes strongly. Wilfred Owen uses poetic devices in order to allow him to convey his central concern, the terror of war. Both â€Å"Dulce Et Decorum Est† and â€Å"Mental Cases† conveys concerns of pity towards human torture by the horrifying events in war. His poems show a journey of how many children had lost their lives which horrified him. It is evident that poetic devices allow one to convey his or her themes effectively by the way poets use them.Owen uses poetic devices in all his poems to convey his pitiful concerns leading to the theme of horror. â€Å"Dulce Et Decorum Est†, Latin for ‘it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country’ gives a sense of pity as governmental politics enrols unexperienced children to a field where only the fittest survive. We will write a custom essay sample on Wilfred Owen or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Owen use techniques to generate a graphical journey in our minds to draws us into his poem physically. He uses simile to describe the youth ‘like old beggars under sacks’, ‘coughing like hags’ as they are ‘cursed through sludge’.Owen conveys his concern of pity about the youth through simile as these ‘old beggars’ are the young generations of Australia that had been sent to war. He then metaphorically describes them as ‘drunk with fatigue’, ‘men marched asleep’, to highlight their exhaustion and their physical status, unable to keep up. Owen descriptively says that they ‘limped on’ cause of ‘blood shos’ which highlights the graphical image. In result these images convey the pitiful concerns about the youth, by use of descriptive techniques.Similarly in â€Å"Mental Cases†, Owen conveys the concern of pity for the youth that was sacrificed in WW1 for no result, just lost of self control. Owen uses oxymoron to describe the surviving youth as ‘hilarious, hideous’. Oxymoron highlights the image of these mentals as ‘hilarious’ but ‘hideous’ almost ironic. Owen then rhetorically ask ‘but who are these hellish? ’ making readers to think who are these twisted people from war. He wanted to describe these ‘hellish’ being twisted between hilarious yet hideous.It’s pitiful to see an image of the young generation thinking its ‘sweet and fitting to die’ for his or her country but rather they become twisted instead. Owen uses these techniques because he wanted to express pitiful concerns about war. Pitiful as it is for these young generation who died for us in the horrors of war. Secondly, Owen conveys his second concern of a mustard gas attack which infected his comrade, showing his painful suffering, revealing the extreme horrors of war. In â€Å"Dulce† Owen uses repetition of the word ‘Gas! Gas! , Quick, boys! giving a sense of urgency of the situation. The exclamation mark shows an increase of tone to generate a sense of climax when Owen uses the word ‘boy’ highlighting a sense of youth. Owen’s words describe this man as ‘stumbling’, ‘flound’ring’, ‘drowning’, because he wants show an image him suffering. He wants us to almost physically feel how they are suffering. Owen uses descriptive words to show us a graphical image of someone, ‘drowning’, suffocating under a mist of gas which he then use simile to describe the image ‘as under a green sea’ he ‘saw him drowning. ’. Him drowning’ highlights the concern of human suffering relatively to a human drowning in sea. In result he shows the concern of human suffering through use of simile, revealing the ideal horror of war. Also, he conveys his concern of human torture referring to the â€Å"Mental Cases† who had lost control of their own minds. Owen uses simile to describe these ‘Mental’ as ‘skulls’ which symbolises death where they ‘leering like skulls’. He uses simile because he wants to generates an image of how these soldiers that were Owen’s comrades had turn into ‘Mentals’ and became death themselves.Descriptive words which can give a vague image showing repetition of ‘stroke on stroke of pain’ highlighting the image of these ‘mentals’ accumulating pain after pain. He uses oxymoron to show them accumulating pain with ‘slow panic’ highlighting their suffering. He juxtaposes the words ‘slow panic’ to show these mentals are in a state of panic but slowly. This shows Owen’s concern of human torture that he is allowing to be acknowledged through techniques.Finally he conveys his central concern of horror about war through techniques linking to the last two concerns. In the majority of his poems, horror played a major role. He highlights the horror of war in â€Å"Dulce† by using simile to describe his comrade ‘like devil’s sick of sin’. Because it’s ironic how a devil is a sense of sin however the image of ‘his hanging face’ appears to be a ‘devil’s sick of sin’. This highlights the ideal horror of war where the field of hell raided by sins and devils.He metaphorically describes his ‘sight’ as ‘helpless’ referring to the fact that ‘in all his dreams’ he endlessly dream of his comrade’s suffering. He describes the image of this man as ‘guttering, choking, drowning’ to generate that sense of horror. We can never know these horrors because we were not in Owen’s place. Even though he journeys