How Does Owen Challenge The Idea That It Is Sweet And Noble To Die For Your Country
How does Owen challenge the idea that it is sweet and noble to die for your country?
In the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen describes the realities of war in a negative way even though the title of the poem, translated into English is: It is sweet and noble to die for your country. Portraying the truth of war contradicts the title of Owen’s poem and hence Owen challenges the idea of bravery in being killed in war, which is ironic for he, himself did so.
Wilfred Owen uses the structure of the poem to create conflicting ideas of his opinion of war. The lines of the poem imply that it is graceless to die in such hordes for so few and in this shows that the world is an unfair place however the alternate rhyme scheme is steady and equal and suggests …show more content…
particular organisation which most certainly was not the case in the chaos of war.
Then again the balanced structure proposes strict obedience in that this rhyme scheme is maintained throughout the poem as orders and actions were compulsory to be followed without question in World War One and therefore the unwavering strictness of the rhyme can relate to life in the war. This means that the rhyme scheme mirrors the harsh and severe ways of WWI and hence challenges the title. The punctuation within the poem is used to add emphasis and full meaning to the lines. Owen uses punctuation to provoke full thought to any certain phrase in the poem and therefore building up the thought of the horror and anguish of World War One. For example, in line two: “knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”, the commas slow down the pace and therefore emphasising the cursing through sludge by making the lines read at the same pace as the meaning within the lines describes. In lines five to eight, the semi-colons make pauses so as to add
denotation to the phases that were so key to the appalling reality of World War One: “All went lame; all blind;/Drunk with fatigue;”. These semi-colons also suggest continuation and thus the arduous manner of WWI. Within the same lines, the full stops bring dramatic pauses and consequently say to the reader that this was real life and that life was truly horrendous in WWI. The punctuation counteracts the title of the poem because it emphasises the negative imagery in the poem.
The context behind Dulce Et Decorum Est challenges the poem’s title, as Owen himself thought badly of WWI. Owen, himself had suffered from shell shock and blown into the air, waking up with a fellow officer’s remains scattered around him. These experiences made him completely unenthusiastic about war however, his obituary read:
2nd Lt, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, 5th Bn. Manch. R., T.F., attd. 2nd Bn. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the attack on the Fonsomme Line on October 1st/2nd, 1918. On the company commander becoming a casualty, he assumed command and showed fine leadership and resisted a heavy counter-attack. He personally manipulated a captured enemy machine gun from an isolated position and inflicted considerable losses on the enemy. Throughout he behaved most gallantly
In those times a lie would be passed around England: that it was sweet and noble to die for your country. This was so that the government could mass armies from men who have abandoned much for this sugar-coated wild-goose-chase. This evidence makes the last two lines of the poem- “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori.”- Seem even more so true in that the authorities would feed men this lie in order to fight in the war. The title of the poem is challenged by the context of the poem because the poet disagreed with the statement of the title and there is evidence to say that it is all a huge lie, which agrees with the lines of the poem and therefore contradicts the poem’s title.
The language used in the poem challenges the idea of the title by using a lot of negative imagery. This is done by Owen’s use of figurative language in many phrases within the poem to show the reality of war being an atrocious thing. This is demonstrated in: “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling, / Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” The language, here is creating a sense of panic and grim excitement and the phrase “clumsy helmets” is metaphoric in that the helmets were heavy and difficult to put on and wear and thus the soldiers would be seen as clumsy, when wearing them and the also in that the soldiers would be clumsy in the fumbling of trying to get the helmets on amid the panic. Violent is shown in the phrase: “eyes writhing” and this makes us picture the man’s desperate expression as he ferociously but futilely fought the causes of the gas attack. When Owen says: “men marched asleep”, Owen implies that the men of the army had been innocently blind to what the realities of war were before they enlisted to the army (because of the last two lines) and also that they were all exhausted from all the hard work they had done. A line from the poem reads: “Of vile, incurable sores, on innocent tongues”, this suggests that the viral lie had brought harsh consequences on those that had naively believed and spread the lie that could not been taken back. The word: “innocent” connotes that they did not deserve to die, after having been told such a lie and having so much taken away from them for nothing but one more soldier to die in hordes for the war’s cause. The language used in the poem conflicts with the title because the imagery shown in the poem is negative and describes the horrible reality of war accurately and hence disagrees with the title, which illustrates the alleged glory of dying for your country.
The attitudes and themes in the poem help Owen to set the tone by using vocabulary to insinuate the negative feelings in order to contradict “Dulce…”. Owen expresses many different attitudes in “Dulce…”, a key of them being anguish. In WWI, there was so much of this shown that Owen has been able to easily elaborate and fully illustrate this theme. An example of the frequent signs of anguish is “the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs” this suggests a struggle, as the man in the poem is dying, and the effects that the gas attack had on him made him suffer. This phrase brings forth an image of a desperate, completely exerted man, fighting a lost battle to survive the gas attack, while squirming helplessly. Another quote from the poem-“white eyes writhing in his face”- shows that the man is in shock or panicked and once more implies that he is fighting a lost battle to stay alive but struggling nonetheless. These examples make war seem a horrible idea by showing the pain and suffering one will probably go through and therefore thwarts the idea of it being sweet and noble to die for your country.
The Poem: “Dulce Et Decorum Es” contradicts it’s title through many different techniques, some of which have been explained in this essay. The poem claims that to die in WWI is a graceless and foolish thing to pursue yet the Title claims that it is sweet and noble to die for your country. In conclusion, Owen deliberately contradicted the title of his poem in order to portray the motion that it was not true and that it must not be believed.
