Comparing Poems 'Futility And The Right Word'
Comparison of ‘Futility’ and ‘The Right Word’.
In Futility attitudes to war are strongly shown. The poem mainly concentrates on the meaning of existence. The title of the poem ‘Futility’ means pointlessness and throughout the poem he is questioning the meaning of life. Also in this poem Owen shows that he maybe does not agree with war and it will not solve anything. The poem is questioning why his friend is dying and what is the point in fighting if lives are being lost or even what is the point of life if we are to die anyway. Owen fought in World War 1 himself so it makes the poem more personal as it could be about his own personal experience.
In the poem there are a lot of pararhyme’s used for example: sun and sown, once and France. This gives an uncertain tone to the poem, as the rhymes themselves are imperfect, and it supports that Owen thinks something is wrong. First person affects our perspective of the poem as it makes it more personal, as if our friend is dead and we are questioning why. It also helps Owen convey his points of how war is pointless and it is not needed as we can see the affects it has on close friends and family …show more content…
members of soldiers who have died. Owen also uses 2 rhetorical questions in stanza 2, ‘full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?’ and ‘was it for this the clay grew tall?’ This could indicate uncertainty and confusion and also could be questioning the concept of war.
There are a number of strong images in the poem such as the sun. The sun is shown as a sign of hope and a giver of life in the poem, that the sun will hopefully give the dead soldier life. We see in the poem that the sun as saved the soldier before, ‘always it woke him, even in France.’ However in the next line: ‘until this morning and this snow.’ Indicates that something is wrong and maybe that this time is different and the sun will not awake him this time. There is a contrast between sun and snow as the sun is warm and resembles life where as the snow is cold and could resemble death. The sun is also personified for example in the first stanza in the second line it says ‘Gently it’s touch awoke him once.’ It is described as ‘touching’ the man and awakening him from his sleep and it is a ‘kind’ thing to do.
Owen uses structure to convey his feelings of war, stanza 1 is about hope and it describes the sun as a life giver and that maybe it can bring his friend back to life as it has done once before. We can see this through the use of personification: ‘Gently it’s touch awoke him once.’ However stanza 2 is more about grief and it shows anger. We realize that the sun cannot wake his friend as it did once before. Through the use of the rhetorical questions: ‘full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?’ and ‘was it for this the clay grew tall?’ and ‘To break earths sleep at all?’ we can see that Owen could be angry and that he is questioning the point to war and why lives are being wasted.
The overall tone of the poem is sad as a mans friend has died through war, we can see the affects death and war has on a close friend of a dead soldier and it concentrates less on the actual fighting in war but the affects war can have. It also has a sense of uncertainty, which maybe the sun will bring him back to life. The title itself means pointless and that is questioned throughout the whole poem, is war and life itself pointless?
In The Right Word strong attitudes to war are not really shown but how we describe and label people who fight in war and what they believe in and the value of the labels we give to them. Throughout the poem Dharker is questioning what she should call the boy outside her house. The poem explores the power of language and how it can even cause conflict by defining things we do not fully understand. The poem has a sense of uncertainty and confusion has she cannot find ‘the right word’ to call this boy and throughout the poem it questions what word she should use to describe him. The poem uses connotations of words throughout.
Imagery is used effectively in the poem, for example the use of the noun shadow can be seen as threatening, just like the figure outside her door.
As the poem progresses the boy becomes less intimidating almost as if the shadow is fading. In each stanza the way the figure is standing in the shadows is described differently, ‘watchful in the shadows’ and in the next stanza ‘defying every shadow’ shows Dharker is finding him less menacing as she can see the figure more clearly and is getting a better idea of his identity. Dharker describes the boys eyes as ‘too hard’ which portrays his confidence and purpose. This gives us more in depth knowledge of the boys reason for being there and makes the reader think of him more of a human after as war can depersonalize someone so we see them as a soldier and not an
individual.
There is a lot of repetition used for example the word ‘shadows’ is used in the first 6 stanza’s, this is when we do not know who the boy is and what they look like. The shadows can be seen as threatening, they are also a metaphor of war, evil and corruption. Also the adjective to describe what the boy is doing in the shadows changes every time, for example in stanza 1 ‘lurking in the shadows.’ Can be seen as threatening but in stanza 6 the adjective changes to ‘lost.’ Which is much less threatening and also we get a sense a pity for the boy as he is lost and it could also mean he has lost himself while fighting in war. The question ‘are words no more than waving, wavering flags?’ suggests that words do not mean anything and there can never be a right word to describe the boy. At the start of the poem the connotations a negative and as we read more of the poem the connotations become more positive for example in the first stanza Dharker uses the word ‘terrorist’ which is threatening and in the second stanza she describes the boy as a ‘freedom fighter’ which sounds and could be see as less threatening but she is still unsure of what to describe him as.
There is not a very clear structure in this poem as there are no rhyming patterns and the lines are uneven. However each stanza is either 3-5 lines long and the words ‘outside’ and ‘shadows’ are repeated often, these words become threatening and they are contrasted with the repetition of ‘in’ towards the end of the poem, which signifies a shift from a problem to a solution: not being able to identify the boy to being able to identify and describe him.
Both the poems ‘Futility’ and ‘The Right Word’ show different attitudes and views to war, Futility is questioning is war and life itself pointless? Where as The Right Word is questioning and exploring the reasons we label people when we do not have a clear understanding of who they are and what they do. However the poems have similarities as they are both questioning something to do with war.
