In a deep, muddy trench, a lone soldier lies, a silver bullet embedded in his abdomen. He clutches his side, screaming in pain, crying for help -- but no one is listening. The sky slowly darkens, and his voice becomes no more than a faint rasping, until it fades into nothingness. Millions of soldiers found themselves in similar situations during World War I, also known as the Great War, which involved multiple European powers; most notably, Germany, France, Britain, and Russia. Written from the perspective of Paul Baumer, a 19-year-old German soldier, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque follows his journey as he is thrown into the chaos of World War I. At the warfront, Paul witnesses countless horrors that …show more content…
Similarly, Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” describes a soldier who witnesses the death of his comrade from poisonous gas. Using imagery and irony, Owen presents a blunt contrast between the propaganda practiced for recruitment and the truth behind the suffering endured by the soldiers. While presented in different formats, both literary works criticize the romanticism of war, arguing that there is no glory in the suffering and killing caused by conflict. The imagery and figurative language in “Dulce et Decorum Est” highlights the suffering of the soldiers, contradicting any notion of romanticized war. Owen uses the simile “like old beggars” (1) to describe the soldiers, which is ironic in that most of the soldiers in World War I were young men. This irony emphasizes how war has changed the soldiers for the worse; they seem “old” and bedraggled, unrecognizable in comparison to their old selves. In addition, the soldiers are “deaf even to the...Five-Nines that dropped behind” (7-8). Owen conveys the soldiers’ exhaustion to be extreme enough that they take no notice of the bombs falling around them, as if they are a
All Quiet on the Western Front is a book written by Erich Maria Remarque. It was a book written to reflect the human cost of war. It shows us how war has a hidden face that most people do not see until it is too late. In the novel, he describes a group of young men who at first think war is glorious. But as the war drags on, the group discovers how war is not all it is set out to be. As the war went on, they saw their friends either die or be permanently wounded. Then the end comes when there was only one person left.
All quiet On the Western Front, a book written by Erich Maria Remarque tells of the harrowing experiences of the First World War as seen through the eyes of a young German soldier. I think that this novel is a classic anti-war novel that provides an extremely realistic portrayal of war. The novel focuses on a group of German soldiers and follows their experiences. Life for the soldiers in the beginning is a dramatic one as they are ordered up to the frontline to wire fences. The frontline makes Paul feel immediately different, as described here. "
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing the future, reducing the quality of his life. At the age of nineteen, Paul naively enlists in World War 1, blind to the fact he has now taken away his own childhood.
We have all heard war stories that seemed exciting and adventurous. Some stories are of men who gladly laid down their lives in the glory of battle and would do so again if given the chance. These stories tickle our sentiment and ease the pain of real war, but they do little to help us understand war's brutality. In his poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," Wilfred Owen does not attempt to pull the blood stained wool over our eyes. Instead of a novel quip, Owen gives us a look into the real horror of war. Using images of pain and sorrow, Owen gives us a taste of the front line that crushes any romantic ideas about war.
Evaluating the poem by Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est,” it illustrates a soldier’s view into the world of war. The poem begins by describing how soldiers are “bent double, like old beggars, under sacks.” The people are “coughing like hags” and walking through mud. “Haunting flares we turned our backs”, the men continued marching tired with lost boots. The soldiers are “drunk with fatigue.” The soldiers yell, “Gas! Gas!” The soldiers put...
Wilfred Owen ‘is the most famous and most praised’ (Caesar 1993: 115) First World War poet, and was able to communicate this seldom communicated experience. During his time on the front line, Owen suffered from shellshock, and was taken to hospital to recover. The matter of suffering will be further explored in the essay. Whilst recuperating, Owen’s doctor wanted to help him deal with the horrific scenes he had seen, and so he decided that getting Owen to write down his thoughts and dreams into poetry would offer a release. In total, Owen wrote four drafts of Dulce et Decorum Est, and each one shows a progression of his efforts to present an account of the war. He suffered horror and fear whilst in combat and in the trenches, and so is shown
The conviction of war portrayed by the speaker towards his experience in war is that of anger and hostility. Throughout Dulce et Decorum Est. Wilfred Owen writes about the inglorious death he witnessed of young men and speaks about the negative message of reality and falsehood that war has come to be known as; Owens uses diction, irony, similes, and imagery to establish his thoughts.
