Dulce Et Decorum Est Propaganda

Propaganda Dissected

When suggesting what is considered propaganda and what isn’t, correlates to the motive behind the information that is being presented. Propaganda can be presented in any form that depicts a message and forms an opinion, but the effects are not always negative. Plato famously banning poetry from his ideal republic on the grounds that it tells beautiful lies that “feed and water our passions” rather than our reason” isn’t exactly a positive or negative connotation. It is plausible that Plato wanted to influence society to stay focus on changes to society that would help civilization instead of wasting time entertaining themselves with fantasy stories. In the eyes of one, poetry could be a waste of time and doesn’t do anything

In Wilfred Owen famous poem Dulce Et Decorum Est uses the death of a soldier from a poisons gas to call out the propagandists who praised the glories of war through posters, flyers, and newspaper articles. During the height of the war the need for recruitment of soldiers was depicted as if the women encouraged it and society embraced it. The ugly truth was never portrayed and the harsh reality, that war was horrific, terrifying, brutal, and deadly, was ignored. Owen writes the poem describing unimaginable experiences that are the harsh reality of what the war was like at the time. The first line states “ Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags,” is the first insight at the difference between the young, clean cut, spiffy uniform solider that was posturized to encourage recruitment to the actuality of soldiers who are exhausted beggars the complete contrary to what was depicted. This poem was written as a rebuttal to a specific poet Jessie Pope, who patriotic poems epitomized the glorification of war that Owen so

Pope’s poem Who’s for the Game is written to persuade young lads to help their country in the fight or war. Pope uses many references to compare war to a sports game as many young men can relate to. Another propaganda tactic she uses is appealing to the emotions of young men “Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid? And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?” in which she is questioning the pride of soldiers. Pope doesn't leave out that the chance of an injury isn’t possible, “Who would much rather come back with a crutch”, but what she fails to mention is the possibility of death and she portrays the chance of injury as nothing more than a hurt