Wilfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est, Tim OBrien's The Things They Carried, and Siegfried Sassoon's Suicide in the Trenches
Many war pieces express a distinct sense of truth, hatred, and anger that can be found in the style, tone, and imagery they possess. Incredible images are created in ones mind as war writings are read and heard. Works written by such writers as Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Tim OBrien really reach out to the audience by way of the authors choice of words and images that they use in their writing. These talented writers create very touching and heart-felt images as they write about the true occurrences, problems, feelings and emotions that soldiers encountered throughout times of war. It is by way of these writers words that the bloody truth of war is heard, rather than the glorified victories heard which overlook the pain that soldiers went through.
One beautifully written piece of work by Wilfred Owen is entitled Dulce Et Decorum Est.
Just as the poem is written in a rhyme and rhythm that makes poetry easy to follow, the vivid imagery helps one to picture more easily what is going on in the poem. Owen brilliantly chooses words and phrases that illuminate the scene, making the reader feel as if he is physically in the scene along with the characters. For example, Owen describes that the Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots/ But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;/ Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots/ Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind (Gioia 782). A feeling of sadness and pity is felt as one hears the previous words. It is almost as if the scene of the soldiers trudging through the battlefield is being painted for the reader to actually visually ...
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... they have heard about war or want to believe about war.
The three incredible works of literature by Owen, OBrien, and Sassoon give a true sense of what fighting for ones country was really like. The battles, soldiers, and wars that most of the public see is glorified tremendously through movies and books mainly. These writers wanted a change and they went about this by giving the true and honest facts of what happened. War should be thought of as a tough obstacle that no one should ever have to go through, a sad occurrence, or a horrible burden, but not as a glorious victory. In order to reach that victory, the road is anything but sweet.
Works Cited
Gioia, Dana and X. J. Kennedy. Literature. Longman Publishing: New York, 2002. Hermine.
Poetry and Music of the War Between the States. 02 July 2002. 11 October 2002. <http://users.erols.com/kfraser/>
"Timeline of Human Rights Development in Canada—Key." Timeline of Human Rights Development in Canada—Key. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
In the introduction, “The Serpent and the Eagle”, written by Robert Fagles and W. B. Stanford, they write that the beginning of Agamemnon sets the tone and “rhythm” of the entire trilogy: “We begin in dark suspense: we are waiting for the light, and it no sooner dispels anxiety than a shadow falls again” (“The Serpent and the Eagle”, 24). This refers to the death of Agamemnon and the inevitable deaths of Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus at the hand of her own son, Orestes, which leads into the final play of the trilogy, and the ultimate e...
Tim O’Brien states in his novel The Things They Carried, “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat” (77). This profound statement captures not only his perspective of war from his experience in Vietnam but a collective truth about war across the ages. It is not called the art of combat without reason: this truth transcends time and can be found in the art produced and poetry written during the years of World War I. George Trakl creates beautiful images of the war in his poem “Grodek” but juxtaposes them with the harsh realities of war. Paul Nash, a World War I artist, invokes similar images in his paintings We are Making a New World and The Ypres Salient at Night. Guilaume Apollinaire’s writes about the beautiful atrocity that is war in his poem “Gala.”
In all works about war, the element of pain is essential. Without pain, there is no real happiness. The men described in these works all endured vast amounts of physical and emotional pain on their tours serving the country and the accurate representations of their time overseas wouldn’t be able to be complete without this element.
...to be produced. Herbal Remedies Home Delivery is a nonprofit company hoping to educate individuals on the industry and uses of medicinal cannabis products. The company also plans to help in future research and development of these products by donating profits to the cause. All of these qualities of Herbal Remedies Home Delivery are benefits that society will observe after the company’s entrance to the online marketplace.
It is evident that the occurrence of war throughout history has made a lasting impression on soldiers and civilians alike. This has been expressed over the years through different works of literature. The cost of war to the individual is illustrated in “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, and “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick because each story shows some element of mental, emotional, and physical toll.
Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 21st, 1899 to his parents, Clarence and Grace Hemingway. His family was wealthy, and would eventually move to a much bigger house with a music studio and a medical office to accommodate their occupational needs. His relationship with his mother was rocky at best, and he complained of her persistence in making him play the cello. In a book written by his sister, she reported that Grace had been obsessed with having twin girls, and had gone as far to dress young Ernest in girl’s clothing and call him “Ernestine”. This went on until he was six years old, and may explain his continuous focus on appearing masculine later in life. His relationship with his mother would set the tone for his future interactions women. He was brought up a man’s man, his father teaching him to hunt, camp, and fish from the very young age of four years old. These summer retreats would take place at his family’s summer home on Lake Walloon in Michigan. Spending much of his time outdoors as a boy instilled in him a great affinity for nature and sporting. At Oak Park and River Forest High School, he was very involved in sports and did w...
The authoritarian regimes of the Middles cycled through a pattern of anti-western policy until the globalization effects of economics and information demanded reform. As conservative Arab states try to maintain the autocracy they relied on after gaining independence, their citizens, affected by information and education expansion, challenge their resistant governments as typified by Syria’s unwillingness to capitulate. The proliferation of information and education underscored the protest movements of the Arab Spring because citizens’ contempt for their obstinate governments grew to large under economic pressures, as the current situation in Syria demonstrates.
Povinelli, Elizabeth. “The Child in the Broom Closet.” South Atlantic Quarterly 107.3 (2008): 509-530. Ebscohost. Web. April 29, 2014.
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” World War I British Poets. Ed. Candace Ward. Dover Publications, Inc; New York, 1997.
Hinnebusch, Raymond. "Syria." The Middle East. Ed. Ellen Lust. 12th ed. Washington (D.C.): CQ, 2011. 675-701. Print.
The words Owen chooses to use in the poem describing the soldiers are peculiar choices. The speaker refers to them as “[b]ent double, like beggars in sacks” (line 1), very different from a typical idea of a soldier. From the beginni...
Ernest Hemingway was an American journalist, novelist, and poet. Born July 21, 1899 in the small town of Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway would go on to create a lasting impact on the world through his writing. Most people are familiar with Hemingway and his books, but few actually know that it became possible for him to write them due to the experience he garnered as a journalist. From For Whom the Bell Tolls to The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway’s novels remain a staple of American literature. Throughout his life, Hemingway published a plethora of fictional stories that were greatly influential to 20th century literature and future generations of writers utilizing experiences from throughout his lifetime as inspiration.
Owen opens his poem with a strong simile that compares the soldiers to old people that may be hunch-backed. ‘Bent double, like old beggars like sacks.’ ‘like sacks’ suggests the image that the soldiers are like homeless people at the side of a street that is all dirty. This highlights that the clothes they were wearing were al...
At a very young age it was apparent to those around him that Hemingway really was something special. Many marveled at how he was able to create such a dynamic story. Not many knew at the time that the majority of his ideas for his writings were coming from his own personal experiences. For example, he always wrote of death by violence in his writings, and this came to him through the hunting trips with his father (The Cycle of American Literature 200). The violence he witnessed out there in the fields with his father influenced him enough to write a detailed story of such conduct. The events to transpire throughout Hemingway’s life would allow him to write short stories unimaginable to the average person.