In Futility attitudes to war are strongly shown. The poem mainly concentrates on the meaning of existence. The title of the poem ‘Futility’ means pointlessness and throughout the poem he is questioning the meaning of life. Also in this poem Owen shows that he maybe does not agree with war and it will not solve anything. The poem is questioning why his friend is dying and what is the point in fighting if lives are being lost or even what is the point of life if we are to die anyway. Owen fought in World War 1 himself so it makes the poem more personal as it could be about his own personal experience.
In the poem there are a lot of pararhyme’s used for example: sun and sown, once and France. This gives an uncertain tone to the poem, as the rhymes themselves are imperfect, and it supports that Owen thinks something is wrong. First person affects our perspective of the poem as it makes it more personal, as if our friend is dead and we are questioning why. It also helps Owen convey his points of how war is pointless and it is not needed as we can see the affects it has on close friends and family …show more content…
members of soldiers who have died. Owen also uses 2 rhetorical questions in stanza 2, ‘full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?’ and ‘was it for this the clay grew tall?’ This could indicate uncertainty and confusion and also could be questioning the concept of war.
There are a number of strong images in the poem such as the sun. The sun is shown as a sign of hope and a giver of life in the poem, that the sun will hopefully give the dead soldier life. We see in the poem that the sun as saved the soldier before, ‘always it woke him, even in France.’ However in the next line: ‘until this morning and this snow.’ Indicates that something is wrong and maybe that this time is different and the sun will not awake him this time. There is a contrast between sun and snow as the sun is warm and resembles life where as the snow is cold and could resemble death. The sun is also personified for example in the first stanza in the second line it says ‘Gently it’s touch awoke him once.’ It is described as ‘touching’ the man and awakening him from his sleep and it is a ‘kind’ thing to do.
Owen uses structure to convey his feelings of war, stanza 1 is about hope and it describes the sun as a life giver and that maybe it can bring his friend back to life as it has done once before. We can see this through the use of personification: ‘Gently it’s touch awoke him once.’ However stanza 2 is more about grief and it shows anger. We realize that the sun cannot wake his friend as it did once before. Through the use of the rhetorical questions: ‘full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir?’ and ‘was it for this the clay grew tall?’ and ‘To break earths sleep at all?’ we can see that Owen could be angry and that he is questioning the point to war and why lives are being wasted.
The overall tone of the poem is sad as a mans friend has died through war, we can see the affects death and war has on a close friend of a dead soldier and it concentrates less on the actual fighting in war but the affects war can have. It also has a sense of uncertainty, which maybe the sun will bring him back to life. The title itself means pointless and that is questioned throughout the whole poem, is war and life itself pointless?
In The Right Word strong attitudes to war are not really shown but how we describe and label people who fight in war and what they believe in and the value of the labels we give to them. Throughout the poem Dharker is questioning what she should call the boy outside her house. The poem explores the power of language and how it can even cause conflict by defining things we do not fully understand. The poem has a sense of uncertainty and confusion has she cannot find ‘the right word’ to call this boy and throughout the poem it questions what word she should use to describe him. The poem uses connotations of words throughout.
Imagery is used effectively in the poem, for example the use of the noun shadow can be seen as threatening, just like the figure outside her door.
As the poem progresses the boy becomes less intimidating almost as if the shadow is fading. In each stanza the way the figure is standing in the shadows is described differently, ‘watchful in the shadows’ and in the next stanza ‘defying every shadow’ shows Dharker is finding him less menacing as she can see the figure more clearly and is getting a better idea of his identity. Dharker describes the boys eyes as ‘too hard’ which portrays his confidence and purpose. This gives us more in depth knowledge of the boys reason for being there and makes the reader think of him more of a human after as war can depersonalize someone so we see them as a soldier and not an
individual.
There is a lot of repetition used for example the word ‘shadows’ is used in the first 6 stanza’s, this is when we do not know who the boy is and what they look like. The shadows can be seen as threatening, they are also a metaphor of war, evil and corruption. Also the adjective to describe what the boy is doing in the shadows changes every time, for example in stanza 1 ‘lurking in the shadows.’ Can be seen as threatening but in stanza 6 the adjective changes to ‘lost.’ Which is much less threatening and also we get a sense a pity for the boy as he is lost and it could also mean he has lost himself while fighting in war. The question ‘are words no more than waving, wavering flags?’ suggests that words do not mean anything and there can never be a right word to describe the boy. At the start of the poem the connotations a negative and as we read more of the poem the connotations become more positive for example in the first stanza Dharker uses the word ‘terrorist’ which is threatening and in the second stanza she describes the boy as a ‘freedom fighter’ which sounds and could be see as less threatening but she is still unsure of what to describe him as.
There is not a very clear structure in this poem as there are no rhyming patterns and the lines are uneven. However each stanza is either 3-5 lines long and the words ‘outside’ and ‘shadows’ are repeated often, these words become threatening and they are contrasted with the repetition of ‘in’ towards the end of the poem, which signifies a shift from a problem to a solution: not being able to identify the boy to being able to identify and describe him.
Both the poems ‘Futility’ and ‘The Right Word’ show different attitudes and views to war, Futility is questioning is war and life itself pointless? Where as The Right Word is questioning and exploring the reasons we label people when we do not have a clear understanding of who they are and what they do. However the poems have similarities as they are both questioning something to do with war.