A poem that presents a negative view on society is Dulce et Decorum est. It is a satirical poem about the old Latin saying it is entitled after. Through this poem Owen is trying to tell us that this old saying is a lie, and that war is much less glorious than many adults make it out to be. From the very first line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks” it is clear that Dulce Et Decorum Est is a very negatively toned poem. This is reinforced by other lines in the first stanza such as “All went lame; all blind” and “And towards our distant rest began to trudge”. This negative tone, which is brought about by the by the emotive language used (like “old” and “trudge”), creates a grim scene for the setting of the war. This depressing start for the poem presents war as a horrific place where young men do not find glory, but instead it is a place where hope is lost, and it is a place from which all regret venturing. After this gloomy first stanza, the second and third use many similes and metaphors to bring to our attention the revolting and shocking horrors that soldiers witness when at war. Similes such as “Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud” and “like a devil’s sick of sin” describe horrible images of a man slowly dying due to inhaling toxic gas. Through words such as ‘obscene’, ‘cancer’ and ‘sick’ these similes evoke emotions of disgus...
All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Professor’s Comments: This is a good example of a book review typically required in history classes. It is unbiased and thoughtful. The student explains the book and the time in which it was written in great detail, without retelling the entire story. a pitfall that many first time reviewers may experience. All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death together.
The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ written by Wilfred Owen, depicts the many horrors of World War 1, and the appalling imagery that comes with the brutality of war. His use of words and the way he describes the true nature of war, is both shocking and eye-opening. Wilfred Owen gives the reader insight into the emotional, and harrowing times a soldier would go through, as they experience the bloodshed and destruction that occurs around them. He opens a gateway into the world of war, therefore giving people their own perspective of the terrible events that happened during that time. The following essay will demonstrate how effective Owen is in producing a clear picture of the events of war, and how his writing delves into the emotional turmoil that
In the first few lines, he compares the men to “old beggars under sacks” who are “coughing like hags” (1-2). Here he is comparing the young, strong soldiers to old beggars, or old homeless people. The coughs of the men are uncontrollable, likely from the poisonous gas that lingers in the air. This simile helps to express to the reader how much war has deteriorated the bodies of the soldiers. The other similes used in “Dulce et Decorum Est” are the comparisons of the soldier dying from the poisonous gas that fills the air around the soldiers. As the speaker describes the dying soldier, “His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin (20) / Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud” (23). These similes explain the horrific visual that the speaker witnesses as his fellow soldier gives in to the poison that is taking over his body. Owen’s detailed comparisons will also help the reader to better understand why the speaker doesn’t find war to be sweet and
‘Dulce et decorum est’ depicts the intriguing and disturbing aspect of loss by personalizing it to focus on the death of one man, and its dehumanizing and inglorious nature. Owen reveals to the responder that modern war is inglorious; full of suffering that deprives the soldiers of human features. Owen uses imagery and sensory language to clearly portray the horrors in being caught unaware and of drowning in gas, to push the responder to question the use of propaganda. Transitioning from a slow start, the responders are thrown into the chaos to hint at the ruthlessness of war in being caught unaware. “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! —An ecstasy of fumbling” a powerful enjambment depicts the moment of chaos and disbelief, expressing the soldiers rendered
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum est” has historical conflict behind it. In the first two lines of the second stanza of this poem, Owen hints that the “distant rest” may be death because World War 1 killed 9 million people and left millions of other injured both mentally and physically . Another event that Wilfred eluded to is the use of the machine gun and trench warfare, two new inventions and ideas introduced in the Great War. In following one and a half lines of “Dulce et Decorum est”, Owen uses imagery “Many lost their boots, but limped on blood-shod”, he is painting a picture to the reader showing them that soldiers lost limbs and parts of themselves during this ubiquitous war. Next, in lines 6-8, Owen Wilfred uses his background from the war in the line “all went lame”, to convey that even though only nine countries were major participants in the war, every country’s people were effected by someway throughout this world-wide war.
Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” makes the reader acutely aware of the impact of war. The speaker’s experiences with war are vivid and terrible. Through the themes of the poem, his language choices, and contrasting the pleasant title preceding the disturbing content of the poem, he brings attention to his views on war while during the midst of one himself. Owen uses symbolism in form and language to illustrate the horrors the speaker and his comrades go through; and the way he describes the soldiers, as though they are distorted and damaged, parallels how the speaker’s mind is violated and haunted by war.
From the start, “Dulce et Decorum Est” is straightforward poem, a retelling of a life lived in fighting. As Wilfred Owen recounts his story, it sends a strong message of a soldier who has lived through hell and is singularly opposed to war, showing his distaste in the form of a poem. Owen’s poem is an anti-war story, designed to shame and dissuade the people who are pro-war by using images and memories of war.