Descriptons of War

Fighting for one's country is considered brave, honorable and courageous. This is true for the majority of the men and women that fight, but when your country tells you about war and all the brave things that can be done, they often forget to tell you how to deal with the death and fear that results from seeing fellow men dying in front of you, it reaps havoc on your emotions. Nor do they tell you how you will never be able to erase those memories from your mind. Poets like Owen paint a picture of this emotional struggle through their diction and help readers to understand the hardships that face soldiers on a daily basis.

Wilfred Owen was a soldier who knew firs

youth and stamina. Pigg's explanation of this account is accurate when he says:

In the first section we are introduced to the soldier and we are given a very grim account of the life he is presently living. This poor soldier is described as "waiting for dark" (1) in a "ghastly suit of gray"(2). We also learn that the soldier has had his arms and legs amputated at the elbow and knee: "Legless, sewn short at elbow" (3), which leads us to the understanding that he is totally dependent on someone else. The situation seems very hopeless and lonely. This loneliness is emphasized by the soldier hearing the voices of young boys. He cannot see them or touch them. It is because of this that Daniel Pigg says that "the process of recollective sensation adds to the gloom" (91). Owen uses very descriptive words to help the reader understand the situation, as he did in "Dulce et Decorum Est".

Although Owen has the skill of painting a gruesome picture of the front lines, he can also paint the picture of the after effects of the war. In "Disabled", the reader develops the image of detachment from society when a soldier returns from the war injured. Due to the ellipses, the poem is broken up into sections and the reader is able to get an account of the soldier's life before

. . . watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

meet to die for one's country. Sweet! and decorous!" (Tuma, 203). If the reader was only able to experience this event that the speaker is referring to

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