How does Owen explore horror of war? Essay

In the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ Owen effectively discusses the true sadness and horror about war, of young men ushered by the home-front, in particular the women and the church to go to war to achieve honour and recognition. However the men who go to war become mentally and physically disabled from the violence and inhumane nature of war through the great loss of life. The young soldiers receive no honour from war and there was a great lack of recognition for them. The soldiers became dependent on the community at home after becoming disabled and before growing and experiencing independence, losing all quality of life. In the poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen explores the concept of the mental trauma suffered by the soldiers using first person â€Å" In all my dreams before my helpless sight† to emphasize the extensive amount of mental trauma the soldiers suffered during war. The word choice of ‘dreams’ highlights the irony in this quote where even a scene as horrifying as this, is still incomparable to other encounters that he would qualify as nightmares. This idea is further explored in the inclusive language â€Å"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come†¦ from the froth-corrupted lungs† the inclusive language and truncated sentence shocks the readers with horrifying depiction of a gas attack. The tone of reflection and horror emphasises the traumatic experience of the soldier and how he will always be haunted by it. Owen further explores the horrors of war in ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ where he describes the soldiers experiences with such confronting images that it shocks and horrifies the readers, for example â€Å" Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues† the truncated sentence is used effectively to highlight and describe the horrifying image of the soldiers appearance after being gassed at war. The commas in the truncated sentence slow down the pace of the poem to make the readers fully grasp and imagine the sight. Owen has also used hyperbole â€Å" Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots† to further exaggerate the extremities of the conditions of the soldiers, where they were so tired they appeared to be sleeping. The illusion in ‘Many had lost their boots’ further illustrates the tremendous amount of physical damage. Boots were considered to be the most important protection at war from becoming lame from trench foot or any other infections caused by the sludge they walked through. The mention of losing their boots dictates just how poor the soldier’s conditions were. Owen’s tone is pitiful and sad because of the extreme physical condition of the soldiers were so horrific that they were life threatening, and were all for nothing as the soldiers who went to war for honour and recognition, never received any. The horrors of war is explored by Owen through sadness of the loss of youth in the war and lack of quality of life and recognition for the soldiers â€Å" 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† The archaic language of ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori’ means ‘it is sweet and honourable to die for our country’. Owen uses the latin phrase to challenge the home-fronts notions of the honour in war by using one of the foundations of this belief. The use inclusive language of ‘my friend’ is used to speak directly to the reader as to create a greater understanding of Owens objection of the notions at the home-front surrounding war between them. The words ‘my friend’ are also used sarcastically by Owen as he blames the home-front for the loss of youth. In the quote, Owens tone is angry, guilty and pitiful for what the young soldiers experience, Owen uses capitol letter â€Å"Lie† to emphasize the importance of the word to the reader. The poet uses structure to highlight the horror of war â€Å"Gas!Gas! Quick,Boys!† the alliteration of the G is harsh and creates a sound of soldiers running to save their lives, also the uses of the exclamation marks are used to make the poem more conversational which makes the reader more emotionally involved through the poem. The structure is 4 unequal stanzas the stanzas vary in length to give the impression of the soldiers drifting in and out of consciousness, either through fatigue or through the gas attack. The poem’s structure is to see it as being based on two sonnets. The first one, with one stanza of 8 lines and one of 6 follows the stanza form, if not the rhyme structure of the classical Petrarchan sonnet. The second one could be seen as being an inversion of the stanza form of the Shakespearians sonnet( 3 quatrains or 12 lines plus a final couplet). Owen uses rhythm and rhyme â€Å"sacks-backs, sludge-trudge, boots-hoots† to convey the idea of soldiers marching. In conclusion Owen uses a variety of techniques such as simile, alliteration and rhymes to convey the horror of war; also by using good diction, vivid comparisons, and graphic images to have the reader feel disgusted at what war is capable of. This poem is extremely effective as an anti-war poem, making war seem absolutely horrid and futile.