us through the battlefield, eventually, we’re not there, only through words. The vision has haunted him and all he is doing is merely attempting to describe them.We will never know Owens concerns of horror to the extent that Owen does. Subsequently, the central concern, horrors of war in â€Å"Mental Cases† was conveyed through the use of techniques similar to â€Å"Dulce†. Owen’s word, ‘multitudinous murders’ are referring to the continuation of slaughter. The image of the soldiers ‘wadding sloughs’ and ’treading blood’ highlights the idea of human suffering through the aftermaths of war. The use of past tense, ‘had loved laughter’ highlights the idea of the deceased who used to ‘loved laughter’ when they were alive. Owen’s gentle word, ‘always’ conveys the ideal scenes of horror of war which the soldiers ‘always they must see these things and hear them’ constantly. Owen’s word ‘Carnage incomparable and human squander’ emphasises the idea of carnage is incomparable to the rate of human wastage revealing the horrors of war. Owen uses powerful verbs ‘wander’, ‘squander’, ‘extrication’ to show the disgusting graphical image about the horrors of war. Owen uses these techniques to convey his concerns of the horrors of war to us with words as we cannot experience the horror for ourselves.Overall, ‘It is sweet and fitting to die for ones country’ is an old lie that ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ shows the concerns of pity towards human suffering of the horrifying journey in war. ‘Mental Cases’ on the other hand shows a pitiful sense for torture of youth revealing the tragic form of the aftermath of the terrifying experiences in war if chosen to follow this white lie. Owen cannot convey these pains, but he can technically put them into words allowing us to feel his experiences in war, but not to the extent that he does. Wilfred Owen free essay sample The nature of war is horrific and dehumanising. It is an extreme experience that deals with the obscenity of death and sacrifice for your country that pushes the individual to their emotional and physical limitations. Wilfred Owens poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of the pity for the young soldiers scarified in it, this is shown though a variety of poetic techniques. Owen explores the physical horror that war represents in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, this poem condemns those who glorified the war and tempted men to join the army with heroic rhetoric and looks at the realistic physical outcome of war. In â€Å"Disabled† Wilfred conveys the physical and long lasting effects that war leaves on the individual. By exploring these poems it compels the reader and gives them a better understanding of the experiences and harsh nature of war. Owen experienced the horrific nature of World War One. We will write a custom essay sample on Wilfred Owen or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His vivid descriptions of the soldier’s conditions and the trauma of witnessing death compel the reader to look at the futile nature of war and the physical damage that is done to its participants. The Gas attack is the main event in this poem â€Å"GAS, GAS! † the repetition and use of the exclamation mark emphasises the dangerous nature of the gas, it quickens the pace for the reader this shows the frantic struggle they are faced with as they try to â€Å"fumble† to safety. The mass devastation of death and loss is shown as he reminisces in his dreams of his friend dying â€Å"Guttering, stumbling, Drowning† these polysyllabic terms make evident their helplessness. The vivid vile imagery â€Å"come gargling from the froth – corrupted lungs† describes the visual and audible sounds associated with the dying man help the reader visualize the confronting truth of the horrific nature of war. There is nothing glorious in their physical, emotional or mental state. We see this in the first stanza where their ill health is shown though similes such as â€Å"coughing like hags† and â€Å"like old beggars† which is a direct contrast to the men who were sent away to war as the best and brightest. The conditions of the trench welfare were very poor, many of the soldiers got diseases for example trench foot the metaphor â€Å"blood-shod† and the quote â€Å"all went lame; all blind† reinforces this. The dangerous and horrendous experience physically leaves the soldiers â€Å"Drunk with fatigue† and left with no glory as the nature of war destroys all hopes for these men. People back home on the home front hadn’t experienced or seen the unique devastation in World War One. Owen through his poetry educates the people back home that the nature of war is a heartbreaking experience, which challenges the jingoistic attitudes of the warmongers. Through the political rhetoric and the propaganda they created the idealistic notions of patriotism, duty, honour and glory but Owen criticises those in charge and the propaganda for making war appealing to young, enthusiastic boys â€Å"children ardent†. They were only children looking for â€Å"desperate glory† and because of their youthful naivety they were eager to be seen as honourable