War Is Terrible

Saying that ‘war is terrible’ is such a simple statement but makes us think of the emotional stress and physical pain. There is a wide variety of texts that explore the ideas about war. Various composers agree that war is a terrible thing and isn’t necessary. There are some composers however who believe that war is necessary and that people should do their duty and fight for their country. These can be shown by a range of techniques. The war poetry of Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, conveys the horrors of war and of Wilfred Owens experience of war rather than the account of the experience itself. This is conveyed through the language and poetic techniques of imagery, repetition, metaphors, similes and even irony. “Tomorrow When the War Began” examines the war on a more obvious scale. “Trumpet Calls” looks at war as a noble thing and demonstrates the idea that people must support war and do their duty for their country. This is shown through colour, size, layout and framing.
In the poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, Owen explains about death violence and sacrifice of the youth. Firstly the title itself has a significant use of assonance. Doomed youth is right; there were young men, some really young. By using the rhetorical question and simile of “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” strongly affects us with the image of the slaughterhouse and the idea of men being treated less human and no more important than cattle which are lead to the slaughter without feeling. It shows us the mistreatment of men being constantly killed and has no chance, just like cattle being slaughtered for meat. It solemnly shows how those who die in war do not receive the normal ceremonies that we are used to, to honour the dead. Throughout the poem Wilfred Owen uses a lot of comparisons; one of these is the simile between a typical funeral in a church and what would happen to a soldier killed in battle. For example he compares the church