In the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen describes the realities of war in a negative way even though the title of the poem, translated into English is: It is sweet and noble to die for your country. Portraying the truth of war contradicts the title of Owen’s poem and hence Owen challenges the idea of bravery in being killed in war, which is ironic for he, himself did so.
Wilfred Owen uses the structure of the poem to create conflicting ideas of his opinion of war. The lines of the poem imply that it is graceless to die in such hordes for so few and in this shows that the world is an unfair place however the alternate rhyme scheme is steady and equal and suggests …show more content…
particular organisation which most certainly was not the case in the chaos of war.
Then again the balanced structure proposes strict obedience in that this rhyme scheme is maintained throughout the poem as orders and actions were compulsory to be followed without question in World War One and therefore the unwavering strictness of the rhyme can relate to life in the war. This means that the rhyme scheme mirrors the harsh and severe ways of WWI and hence challenges the title. The punctuation within the poem is used to add emphasis and full meaning to the lines. Owen uses punctuation to provoke full thought to any certain phrase in the poem and therefore building up the thought of the horror and anguish of World War One. For example, in line two: “knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”, the commas slow down the pace and therefore emphasising the cursing through sludge by making the lines read at the same pace as the meaning within the lines describes. In lines five to eight, the semi-colons make pauses so as to add
denotation to the phases that were so key to the appalling reality of World War One: “All went lame; all blind;/Drunk with fatigue;”. These semi-colons also suggest continuation and thus the arduous manner of WWI. Within the same lines, the full stops bring dramatic pauses and consequently say to the reader that this was real life and that life was truly horrendous in WWI. The punctuation counteracts the title of the poem because it emphasises the negative imagery in the poem.
The context behind Dulce Et Decorum Est challenges the poem’s title, as Owen himself thought badly of WWI. Owen, himself had suffered from shell shock and blown into the air, waking up with a fellow officer’s remains scattered around him. These experiences made him completely unenthusiastic about war however, his obituary read:
2nd Lt, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, 5th Bn. Manch. R., T.F., attd. 2nd Bn. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the attack on the Fonsomme Line on October 1st/2nd, 1918. On the company commander becoming a casualty, he assumed command and showed fine leadership and resisted a heavy counter-attack. He personally manipulated a captured enemy machine gun from an isolated position and inflicted considerable losses on the enemy. Throughout he behaved most gallantly
In those times a lie would be passed around England: that it was sweet and noble to die for your country. This was so that the government could mass armies from men who have abandoned much for this sugar-coated wild-goose-chase. This evidence makes the last two lines of the poem- “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori.”- Seem even more so true in that the authorities would feed men this lie in order to fight in the war. The title of the poem is challenged by the context of the poem because the poet disagreed with the statement of the title and there is evidence to say that it is all a huge lie, which agrees with the lines of the poem and therefore contradicts the poem’s title.
The language used in the poem challenges the idea of the title by using a lot of negative imagery. This is done by Owen’s use of figurative language in many phrases within the poem to show the reality of war being an atrocious thing. This is demonstrated in: “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling, / Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” The language, here is creating a sense of panic and grim excitement and the phrase “clumsy helmets” is metaphoric in that the helmets were heavy and difficult to put on and wear and thus the soldiers would be seen as clumsy, when wearing them and the also in that the soldiers would be clumsy in the fumbling of trying to get the helmets on amid the panic. Violent is shown in the phrase: “eyes writhing” and this makes us picture the man’s desperate expression as he ferociously but futilely fought the causes of the gas attack. When Owen says: “men marched asleep”, Owen implies that the men of the army had been innocently blind to what the realities of war were before they enlisted to the army (because of the last two lines) and also that they were all exhausted from all the hard work they had done. A line from the poem reads: “Of vile, incurable sores, on innocent tongues”, this suggests that the viral lie had brought harsh consequences on those that had naively believed and spread the lie that could not been taken back. The word: “innocent” connotes that they did not deserve to die, after having been told such a lie and having so much taken away from them for nothing but one more soldier to die in hordes for the war’s cause. The language used in the poem conflicts with the title because the imagery shown in the poem is negative and describes the horrible reality of war accurately and hence disagrees with the title, which illustrates the alleged glory of dying for your country.
The attitudes and themes in the poem help Owen to set the tone by using vocabulary to insinuate the negative feelings in order to contradict “Dulce…”. Owen expresses many different attitudes in “Dulce…”, a key of them being anguish. In WWI, there was so much of this shown that Owen has been able to easily elaborate and fully illustrate this theme. An example of the frequent signs of anguish is “the blood/ Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs” this suggests a struggle, as the man in the poem is dying, and the effects that the gas attack had on him made him suffer. This phrase brings forth an image of a desperate, completely exerted man, fighting a lost battle to survive the gas attack, while squirming helplessly. Another quote from the poem-“white eyes writhing in his face”- shows that the man is in shock or panicked and once more implies that he is fighting a lost battle to stay alive but struggling nonetheless. These examples make war seem a horrible idea by showing the pain and suffering one will probably go through and therefore thwarts the idea of it being sweet and noble to die for your country.
The Poem: “Dulce Et Decorum Es” contradicts it’s title through many different techniques, some of which have been explained in this essay. The poem claims that to die in WWI is a graceless and foolish thing to pursue yet the Title claims that it is sweet and noble to die for your country. In conclusion, Owen deliberately contradicted the title of his poem in order to portray the motion that it was not true and that it must not be believed.