Exposure - Wilfred Owen Flashcards
To learn quotes and reasons for Exposure poem
What are themes in Exposure?
- War
- Weather
- Despair
How is war portrayed in Exposure?
In this poem he looks at a particular aspect of how death claimed the lives of so many soldiers.
What quote show war in Exposure?
‘We only know war lasts’ ‘ Flights of bullets streak the silence.’
How does this quote show war in Exposure?
The soldiers seem to have little idea of where they are, what they are fighting for and for how long it will be. There is only one certainty and it is that war is something that persists.
The silence is broken by attack.
How is the weather portrayed in Exposure?
the freezing conditions are seen as being dangerous as the enemy. The soldiers are fighting two battles at once and at one point, bullets are seen as less deadly than the cold.
What quote shows the weather in Exposure?
‘the merciless iced east winds that knive us’
‘gusts tugging on the wire’ ‘pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’
How do these quote show war in Exposure?
merciless means never stopping, it is a personification, stabbing.
Wind - it is a metaphor about the barbed wire surrounding them.
Hand of death, personification.
How is despair portrayed in exposure?
one of the casualties of war is the men’s loss of faith in what they are doing and why they are there. Death is seen as inevitable.
What quotes show despair in exposure?
‘For the love of god seems dying’ ‘Slowly our ghosts drag home’ and ‘All there eyes are ice’
How do these quotes show despair in exposure?
- The soldiers have lost their religious faith. This implies that they are not looking forward to any sort of after-life once death has occurred and it makes their situation even more distressing.
- They are not dead yet but they know that it is inevitable and they dreaming about it happening.
- They look around even at people they don’t know and there eyes are dead because they have given up hope.
