Disabled Wilfred Owen Essay

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Recommended: How does Wilfred Owen present the reality of war

Melody Hsu

Analysis how and why the contrast between past and present is explored in ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen

Disabled is a poem written by Wilfred Owen during WWI. Owen began to express his perspective on war through poetry after he witnessed the some of the worst consequences of war on young soldiers. In the poem ‘Disabled’, Owen contrasts the soldiers' past and present in order to present the naivety of young soldiers in giving up their life for the unpredictable future. By using the soldier in this poem, Owen is seeking to also represent all the other young soldiers that had participated in WWI. Through presenting references to colour, Owen explores the expectations that the soldier had of the world and the reality. Likewise, by linking the soldier’s past and present life to football, Owen presents the consequences the young soldier experienced. In particular, Owen reflects the soldier’s disappointment in life due to the loss of female affection.

Owen uses colours in order to put emphasis on the substantial change between the past and present. ‘Glow-lamps budded’ is a metaphor used by Owen to describe the life and hope of young men before war. ‘Glow’ meaning brightness connotes hope, creating an atmosphere filled with dreams and belief. Thus, it links to 'budded' as it symbolises new life by creating an image of a new plant shoot, showing how the young man had just started living his life with ambition. This contradicts with the phrase ‘waiting for dark’, which is used to describe the soldier after war. The word ‘dark’ also creates a reference to death, suggesting that the soldier, who was once full of life, is now little more than a ghost, uncared for and unloved. Also, the word 'waiting' suggests that he has given up ...

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...y can be, while also expressing the feelings of inadequacy and weakness the young soldiers feel. This conflicts with the soldier's expectations before joining war as ‘please his Meg’ suggests he gave up his future thinking he would become a heroic character and hence become more attractive to women. Owen uses the fact that the soldier volunteered for war just to please a woman to suggest the purposelessness and ridiculousness of joining war. This illustrates the ignorance of many young soldiers.

In conclusion, Owen channels the experiences of all the young soldiers who participated in war into one soldier, which the reader can identify with. By representing references to colour, linking soldier’s life to football, reflecting the soldier’s lack of female affection, Owen successfully conveys his opinion on young naive soldiers and their foolish decisions on joining

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