Poem Analysis: The Vietnam War

Kairos: The poem’s setting begins as the narrator is sitting in his wheelchair in the dark. It says that he was wearing a “Legless, sewn short at elbow” (line 2) which allows the reader to see that he has lost his legs. Then the setting moves in to the past as his memories become of topic. In his memories he remembers how it was to dance with girls and have a good time. Then at the end of the second stanza we move back into the present as the narrator reminds us that now the girls want nothing to do with him and look at him like a “queer disease”. Then, at the beginning of the third stanza we flash back into his memories as the narrator explains how handsome, energetic, and full of life he was before going into the war. He then flashes back on his days of playing football and when he was hurt he was celebrated as a hero. Then towards the end of the third stanza, he explains
how easy it was for him to enlist in the war, as he felt he would be seen as a hero and he would have better swagger with the women (epically Meg). In the fourth stanza the narrator also recalls just how easy it was for him to lie about his age to enlist in the war. In the beginning of the fifth stanza we are still in the past as the narrator explains how on the way to war he was cheered on then we are slammed back into the narrators present as he knows that almost every person who cheered him on was absent on his return. Then the narrator fully realizes how his life has been completely destroyed by the war and that he has gained absolutely nothing from it. The narrator ends the poem on a sad note as he comes to terms with his future that no woman will ever love him and that he will be stuck depending on other for the rest of his life. The changes from the past to the present add contrast to the story and make each change in his life more significant. For instance, knowing how he use to dance with women in his past to knowing that know women look at his like a disease makes the whole poem that much realer. Then the poem ends with his future, this change allows the reader to see the lasting effects of the war on a human itself and on society as a whole.

Ethos: As the poem begins we can see that he is sitting in a field in his wheelchair with no legs.
Then we find out that he is an ex-solder. Once we figure that out, we can start to put the bigger picture together. We can tell that the main character loved his life before the war and had a way with the ladies as explained in the third stanza. We also know that because of his physical appearance that people specifically women are now scared of him and treat him like a disease. We know that the main character was completely naïve when it came to his decision to join the army because he could only see the false happiness it would bring. He thought that he would be seen as a hero and a strong man that would attract the ladies. Little did he know till after the war that “they (the recruiters and propaganda) wrote his lie” (line 29). We can tell that the narrator being an ex-solder is angry and bitter with society and the government over the war because now as mentioned in stanza five he is looked at as a freak and now is completely reliant on others, where as before he was a handsome jewel of a
guy.

Pathos: The audience of the poem is never directly addressed. But, through a deeper understanding of the text we know that the audience is citizens who are ignorant or undermine the effort and sacrifices that solders make when fighting in war. As you read you can tell this for example in the last two lines of the fifth stanza when the poem says “How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?” it is apparent that he is up set and is rejected by society. Providing this positon after explaining how great of a person and how handsome he was provides contrast that will hopefully stress the message to the audience.

Logos: In the poem, “Disabled” written by Wilfred Owen, the logos is viable when you look at the physical layout of the poem and the reasoning behind the layout. The poem is written in third person limited and is broken up into five separate stanzas. The first stanza begins the poem by setting the scene of as “he” the narrator sets in his wheelchair in isolation. Then we learn that he is missing both of his legs. At the end of the first stanza, the narrator explains how he remembers hearing voices in the park but when looked at deeper can also be his memories of sounds of the battlefield. The second stanza, begins by explaining how he had it all going for him with the ladies and then he sadly remembers that now due to his distorted physical state now no lady will ever want him. Then, the third stanza starts off by explaining how handsome he was and how an artist once even wanted to draw his face. The narrator also includes how he was a master at playing football and when he got wounded he was seen as the team’s hero and was appreciated for his scarifies. At the end of the third stanza he ponders how great and honorable he will be if he fights in the war. So in the beginning of the fourth stanza he lies about his age and enlist. The most important line in the fourth stanza is, “Smiling they wrote his lie” as the narrator addresses the audience notifying that he now knows it was all a big lie and mistake. Then the last stanza, the fifth stanza, explains how everyone was so happy for him to go in the war but when he returned there was no one there to honor him and say thank you. Then he flashes into the future has he knows that he is unstable and will be passed around to different health facilities due to his conditions. And in the last sentence of the fifth stanza, that reads, “Why don’t thy come And put him into bed? Why don't they come? he realizes that he sadly just a worthless vegetable now.

Telos: The telos of the poem is to educate citizens of any country that are ignorant or undermine the efforts and sacrifices of solders. The poem teaches us that we should keep our eyes open and think about our actions clearly before just jumping into something even if they are for our country. Also, the poem holds a strong central message that war is worthless and it does noting but destroy individuals and that it is wrong to mislead people into bad situations. Because of the poem I have learned that war can be ruthless and each soldier should be treated with the highest of respect no matter their mental or physical circumstances.