however the poem demands that there is no such glory in death and sacrifice â€Å"like a devils sick of sin†. Owen suggests that the real â€Å"sin† is in the warmongers for romanticising the nature of war. The Latin title of the poem â€Å"Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori† is highly ironic and contrast with the realistic experience of war. Like in â€Å"Dulce†, â€Å"Disabled† explores the betrayal from the Propaganda and the consequences of joining up. The metaphor â€Å"he threw away his knees† portrays the youthful reckless of enlisting without the thought of the consequences, this epitomises the scorn Owen feels for those in charge. Youthful naivety had misguided these â€Å"children† to join, he enlisted to show off to the girls â€Å"to please his meg† when now his appearance drives them away and the only attention he gains is the â€Å"pity they may dole† due to the outcomes of war. Selling their jingoism attitudes to these young men through the misguided interest in enlisting is used to emphasise the extent the â€Å"lie† was told, the metaphor â€Å"he’d look god in kilts† implies the ideal â€Å"glory† is the reason he joined the war. Owen is vitriolic in his condemnation of those who support war and puts the guilt and blame onto those in charge. The nature of war had a flawed idealism to the participants that joined up and Owen blames the Propaganda for not educating the soldiers about the reality of war. When war finished people were able to go on living without a change, this was not the case for so many of the soldiers. Due to the harsh nature, the tragedy and experience of war continues long after the battle has ended. Owen explores the extraordinary experiences and the consequence of a man â€Å"Disabled† by war. At the start of the poem we see the persona is incapacitated confined to a â€Å"wheeled chair†, he is unnamed as he represents all victims whose lives have been ruined by war. The Colour imagery â€Å"dark† and â€Å"grey† establish the disorientating mood, and is symbolic of the depressiveness of his life. His physically broken â€Å"legless, sewn short at elbow† he is seen as â€Å"like some queer disease† this highlights aspects of his physical reality. Once a strong, healthy man, he is now helpless due to his injuries and must live with them for the rest of his life. Waiting for dark† this ironically provides a sense of comfort for this man, and highlights the horrible nature he now must face. The repetition of â€Å"Why don’t they come† captures his physical entrapment and reinforces the helplessness he is now faced with. The negative connotations of â€Å"No, Not and Never† reinforces that there is nothing left for him besides spending years in â€Å"institutes† being helpless whilst the warmongers on the home front may go back to their happily lived lives. Due to the nature of war soldiers suffered horrific injuries from the experiences at war and must deal with them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately the after effect of the nature of war is not only physically but it was also emotionally and socially devastating for the soldiers that were able to return home to normal society. Through sexual imagery we see the obvious difference of the once energetic youth that thought that his experience would help him â€Å"please his meg† and what is has become now â€Å"disabled†. He didn’t think of the consequences when he joined because of social expectations but because of this consequences â€Å"he will never feel again how slim girls waist are or how warm their subtle hands† this tactile imagery shows the irony of joining war, instead of pleasing girls he is now â€Å"stared at like some queer disease†. His dismissal of â€Å"the women’s eye† foregrounds his social alienation, bed provides the only escape. The elegiac tone of things he â€Å"use to† do and the reality of his existence â€Å"now† juxtapose the past and the present. The anonymity of â€Å"they† in the questioning â€Å"why don’t they come† serves to further separate him from society. The attitudes to war whilst he was away fighting for the country changed â€Å"he was drafted out with drums and cheers† this is a direct contrast to when he arrived home â€Å"some cheered him home†, he didn’t gain anything from going to war, he hardly even got recognised as a hero. Due to the extreme experiences of war and believing the propaganda has he smiled â€Å"they wrote his lie† just like in â€Å"Dulce† he has been emasculated as everything has been taken away due to the dehumanising nature of war, this compels the reader to sympathise with the victims of war. From the personal extraordinary experiences, Wilfred Owen shows the flawed idealism of often associated with war. He reveals the confronting truth and shows the effects of war on the participants and the after effects physically, socially and emotionally. The nature of war deals with death, destruction and the mass devastation on the individuals and their families. Owen blames the political romanticism and propaganda for the loss of the children’s life, this compels the reader to get a realistic view of the nature of war and the effects it has on its individuals.