Compare And Contrast Dulce Et Decorum Est And A Mother In A Refugee Camp
‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ strongly conveys feelings of anger and disgust towards inhumane acts in warfare. Another poem that presents death in times of war is ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ where feelings; of grief, unconditional love and anticipation of death conveys suffering. Achebe employs sensory description to vividly highlight the suffering of refugees on a daily basis. The use of pathos to highlight the agony of a mother witnessing her child’s death. Achebe also uses an oxymoronic in the title. ‘Mother’ conjures up images of warmth, safety, care and family, whilst ‘Refugee Camp’ evokes helplessness, isolation, dirt, war. Immediately the reader feels the mother is out of place. Achebe discusses the unconditional love for a dying child
…show more content…
Similar to Duffy and Owen, Achebe uses different poetic devices to allude the reader into strong emotional feelings of death. The juxtaposition 'The air was heavy' helps signifies how terrible the situation is in the refugee camp, with the lack of hygiene it will increase the death numbers of people. This suggests people should value every single moment of their life because many people are dying in camps. Achebe makes several religious references, such as “singing”, “flowers” and “grave” as does Duffy in the ‘War photograph’ which adds to the pathos of suffering and death. “Ghost” has connotations of death and the fact that the mother’s smile is being held between her teeth reveals her desperation. The mother loved her child so much that she was not ready to accept that he was dead by "the rust coloured hair left on his skull". Achebe depicts a tragic sense by comparing life prior to the camp which is a tragic memory. The phrase "daily act" suggests that before there was no fear - no consequence but now the only connection she has to the "former life" is a memory which arouses pathos as the reader learns that before the woman could take care of her baby but all she could do now is to try to hold on but in vain as her child is
Similar to Duffy and Owen, Achebe uses different poetic devices to allude the reader into strong emotional feelings of death. The juxtaposition 'The air was heavy' helps signifies how terrible the situation is in the refugee camp, with the lack of hygiene it will increase the death numbers of people. This suggests people should value every single moment of their life because many people are dying in camps. Achebe makes several religious references, such as “singing”, “flowers” and “grave” as does Duffy in the ‘War photograph’ which adds to the pathos of suffering and death. “Ghost” has connotations of death and the fact that the mother’s smile is being held between her teeth reveals her desperation. The mother loved her child so much that she was not ready to accept that he was dead by "the rust coloured hair left on his skull". Achebe depicts a tragic sense by comparing life prior to the camp which is a tragic memory. The phrase "daily act" suggests that before there was no fear - no consequence but now the only connection she has to the "former life" is a memory which arouses pathos as the reader learns that before the woman could take care of her baby but all she could do now is to try to hold on but in vain as her child is