Dulce Et Decorum Est By Wilfred Owen Essay

It is brutal and horrific to die for one’s country
From modern-day textbooks to old-fashioned movies, accounts of war are universally depicted as gallant, audacious acts of bravery and valor. People from all cultures celebrate the ‘sweet glory’ that it is to represent one’s country in war. Tales of war are told as tokens of honor, and those noble enough to serve are even honored with a holiday in November, “Veterans Day.” War has been glamorized and admired, and described with words such as courage, integrity, and freedom throughout history; yet, Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est” depicts a scene far different than formerly portrayed. Owen challenges the orthodox claim that “it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country” through
powerful and vivid imagery of the dreadful, atrocious, and arguably, the only side of warfare. This poem removes the illusion of glory and drama that is coupled with combat, and instead replaces it with the reality – anguish, gruesome chaos, and death. Through the use of intense portrayals, varying tone, and raw, painful imagery, Owen seeks to prove to his audience that the horror of the battlefield is far less sweet and noble than ‘the lie’ that is too often advertised about war.
The opening stanza of “Dulce et Decorum Est” immediately contradicts the title, and common misconception of war, with depictions of hardship and deprivation on the battleground.
Owen transcribes, “Bent double, like old beggars... Knock-kneed, coughing like hags... Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/But limped on, blood-shod" (Lines 1-2, 5-6). The demoralized soldiers appear as old men who are worked to the bone and ignorant to the standards of society. This powerful first person account that portrays the ‘nation’s bravest’ as irrelevant, senseless creatures is enough to allow the auditor to become aware of the existent experiences of those dying for their country. These poor, yet “proper” soldiers are then described with words such as lame, drunk, blind, and “deaf even to the hoots/Of gas shells dropping softly behind” (Line 7-8). Although these heroes do not have the luxury of drinking alcohol, they are still intoxicated with the trauma that is war. The oxymoron of gas shells dropping “softly” explains the extent of damage done to these soldiers by the war. To become physically numb to as devastating and piercing a thing as warfare represents the mentally numb and damaging effects that war has on the country’s sweetest and
bravest.
The narrative of the first stanza is interrupted abruptly by the gas announced in the second stanza. This second stanza introduces a new tone of frenzy that has risen out of the miserable tone of the first. The speaker immediately notes the “ecstasy of fumbling” that overtakes the troop as they fight for their survival of the gas (Line 9). The image described here is of terror and chaos, not bravery and drama. Alas, a man did not put his helmet on in time, and Owen describes him, “flound’ring like a man in fire or lime” (Line 12). This is a vivid statement that describes the torture, or the nobility, that it is to die for one’s country. This 6-line stanza concludes with a description of distortion of the speaker him/herself. Owen transcribes, “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light/As under a green sea,” (Lines 13-14). It is feasible that this situation was so traumatic for the speaker that it became an out of body experience; in other words, it was so harrowing and stressful that it became unreal.
The short couplet that completes the third stanza reiterates how traumatic this experience really was for the speaker, for he/she refers to this situation as ‘in my dreams’ which could either mean that this is a literal reoccurring nightmare from PTSD, or that the speaker experienced so much anxiety that the situation became a haze. This trauma experienced by almost all soldiers is a significant and realistic consequence of war that indeed, makes it horrific and brutal to die for one’s country.
The fourth and final stanza again transforms tone from anxiety and horror to irritation and earnestness. The speaker appears to have taken a step back, and is now recounting on the experience. Owen effortlessly paints a striking picture of the suffering soldier; this hero was simply ‘flung’ into the back of a wagon when he died his noble death for his country. Owen transcribes, “His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin...the blood/Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs/Obscene as cancer” (Lines 21-23). By comparing this young boy to things that are commonly considered evil, cancer and the devil, this stanza appears to be hinting that this brave, heroic soldier is bearing the effects of evil itself, war. This gruesome and unforgettable image drawn by the speaker suffices yet another reason that it is neither sweet, nor proper to die for one’s country. Ultimately, the poem has been building up to the final lines, “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest/To children ardent for some desperate glory,/The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori” (Lines 25-28). The poem has thoroughly been describing, in its entirety, the reality of war. After all of the rationale offered by Owen, he additionally offers a call to action: to stop lying to prospective young soldiers about the “glory” of the battlefield.
Because of his use of powerful imagery, clear and striking descriptions, and erratic tone, Wilfred Owen’s disdain for the reality of war is evident throughout “Dulce et Decorum Est.” He has portrayed that the business of war is evil, horrific, and brutal; “Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori” has indeed been proven to be a lie. Owen seems to have proposed that if only people could see the reality of the war, they might not express such zeal and fervor about the miniscule sweet and proper characteristics of war, and would focus, instead, on the reality of destruction and trauma on the battlefield.