Wilfred Owen's "Disabled" Analysis.
How successful is Wilfred Owen in presenting the destructive nature of war and evoking pity on the reader?
"Disabled" is a poem that deals with the issues war caused at the time and the pain that it actually caused to the people who took part in it. Written by Wilfred Owen during the WWI, or as they call it, The War That Will End All Wars, it is most likely that this piece is a criticism towards the conflict happening at the time. taking into account that Wilfred Owen was hit by two shell shocks, it make the experience of reading through this piece much more personal and much more weight to the message it carries, although it might be more difficult to understand given that we now live in completely different times.
In the first stanza, we are presented with the main character of the piece: A young, crippled soldier sitting in a wheelchair, "legless, sewn short at elbow". Owen refers to him as He, which suggests how war has lost his identity, who he really was before it. It might also mean how the events that take place in the poem could happen to any soldier or even young man at the time. The scene that Owen describes sets up an atmosphere of depression, for he is "waiting for dark". This is probably figurative language, with the word dark referring to the end of his life. Then again, he's described as waiting, suggesting he has no other choice than to attend for the end, this is what his life has become. He's described as wearing "ghastly suits of gray". The word ghastly might refer to him being a figure of the past, a mere shadow of what he used to be. "Through the park, voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn". Our hero is sitting down, and he can hear the voices of boys. These voices are described as ringing. Something that rings normally stands out from the rest of its surroundings, making the reader feel like these voices attract the main character and call his attention. The adjective saddening helps to build up a sense of pity towards the reader. A
"Disabled" is a poem that deals with the issues war caused at the time and the pain that it actually caused to the people who took part in it. Written by Wilfred Owen during the WWI, or as they call it, The War That Will End All Wars, it is most likely that this piece is a criticism towards the conflict happening at the time. taking into account that Wilfred Owen was hit by two shell shocks, it make the experience of reading through this piece much more personal and much more weight to the message it carries, although it might be more difficult to understand given that we now live in completely different times.
In the first stanza, we are presented with the main character of the piece: A young, crippled soldier sitting in a wheelchair, "legless, sewn short at elbow". Owen refers to him as He, which suggests how war has lost his identity, who he really was before it. It might also mean how the events that take place in the poem could happen to any soldier or even young man at the time. The scene that Owen describes sets up an atmosphere of depression, for he is "waiting for dark". This is probably figurative language, with the word dark referring to the end of his life. Then again, he's described as waiting, suggesting he has no other choice than to attend for the end, this is what his life has become. He's described as wearing "ghastly suits of gray". The word ghastly might refer to him being a figure of the past, a mere shadow of what he used to be. "Through the park, voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn". Our hero is sitting down, and he can hear the voices of boys. These voices are described as ringing. Something that rings normally stands out from the rest of its surroundings, making the reader feel like these voices attract the main character and call his attention. The adjective saddening helps to build up a sense of pity towards the reader. A