Analysis Of Dulce Et Decorum Est By Wilfred Owen

Owen paints a picture of the oppressiveness of war and the fears that constantly follow them to help create the tone. Owen talks about the repercussions of war and how the soldiers never rest completely because they are always on the lookout for another attack. Once optimistic, young, healthy soldiers have been turned into depressed, fatigued, and hunger ridden shells of the human beings they once were (Spacey). By comparing parts the war to “smothering dreams” and to being as “obscene as cancer” (Owen 494), Owen proves that the war is not anything of which to be proud. However, it is in the last few lines that Owen truly expresses his disapproval of the war. He says it is a lie to tell children that it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country. He accuses America for taking advantage of young men who are “ardent for some desperate glory” (Owen 494) by convincing them that war is a way to receive that glory. Owen

There are several image groups used in this poem, two of which I will be reviewing. The first image group is “Sleep or Dreams”. Owen often refers to many subconscious states like the afore mentioned one, the reason why he uses these references so frequently is that war is made apparent to the reader as being a subconscious state as the realities often seem to be too hard to except, an example which backs up my opinion is: “Men marched asleep”. The poet often refers to dreams. I believe part of the reason for this is that by dreaming you are escaping from the physical reality and surroundings and due to the horror and constant threat of death the soldiers would constantly be dreaming of home and their loved ones. However,

Owen talks about what all of the men go through during war. According to Owen war is this absolutley appaling fight that people go through. Throughout the poem he makes the audiance visualize what went on by telling them about the blown off limbs and how the soldiers barely ever slept and just kept going and how they never forget about what happened. " But limped on, blood shed... And Flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Another tool in developing the effectiveness of the poem is the use of compelling figurative language in the poem helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, the metaphor, ?Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,?(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Also, the simile "coughing like hags"(2) helps to depict the soldiers? poor health and depressed state of mind. Owen makes us picture the soldiers as ill, disturbed and utterly exhausted Another great use of simile, ?His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,?(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the color symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to ??vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.?(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.

In the first stanza, Owen describes a regiment marching through sludge, something not unusual for soldiers at the time. In the second stanza, however, he introduces a new threat, mustard gas. The speaker exclaims: “Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!” (Owen L9). As most of the soldiers are putting on their gas masks, one fails to do so. The speaker is left watching the man struggle: “flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…guttering, choking, drowning.” (Owen L12-16). After watching his fellow soldier succumb to the hellish effects of the gas, the speaker could not erase the images from his memory. In the last stanza, he chastised the people at home who romanticize war and challenged them to think about how admirable it is to watch a man die: “the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin” (Owen L19-20).

Owen’s poem has the clear intention of showing the true nature of war to the reader, which is mainly achieved by contrasting reality against the ways in which war is so

By focusing on the death of one of the soldier’s, we as readers see the terribleness of the war through the eyes of that one soldier. For example, the following lines from the poem “if in smothering dreams, you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in, and watch the white eyes writhing in his face”. Another reason why I think Owen’s poem was more successful in times of employing imagery and figurative languages is his effective use of similes such as “flouncing like a man in fire or lime” “coughing like hags” and “like old beggars” this techniques greatly help us think beyond our normal level of imaginations to more deeply. Inclusion, with the effective used of this tools,(imagery and figurative language) Owen’s was able to pass on an important message on how terrible and bad war is by

Owen’s poem makes war seem like an event where innocent men suffer. Owen uses the features of simile and onomatopoeia to make war seem much more horrific and dreadful.

Miller examined the poem further to find Owen’s message to the reader, claiming, “In the final stanza, the poem once again shifts, now from the poet's dream to his address to a reader, presumed to be a person on the homefront who has experienced nothing of the horror of war and who still believes that war is glorious and ennobling” (Miller). In agreement with the statement of Owen aiming to dissuade the british population from running into the war blindly, Miller refers to Owen’s audience and how he set the poem out as a warning and message of what war truly consists of. Owen writes in an unsettling form and structure, fluctuating the poem to be slow and fast, contributing to make the reader who never experienced the hardships of war, and trying to shepherd them away from their pro war mentality. Analyzing the poem, Miller explains, “ Although he cannot literally bring this haunting about, through his poem and its grotesque details, he can force his reader to confront the ugly reality of war that masks behind fine phrases and edifying sentiments. Thus, Owen lingers over the sounds and sight of the dying body, destroyed by the poisonous gas,” (Miller) he wants the reader to know Owen did not shy away from detail and wanted to discomfort his reader. The poem

This instantaneous use of alliteration and onomatopoeia allows the poet to evoke sympathy in the reader for the soldiers, as the reader can clearly visualise and empathise towards what the soldiers ventured through. By doing this, the readers are furthered against the idea of war. Owen is successful in using imagery to engage with the reader and persuade them to view the gruesomeness of war as he does.

In both poems Owen shows us the physical effect of war, Wilfred starts the poems showcasing unendurable stress the men were going through. Appalling pictures are created and expressed through similes and metaphors. Owen’s lexical choices link to the semantic field of the archaic which conveys the atavistic effects of war. The men are compared to old beggars, hags, the once young men have been deprived of their youth and turned into old women, the loss of masculinity express the how exhausting and ruthless war was. The men were barely awake from lack of sleep, they “marched in sleep” their once smart uniforms resembling “sacks”. He also expresses how

This segment of Owen’s poem depicts one of his comrades being poisoned by tear gas; this is clearly not a pleasant sight and is not wished upon anyone. This is of particular interest to me because it depicts the morbid horror of war. I believe the poem does a fine job of communicating the horrors of war much better than other modes of literature may be able to. It also challenges a lot of the idealistic feelings people have towards those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

In conclusion, Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is more effective than Pope’s poem, “Who’s for the Game?” He explains the hardships that soldiers face while they are at battle. Pope explains war as a type of game that everybody should be in. He explains that everybody should fight for their country, while Owen explains that fighting for your country is not always the noble thing to do because many people will be haunted with their experiences for the rest of their

The saying, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” was once believed; it means that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. Because Wilfred Owen knew the horrors, he opposes this saying in his poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” The narrator provides vivid images of his experience in WWI which includes both the exhaustion the soldiers endured while walking to their next resting point and of the death of a fellow soldier due to gas. His PTSD shows us that the gas experience continues to haunt him: “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning,” (ll.15-16). The narrator also explains why young men should reconsider joining a war if given the opportunity; it is not worth the horror. The war leaves, “incurable sores on innocent tongues,” (l.24), due to the overbearing evils war brings, leaving soldiers faces’, “like a devil’s sick of sin,” (l.20). Ironically, war is too much sin for the devil. The narrator emphasizes the vulgarity of a war, “Obscene as cancer, bitter as cud,” (l.23). Owen ultimately maintains that it is not glorious dying for one’s country because of the many horrors.

In majority of Owen’s poem, he demonstrates the true image of war and the impact it has on the soldiers rather than masking it with the lies of pride