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The soldier struggles with adjusting to civilian life as he fights with both phsyical and
psychological post-war trauma. He has lost his colour very far from here, suggests that his
past life is a long way away from his present life and can no longer be reclaimed. Poured it
down shell-holes until veins ran dry, is also a metaphor that shows his loss of youth and
vitality. The protagonist is dry because he has lost a lot of blood from war but it also suggests
that he is hollow inside and will never regain his past vitality and joy in life. Poured it down
reflects how his choice to join the war was wasteful and seems like a sacrifice, resulting in
feeling regret for his foolish decision. Also, poured gives us the impression of how much
was wated and how much was lost at war, giving us asense of the enormity of what he has
lost. Similarly, the theme of the loss of youth is shown when he repeats younger and
youth in for it was younger than his youth. This line is also juxtaposd to now he is old,
which emphasizes his past, happier youth. The adverb now suggests how quickly your
fortunes can change. The structure of these lines- juxtaposing youth with old age also
highlights how quickly ones life and be reversed. This also creates pathos in the reader.
Moreover, Owen uses a lot of imagery in the poem to emphasize the horrors of war. His
graphic images of lost limbs and scenes of the battle field show how war can both physically
and psychologically affect the young soldiers in battle. The soldier is legless, sewn short at
elbow. This is a blunt, shocking description of the soldiers physical state which highlights
the brutality of war. The use of legless, also reminds the protagonist of why he signed up
for war- because he had drunk a peg, which is a colloquial term for being drunk. This will
be a constant regret for him as he is haunted by the fact that he is now legless. He can never
escape his past folly. Owen also uses blood imagery in the third stanza, graphically describing
how his life bled out of him: a leap of pruple spurted from his thigh. These lines not only
reflect how horrific the miliary injuries were but may also have some sexual connotations to
them.
The soldier has lost confidence after the war and is convinced that through the eyes of others,
he is no longer attractive or heroic and has lost his manhood. This is the psychological aspect
of post war trauma. In the last stanza, he repeats about the soldiers loss. He noticed how the
womens eyes passed from him to the strong men that were whole. He no longer sees himself
as whole anymore, referring to both his emotional state and physical, limbless state. This
image contrasts with how in his past he imagined himself as a strong and heroic soldier. He
never dremat going to war would result in his weak and helpless self. It is also highly ironic
that he went to war to please his Meg and to be seen as heroic, yet war has resulted in the
opposite happening. The poem foreshadows the mans bleak future ahead and repetition is
used in the last stnza to show helplessness. Owen uses listing in stanza five to show
everything he has lost- none of his dreams come true and he can never attain them now. His
world is now grey and dark, smart salutes and care of arms emphasizes how he has
no arms. This effectively creates sympathy.
On the other hand, Owen portrays young mn as foolish in the poemm; however he also
criticizes the army recruiting officers by being dishonest about the reality o war. The soldier
was motivated to join the war by his own pride and vanity. We see that vanity may have been
a reason for him signing up in stanza four, when someone had said hed look a god in kilts.
Being young, the soldier was nave and he believed the propaganda of how going to war was
heroic and glorious. He went to war to impres the girls, to please his Meg. Although this
shows how he did not sign up to join the war for ideological resasons, every reason was
selfish, attemptious and done to improve his life rather than others. We may feel a little
repelled by this. Hed drunk a peg, the recruiting officers smiled as they wrote his lie,
aged nineteen years. Our criticism now turns to the recruiting officers who we blame for
allowing a young drunk boy to sign up for war. Their smiling faces imply they knew what
they were doing and it adds a sinister edge to the recruitment process. Owen contrasts the
young mans pre-war immaturity with te tragic and excessive maturity that he attained after
experiencing the brutal horrors of war. He blames the recuriting officers as at such a young
age, he was ignorant about war and did not understand the dangers and effects of it. He
personifies fear, implying how we should have been aware of this and how paralysing
fear would be. The readers response changes- we blame the protagonist for his foolishness
but soon realise that the blame may be channelled twoards the experienced recruiting officers
and the UK government instead.
Loss of innocence is seen when Owen uses alliteration to show the boys having fun, in
contrast to the isolation of the wounded soldier. Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn |
voices of play and pleasure after day. The smilie shows how the sound of cheerful boys is
like sad music in his head. Owen contrasts the saddening hymn to the more joyful play and
pleasure of the boys to create a dull and depressing post-war atmosphere. The boys can be
seen to represent innocence and Owens use of contrast with the previous lines show how the
protagonist had to grow up quickly and lose his boyhood innocence suddenly. He also uses
repetition with voices and alliteration with play and pleasure. Repetition puts emphasis
on the sounds of happiness and joy, effectively contrasting with the loneliness portrayed in the
first few lines. The use of hymn suggests a solemn mood, adding to the conotation of
sadness in the stanza. The gloomy images focus on a lack of emotion, gaining symphathy
from the reader.
Owen is sympathetic towards the soldiers who served during battle and returned feeling
lifeless and emotionally damaged. The theme of how wwar is unpredicatable can be seen in
the poem. The war can take away naivety and innocence- it forced young soldiers to grow up
in less than a year. He will spend a few sick years in Institutes, and do what things the rules
consider wise. In these lines, we see that the young man has become dependent on others
and is left helpless. His helplessness is also emphasized when the poem ends with the
rhetorical questions why dont they come?. Ending with an interrogative is a bleak way to
end the poem as it suggests there is no answer to his unhappy, depressed state of mind and
this makes it a hopeless ending and shows war to be grim, offering neither hope nor answers.
The protagonist has lost his limbs and as a result, he feels as though a part of his life is
missing. Owen emphasizes this idea through using an irregular stanza structure and
inconsistent rhyme to reflect his turmoil. The use of irregular stanzas mirror the theme of
disability as it is as if irregular stanzas are imcomplete, just like the protagonists body.
I think this poem is successful and conveys Owens views on war. Owen does not name the
soldier, suggesting that the poem refers to all soldiers at war. He shows the true reality of war,
the antithesis of what propaganda proposed it to be like. In particular, his use of blood
imagery creates strong emotions that causes the reader to sympathize with the injured
soldiers. I feel that the soldiers legs are a symbol of youth, a time of happiness and joy in
which he had to give up. The war disabled him both mentally and physically, leaving him
trapped and helpless. As a result. Owens tells us to not take freedom for granted and to
treasure our childhood.