Wilfred Owen Flashcards
context
- strong Christian beliefs
- influenced bey John Keats - romantisicm - “sweet to die in war for brothers”-WO, betrayal, social pressures/lies … “i can see no excuse for deceiving you “ - to mother once seen Somme
- nationalist - enlisted free will 1915
- served in ww1 trenches
- discharged to Craiglockhart Hospital- 26 June 1917 (shellshock)
- 1917 oct met Siegfried Sassoon - sent to hospital to silence controversial war writing
- intention : “poets must be truthful”, expose “pity of war”
Dulce et Decorum Est
𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵
follows narrative of soldiers who, upon returning from the battlefield are caught in a gas attack, recounting how one soldier suffers as he doesn’t get his gas mask on in time.
𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻
The poem acts to reveal Owen’s critical view of war, aiming to expose the “truth” about the harsh “pity of war”, fufilling his perceived duty as a writer. I believe this was perhaps rooted in the betrayal he felt after he witnessed how the battlefield contrasted the romanticised image promised to young naive solders like him.
𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽
It was then in Craiglockhart war Hospital where he witnessed the dark and lasting effects of war, specifically PTSD, a common theme within his poems, both this one and others like Mental Cases.
𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼
To address the overall message of Owen’s writing, I would first like to explore the theme of injustice, used to introduce the truth of war, before looking at the theme of the lasting impact of these horrors, and the subsequent theme of accusation towards nationalists/ pro-war individuals like Jesse Pope.
1 𝓘𝓷𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮 -TS: revolves around turning good sour- sinful
-old beggars -> boys -> children - progressive/ repetitive
-sores on innocent tongues
-flung - depersonalisation = visceral- blood come gargling from … froth corrupted lungs. war is corrupting innocence
-devil’s sick of sin - this multitude is too much
2 𝓛𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓽 -TS: war extends beyond physical suffering/ what the naive can see, it is forever VIVID pain
-vile, incurable sores - not only repulsive irreversible damage
-in all my dreams… , syndetic listing- present -ongoing suffering
- Gas!!!! - repetition, exclamttives, vivid, unwavering trauma
3 𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓾𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓣𝓸𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓼
-if you could hear, you too could pace, my friend - direct address, conditional, mock, invoke guilt ant false promise
- the old lie dulce… enjambement- crosses lines - omission of truth, last line - build up
𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼
the themes used to communicate the deglorification of war can be seen primarily through Owen’s use of biblical subversions and direct address to communicate his anger towards the deception painted by nationalists to the youth.
𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
Dulce et Decorum Est//Pro patria mori - deception - omission of truth
mental cases
.𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵
Follows narrative of 2 voices, one naive representing the oblivious yet pro-war perspective, while the other knowledgeable voice exposes to it the pitiful reality & effects of war, walking though a psychiatric hospital where soldiers suffer from shell-shock.
𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻
The poem works to reveal Owen’s critical view of war, aiming to expose the “truth” about the harsh “pity of war”, fulfilling his perceived duty as a writer. I believe this was perhaps rooted in the betrayal he felt after he witnessed how the battlefield contrasted the romanticised image promised to young naive solders like him.
𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽
It was then in Craiglockhart war Hospital where he witnessed the dark and lasting effects of war and later met Siegfried Sassoon that he was motivated to put his truth into writing
𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼
1 𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝓼𝓾𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 - wo communicates injustice, attempts to reveal truth and accuse those he thinks accountable
- relish dehumanisation - bestial
-minds dead have ravished, twilight, skulls- dead like
2 𝓛𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓾𝓶𝓪 - TS: war extends beyond physical suffering/ what the naive can see, reveals deeper, lasting suffering - soul
- smiling corpses - loss of soul - motif of eyes
- murders witnessed, loss of presence
- always they must… ongoing
3 𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓾𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓣𝓸𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓼𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼
- these are men , structure - the book of revelation- those who god has saved/ reached enlightenment through suffering, ironic, accusing they have reached hell.
- these are men- contrasts depersonalisation
𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
The Show
𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼 1 TS 2 TS 3 TS 𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼 𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵
Follows the narrative of a soldier in his dying moments as he is led by Death to look down upon the battlefield and witnesses the massacre of nature.
𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻
The poem works to reveal Owen’s critical view of war, aiming to expose the “truth” about the harsh “pity of war”, fulfilling his perceived duty as a writer though the depiction of the battlefield to appear hell-like. I believe this was perhaps rooted in the betrayal he felt after he witnessed how the battlefield contrasted the romanticised image of war promised to young naive solders like himself, an idea conceived from his appreciation of romantic writers like John Keats in his early life, who painted nature to be a force of beauty “never to pass into nothingness”. it is this precise outlook that is challenged within the poem “the Show”
𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽
It was then in Craiglockhart war Hospital where he witnessed the dark and lasting effects of war and later met Siegfried Sassoon that he was motivated to put his truth into writing, translating to this poem communicating betrayal and sadness over anger towards
𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼
1 Disruption of nature -TS:
- scarred potholes- mines- personification of landscape- wounded
- deep wounds , foul smell- olfactory imagery
2 dehumanisation of soldiers -TS: by painting humans so insignificant highlights futility of war
- slimy trails- insects- insignificant - war is futile…
- colour imagery, brown & grey to divide soldiers= so similar- futile
- writhed, shrivelled, killed - short lifespan, syndetic list
3 War is torturous/sinful TS: not only for disrupting nature, pointless, but also to be torturous to degree death looks down upon it.
- he - personification of death
- i saw…- personal rapport- perspective, witnessing hell
- severed head- visceral
- set out landscape of torture= hell
𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼
predominately the personification of death and comparison of man to insects in the earth gives scale to infer futility of war
𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
irony- grandeur
mockery- man’s presentation is worthy of hell
premaditative- planned/ rehearsed by those in power, each soldier themselves is one insignificant individual of an ensemble
Asleep
𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵
poem asleep, originally named killed asleep explores the death of a soldier, witnessed by an anonymous observer as they are shot in their sleep and consequently bleed out
𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻
the poem works to reveal Owen’s abysmal perception of war, insinuating that its only purpose is to take life from the innocent. However, despite the suffering of soldiers, Owen takes a hopeless stance within this poem, unlike the accusing tone of Dulce. He appears to be questioning his Christian beliefs, core to his identity and world view, this greatly contrasting beliefs from Mental cases, where the sin of war is accounted to be certainly hellish. showing that the multitude of suffering witnessed in the war makes him question the existence of a heaven or hell, even beginning to envy the dead who can escape the suffering of survival.
𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽
It was at Craiglockhart war Hospital where he witnessed the dark and lasting effects of war and later met Siegfried Sassoon motivating him to put his truth into writing.
𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼
1 𝓢𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱 TS:the opening stanza of the poem introduces the idea that death is to be feared and is a horror of war.
-death took him… unjust- taken from innocent
- creeping ants- stolen, uncontrolled
-aborted life, leaping -subverting death to be peaceful
2 𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓦𝓪𝓻 -TS: wo goes on to build upon his depiction of death being fearful by revealing reality to be even more pitiful.
-great wings- contrast between ideal image of heaven with our reality
- these clouds, these rains….lead - anaphora syndetic listing - ongoing
- head is one with grass- jealousy of the dead- depicts physical rest
- than we who must make - explicit jealousy
3𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓾𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓘𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 -TS after owen’s progression through bringing importance to the fearsome significance of death before holding it above the pitiful reality brings both owen and the reader to a dilemma of questioning the unknown and ultimately to the decision to be indifferent, once again desensitised to the death of others
- cyclical structure- attacking the indifferent while agreeing
-who knows? who hopes… rhetorical short questions in succession -reveals his confusion, loss of faith
- than we who must awake, and waking say alas! - exclamative could show revelation, or forced pretence of obliviousness , must= war not only brings death but forces the others to be unsympathetic- taking away our humanity
𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼
personification of death an d
𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
The Send Off
𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵
Follows the depart of soldiers as they leave fro battle and are only witnessed by a tramp and the porters
𝓦𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻
Acts to expose Owens cynical perception of war, rooted in betrayal felt at witnessing contrast between expectation and reality, he addresses this contrast within the poem to reveal truth and pity of war his duty
𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽
𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼
1 finality of war TS depiction of its finality to communicate how war is a death sentence
2 deglorification of war TS used to reveal reality and misrepresentation
3 secrecy TS accusing public who present soldiers to be celebrated
𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼
𝓣𝓲𝓽𝓵𝓮
