Wilfred_Owen,_Dulce_Et_Decorum_Est

"Dulce Et Decorum Est" and "Disabled" were poems written by Welsh poet Wilfred Owen, during World War One. Owen's poetry is known for its condemnation of war as well as the mortifying imagery brought forth in his reader's minds, realization of war shocking them as Owen wholly intended. Owen also intended to enlighten his readers to the disillusionment men endured during and even after World War One. Owen uses sound techniques, namely onomatopoeia, effectively in Dulce to allow the reader to almost hear the brutal sounds of war and feel as if they're the valiant men marching asleep, drearily escaping the 'hoots of gas shells dropping softly behind'. He does this to express the truth of war in order to highlight how disillusioned the men felt when reality hit home. They realized that war was not glorious; it was a sugar-coated killer: gruesome, merciless and perhaps most dauntingly of all to the soldiers, war was inescapable. Once tangled up in all the ruckus, there was no turning back. Until the war had come to an end, death was the only escape. An example of onomatopoeia used by Owen to show this disillusionment was 'In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning'. The use of the words guttering and choking emphasizes the agony the dying man is suffering and brings forth sympathy from the reader. The reader can imagine the petrified man plunging at them, their eyes pleading for the reader to somehow save him from such an awful fate; the shaken up reader only gazes back with a helpless sight, knowing there is nothing they can do to save the man. Owen effectively creates a connection of compassion between the reader and the dying man. Owen uses imagery effectively in Disabled to allow the reader to picture the alienation the disabled soldier feels after returning from war. The reader is introduced to the hopeless thoughts that haunt the soldier's mind, like never being fully independent as well as never again being treated as a normal man would, an example of Owen's use of imagery being 'All of them touch him like some queer disease'. "All of them" are women, and it is shown that the soldier feels alienated from everyone, specifically women, who his disability repels. He is daunted by the fact that 'he will never feel again how slim girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands'. This creates sympathy from the reader, which is only heightened once the reader learns that 'there was an artist silly for his face'. This shows that he had a girlfriend that no longer wished to be with him due to his disability. His independence, his future and his girlfriend were all thrown away with his knees, thanks to the war, and once ripped from his grasp there was no way he could ever retrieve them. Owen uses similes to remarkable effect in both poems. For example, Owen states 'His hanging face like a devil's sick of sin'. This is used to describe how distorted and gruesome the soldier's expression looks after inhaling a green, murderous gas that causes incredibly slow and agonizingly painful deaths. Owen uses this to fully emphasize just how rare, but unpleasant the man's distorted expression is and gives a striking impression of just how painful the man's dawdled death must be. Owen's wording is ironic as the devil created sin, and so how could the devil possibly be sick of it' Owen's wording also creates a powerful image of the expression the man must be wearing, such as a gargoyle or traditional face of a devil (as seen in art throughout the ages). In conclusion, Owen uses daunting sound techniques and striking imagery to reveal the horror, brutality and facade of war. He demonstrates that war brings nothing but cruelty, terror and destruction, unlike the glory, honour and heroism poets, who haven't even witnessed war for themselves, claim it to be. Owen yearns to expose war for what it really is: a bombardment of destructive waste. by ranikapops of fictionpress.com