Base Details Quotations Flashcards
“Short of breathe”
This show that the general in which Sassoon is describing is unfit
“Base Details”
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“Bald”
This also shows that the general might be quiet old as he has no hair.
“Fierce”
This is an ironic thing for the poet to describe the general as. Because when it come to the actual battle he runs the opposite way from the enemy. Showing that is a coward.
“Barks”
Even though the general is scared to fight, he still shouts orders at the young brave men that are willing to lose their lives on the battlefield while he stays in his safe bunker.
“And speed glum heroes up to their deaths”
This shows that the general does not see the young men that have come to die for their country as Heroes. This also shows that he does not care about their welfare, making the readers hatred grow towards him.
“Guzzling and Gulping at the best hotels”
The poet uses clever alliteration and onomatopoeia here as the repetition of the letter “G” helps the reader to create a rhythm here and also can be easier to associate with the onomatopoeia as it is almost like the reader can hear the general drinking. Also the fact that the general is in the best hotels while his soldiers are out on the battlefield makes the reader feel disgusted
“Poor young chap, I would say”
This shows a patronising tone as the general pretends to care about the lose of a solider, when he does not have any sympathy. This only arouses the readers anger more as the general portrays a man of no feeling.
“Scrap”
This is a word normally associated with a fight between children - this is very insulting to the soldiers that have lost their lives fighting deadly battles on the front line, also giving connotations that the general thinks that this battle has little importance.
“Youth stone dead”
When the general calls the brave soldiers this we are able to see clearly they he does not respect them and he sees them as knelt prices of stone when they are dead. The writer does not see them as brave soldiers.
“I’d toddle safely home and die - in bed”
The fact that the general is so confident that he is going to get home safely and be able to die in the comfort of his own bed, while thousands of other soldiers have lost their lives out on the battlefield while being pushed forward by the general.
