In my English class we have been studying a poem by Wilfred Owen who wrote to emphasise to others the horrors of trench war. We have examined every little point from sarcasm to personification. This essay will show how Owen was able to achieve this using ‘disabled’ as an example.
The poem is about a young man who joins the army and has both his legs and a part of his arm blown off in action. While writing this poem the poet gives his personal opinions about the war. In the first verse Owen describes this once popular man alone in a park. He is in a wheelchair, and is wearing a gloomy grey jacket. This already gives the reader an idea of the cripple’s characteristics, he is miserable and depressed. The next sentence tells how this cripple looks on life. There are kids in a playground in the park. He thinks of all the kid’s laughing, singing, and shouting as a sad hymn, this is a simile. This works well as it tells us of his way of looking on life.
In verse two Owen describes the cripple’s life befo
In the fourth verse Owen tells that earlier in the soldiers life he liked a blood smear down his leg; it made him feel big. This shows a level of immaturity. Further on the poem indicates that the soldier joined the army as a mistake – he was forced into it. Then there is a short statement saying ‘ he wonders why’. The man was probably forced into joining the army by his wife, hence ‘to please his Meg’. This is not a good reason to risk your life for.
The next verse doesn’t have many important points except one, which contained the use of italics. The young soldier was hoping for a big cheer but only received one little thank you from a priest. The word thank you was emphasised in italics to show sarcasm and disappointment. This yet again shows a great deal of immaturity.
In the next sentence Owen writes ‘ He lost his colour not far from here’, by saying this he is making the point that the man lost most of his blood nearby. The poet also makes the point that he ‘poured it down the shell holes’
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