Exposure Flashcards
‘Merciless iced east winds that knive us.’
-Personifies nature to be sinister; creates fear. Nature seems to be attacking us which seems unexpected as we expect soldiers to be fighting with other soldiers. Nature is the true enemy.
-Personification of the wind shows how obscure the elements are as an enemy (unlike the soldiers) nature cannot be fought or physically attacked.
-The increases the vulnerability of the soldiers.
‘Poignant misery of dawn begins to grow…’
-Ironic; dawn-breaking should represent a new day, but to the soldiers it just represents that the day is progressing and continuing.
-When dawn breaks, a new day represents new choices and new decisions that people can make in that NEW day, the soldiers are deprived from this liberty.
-The symbolism of dawn juxtaposes their idea of dawn.
-The ellipsis represents the waiting period being tedious and constant.
FORM of Exposure
Doesn’t fit into any traditional form. Yet, each stanza is structured the same which shows the monotony and futility of warfare. The fifth line of each stanza may be representative of war dragging on and being tedious; alongside being repetitive.
-The refrain ‘But nothing happens’ binds the poem with a sense of paralysis and unprogressiveness.
STRUCTURE of Exposure
-Structured into a single day; employs a cyclical structure - ‘But nothing happens’ (Originally represents the cyclical nature of war, and then represents the death of the soldiers at the end of the poem).
-ANAPHORA is utilised to show the futility of warfare.
CONTEXT of Exposure
-Owen wanted to DE-glorify war at a time in England where warfare was romanticised. He dispelled this myth by showing the monotonous nature alongside the horrific reality of war.
-Owen references to psychological effects of war in Exposure, which WW1 was known for - ‘Shell Shock’ or PTSD.
-Reference to the POWER OF NATURE alongside CONFLICT - life in trenches was awful and played a major part of the high death toll.
