exposure Flashcards
What is the overall summary for exposure
Exposure tells the horrifying story of a brutal experience in the trenches during WW2. It shows the reader the herculean (massive) burden placed on the soldiers not only by the opposing army, but the weather. It also subverts traditional ideas of the glory of war by showing the visceral and horrifying reality that most soldiers face. It exposes the trauma faced by soldiers whilst also showing how mentally taxing war can be on those who fight in it.
What was the context of exposure
• Wilfred Owens was a soldier, killed in battle one week before the armistice.
• Owens was inspired by writers such as Siegfried Sassoon who was also a war writer who critiqued patriotism and jingoistic attitudes.
• Owens wrote his poetry to express the horror of war as opposed to internalising it.
• Exposure was written in 1917 as Owens was at war in the trenches, creating an impression of salience on the reader.
• Exposure contrasted the jingoistic and glamourised portrayals of war by poets such as Jessie Pope.
• Owens dispelled this myth by “exposing” the harsh realities and virulence of war.
What does the personification of nature mean for exposure?
• Exposure highlights how nature and the pervasive effect of the cold often results in the soldier’s suffering, as opposed to enemy guns.
• Juxtaposition of “dawn massing in the East her molancholy army” juxtaposes traditional views of Mother Nature as nurturing with the brutality and systematic violence of an Army.
- Ironic as ‘dawn’ is traditionally seen as a symbol for a new beginning and change but there is no such change in sight for the soldiers as the future looks bleak
• It highlights how the soldier’s suffering is continuous, and the arrival of a new day does not herald a new beginning.
- Owen also directly contrasts the battle with the weather, saying it’s ’less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow’. This underlines the suffering of the soldiers. It exacerbates that the danger of war didn’t just derive from battle, instead they had to battle with the real war - facing the weather.
- Colour imagery used for the adjective ‘black’ to connote death and finality, emphasises the mortal peril of the soldiers.
- Striking imagery of the ‘black’ air reinforces that even nature has been kissed by death: it has been tainted by hatred and violence and in turn is making the soldiers suffer - their death is inevitable
Power of nature further highlighted through comparative weakness of the real war.
This is shown through the auditory imagery in ‘gunnery rumbles’ and ‘like a dull rumour of some other war’. ‘Dull rumour’ highlights that war is not the main focus, rather it is reduced to a ‘rumour’ whereas the power of nature is the real threat to the soliders
How is the reality of war represented in exposure
- Owens contrasts the high octane and noble portrayal of the war with the nervous boredom that overcomes and engulfs the soldiers
- This is highlighted by the passage of time, going from ‘snow-dazed’ to ‘sun-dozed’. This passage of time and changing of seasons is contrasted with the stagnation of the solider’s positions, with nothing changing even as time goes on
- The bliss and wonder normals associated with spring is also subverted here, there is no new beginning or respite for the soliders. Owen shows their suffering transcends the seasons.
- The brutality of war and the circumstances are a far cry from the jingoistic portrayals within poems
- This is reiterated in the metaphor of ‘on us the doors are closed’ to show how the people back home have ignored their plight and have almost turned their backs on them. ‘Closed’ creates an idea of finality - the ending of their life is final, and their fate is sealed.
- Owen also shows how the soliders have been dehumanised, saying ‘this frost will fasten on this mud and us’. This shows how war has rendered the soliders as indistinguishable from the trenches, ridding them of their personhood and humanity
- Owen’s title exposure could have a dual meaning. On one hand, exploring the physical and mental exposure of the soliders to the merciless weather. Alternatively, he could be exposing the inhumane treatment that positions of power made these men subject too
How is fear shown in exposure
• Throughout Exposure, there is a sense of inevitability, be it in the soldier’s suffering, the power of nature or the passage of time.
