preview

Essay on How Does Owen Use Juxtaposition in the Poem ‘Disabled’

Decent Essays

How does Owen use juxtaposition in the poem ‘Disabled’
Introduction
The poem “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen is about a young soldier who has lost his legs during the First World War. Owen wrote the poem whilst he was being treated for shell shock at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. It is very likely that he would have seen lots of soldiers pass through his ward with severe injuries such as missing limbs.
Contrasts
Throughout the poem there are many examples of contrast or juxtaposition in a majority of the stanzas. In the first stanza the veteran is sitting all alone in his wheelchair with his legs amputated. Owen describes the boys playing in the park. These boys are a direct juxtaposition to the veteran because they are able to run …show more content…

War rarely achieves anything and some may see it as a futile event that wastes precious lives and he now feels useless and unwanted due to his lack of limbs.
He also uses figurative language to stress the amount of blood he lost on the battlefield. He personifies it; “and a leap of purple spurted from his thigh”, to focus the reader’s attention on that he was bleeding profusely. It was bleeding with so much speed and volume that it took on the appearance of a fountain.
Imagery
Owen uses Imagery as another method to convey the brutality of war and also as a means of contrast to show his life before and after. In the third stanza he creates a picture of blood being poured away; “poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry” and he uses metaphorical language to emphasis the point that he nearly bled to death as you cannot literally pour the blood out of your veins.
In the fifth stanza he uses imagery in a different instance where he describes how ignorant the veteran was about the reality as he is only thinking of the glorification of war. He portrays an image of “jewelled hilts”, “daggers in plaid socks;”, “smart salutes” and “Esprit de corps”. Throughout the stanza we hear of the glories and amusements of war but only on the last line does he mention the aftermath of the war where he was discharged due to his disability.
Structure
Owen uses a complex structure

Get Access