- In the first line, Owen states ‘our brains ache’. This could be seen as inspiration from his beloved poet John Keats in Ode to a Nightingale when he says ‘My heart aches’
- As Owen subverts ‘heart’ to ‘brain’ to make it more applicable to a war context - the war was a battle on the brain and mind. The plural of ‘brains’ shows this collective camaraderie and how they all suffered together.
This may all stem from the soldier’s fear and simultaneous resignation to his fate.
- ‘Wearied we stay awake because the night is silent’ the fear of peace highlights how the soliders have been subject to such barbarity and belligerence, they do not seek comfort in the silence and peace as this is just the lead up to more barbarism.
- Anaphora of ‘nothing happens’ shows that the soliders fear are ongoing but never come to full fruition. Its repetition emulates the soldiers endless fear and suffering.
- ‘We turn back to our dying’ shows a sense of resignation towards the inevitable. This interestingly shows an absence of fear, rather than just grim defeat, perhaps showing that the soliders have learnt to not fear death as they are always faced with this prospect
• This sentiment of dying is reiterated with “for love of God seems dying” showing how they have become disillusioned with the idea of religion due to being subject to such dehumanising conditions. The previous indoctrination of sacrifice for your country and God seems meaningless in such conditions
• They no longer fear the repercussions of God’s judgment as they see that they would not have been subject to such belligerent treatment if there was a God of such
What is the rhyme scheme for exposure
Consistency of rhyme scheme means that the fifth line always stands out. This means that the message in this line is emphasised and is more striking to the reader.
This is significant as it serves to communicate Owens’s emotions in the given stanza, often providing poignant insights into his inner thoughts on how his life has been reduced to nothing.
• The consistency of the rhyme scheme also communicates the monotony of the war, with minimal changes or variations. The four lines preceding the final line are always poetic and rich, meaning that the fifth line always functions as an anti-climax with the eventual realisation that nothing is happening.
• Owens uses bathos to emphasise this effect (anti-climax created by lapse in mood from sublime to the trivial).
• This shows how the soldiers must always remain vigilant even though nothing happens creating this endless mental torture as they are tortured by every moment, they’re on the battlefield: tortured by nothingness, the weather and the prospect of being attacked by the enemy.
How are pararhymes shown in exposure
- Atmosphere of discomfort with half-rhymes that lead to the poem feeling slightly uneasy.
- “Knife us” “nervous”.
• Half rhymes leave the reader nervous and unsatisfied, as the readers are always left expecting a rhyme but never getting it, perhaps to mirror how the soldiers are expecting conflict and it is the nervy anticipation that is playing on their minds.
• This sense of unease throughout the poem is what Owens intends to try and communicate an emotion of war to the reader.
• Owen utilises pararhymes to ‘expose that the unease and anticipation of war was more mentally torturous then the battle itself- soldiers in battle did not have to wait for the death, this way it was imminent and quick. The deterioration in the trenches was far from this.
• This attempt to communicate an emotion of war to the reader may also come to try and educate the people back home. - Owen tells us in his preference that the ‘poetry is in the pity’ perhaps a referral to the true poetry in his poems being the pity that they incite from the reader
- He also tells us that ‘all a poet can do today is warn’ perhaps alluding to how his poetry is a warning to the true nature of war and the lies are peddled about war
How is a cyclical structure shown in ozymandias
“But nothing happens” used to frame the poem as well as being interspersed throughout.
• Shows the continuous vicious cycle of war and suffering as well as highlighting that there is no true end to the soldier’s plight.
Also emphasises the relentless cycle of waiting for ones death.
How are caesuras used in exposure
Owens employs punctuation to try and separate home and freedom from the trenches.
“Slowly our ghosts drag home: glimpsing the sunk fires”.
This serves as a barrier, showing how the soldiers are dreaming of a release that is not guaranteed and that they are separated from.
• The caesura is also used to place emphasis on the relentlessness of their suffering: “Northward. incessantly,”. The comma after incessantly creates a moment for the reader to pause and absorb how their suffering and pain was incessant.
