An Analysis of “Dulce et Decorum Est”
Dolce et Decorum Est is the product of Wilfred Owen’s frustration, not only against those who repeat the old lie “Dulce et Decorum Est”, in other words, it is sweet and right to die for your country, but also against a certain kind of poetry. Through his poem, Owen who himself took part in World War 1, has no difficulty to convince us that the horrors that took place at this moment far outweighs the idea of those who encourage war. In this essay, I will approach the symbolic significance of the poem by analysing each stanza.
In the first stanza, Owen sets the scene. This stanza contains a lot of simile and metaphors that shows us how crushed these men are, physically and mentally. Soldiers are turning their back to the lights of the battle field “Till on the haunting flares we turned ours backs”. Exhausted, their knees are touching “knock-kneed”, tired of supporting their heavy backpack “like old beggars under sacks”. The condition of the poor soldiers is so miserable that the author compare them to “old beggars” and “hags” (ugly old woman). Some men had lost their boots and the only shoes they have is the blood on their feet “blood-shod”. They are walking painfully, not even hearing the noise made by the shells rushing through the air “deaf even to the hoots”. Then, little bye little, soldiers struggle away from the battle field, shells now falling behind “Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind”.
In the second stanza, the author is focusing on one man who, because of stress and fatigue was not able to put his gas mask in time. The author describe the pain of this poor man throughout a big underwater metaphor: “flound’ring”, “green sea”, “drowning” and “plunges”, in the third stanza. Plugged by the glass in the eyepieces of the gas masks and the green light (chlorine gas) “Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light”, Owen can see his comrade succumbing to the poison gas.
In the third stanza, our speaker compare the scene to a nightmare. Owen will never forget the images of his friend, dying: “plunges at me”, “my helpless sight”. Dismayed, Owen can’t do anything to help his friend. In line 16, by guttering, the speaker was probably referring to the sound in the throat of the man, that was gurgling like water draining down a gutter.
“Vaccinations are causing a major upsurge in childhood diseases, adult maladies, and even deadly ailments such as Gulf War Syndrome and Lou Gehrig’s disease” (Blaylock). Every now and then an individual’s doctor calls telling them about the latest vaccine they should receive. The person immediately schedules a time to come in and get it done. But do they even give a second thought about it? Have they ever thought that maybe they do not need another vaccination? Many people have not taken the time to seriously think about the process of immunization. The truth is, there are many dangers that the average person should be unaware of. Rarely do vaccines actually accomplish what the public has been told. In fact, a lot of vaccines contain harmful substances that have been linked to disorders such as autism. The lack of education and dishonesty from doctors are putting people in danger of health problems without even realizing. Many parents feel obligated for their children to get vaccinated because of school, not knowing they have the alternative option of refusing immunization.
Owen uses very vivid imagery throughout the poem to describe how horrible the war was to the speaker and his fellow soldiers. He starts by describing how worn and tired he and his fellow soldiers are as they start “towards our distant rest” (Owen 695) which can be interpreted as them simply just walking back to their barracks to sleep or, in a darker sense, to their deaths. He describes how they marched asleep and how they were too tired to even hear the sounds of the gas shells dropping behind them. “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!” (Owen 695) someone yells when they finally realize what it happening. All of the soldiers scramble to put on their gas masks but at least one man near the speaker can’t make it to his mask in time; “But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...” (Owen 695).
The use of compelling figurative language helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,"(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Another great use of simile, "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,"(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the colour symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to "[v]ile, incurable sores on innocent tongues."(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.
The speaker chooses words such as “bent double, like old baggers” and “knock-kneed” (Owens 1-2) to expose the discomfort and effects that war has on young soldiers. The soldiers are discreetly compared to crippled old men, which emphasizes just how badly war has affected their bodies, stripping them of their health, making them weak and helpless like “old beggars” (Owen 1). Furthermore, the speaker expresses his experience as a soldier when he says, “Men marched asleep [.]/ Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind” (Owen 5, 7-8).... ... middle of paper ...
Owen then moves on to tell us how even in their weak human state, the soldiers march on, until the enemy fires gas shells at them. This sudden situation causes the soldiers to hurriedly put their gas masks on, but one soldier did not put it on in time. Owen tells us the condition the soldier is in, and how, even in the time to come, he could not forget the images that it left him with. In the last stanza he tells the readers that if we had seen what he had seen then we would never encourage the next generation to fight in a war. Owen uses imagery constantly to convey the conditions and feelings experienced during this war.
The flu vaccine helps keep most people safe from the infection, but knowing what causes the side effects why they chemicals are in the vaccinations will keep everyone well informed. The way I would solve this problem is to have a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about the dangers of the influenza vaccine. This PSA would contain information about the symptoms caused by the chemicals within the vaccine. Additionally, the PSA will provide knowledge of how to lessen the severity of the symptoms. Along with the video, there would be a website that would be more specific and into depth than the video, because the video would have a time limit. The two resources together would inform communities and make them aware about how dangerous the influenza vaccine is, and could lead to reconsideration of getting the influenza
Although there are many reasons to make vaccines mandatory, there are also reasons not to vaccinate. Some who are for vaccines wonder why anyone would risk acquiring a gruesome disease when they could just simply get a shot. However, the amount of people who decide not to get vaccinated is increasing. According to pediatrician Dr. Sharon Humiston, roughly 1.8% of children are not being vaccinated due to the fact that their paren...
Contention 1: To begin with, my first point is the fact that vaccines can save lives. According to the Immunization Partnership, individuals who have been vaccinated do get sick, the risk of complications and duration of illness
The American people have rights, and one of those rights is to decide what we want administered into our bodies. I think it is very important to educate others on the risks of vaccines so that they can decide what is fit for them. I also want to bring awareness to the difficulties people face to keep vaccines out of their bodies and their children’s bodies. It should not be a struggle. We have rights to our own bodies and we should not be treated any differently for choosing not to vaccinate. I do not get the flu shot, nor do I get every new shot thrown my way by doctors, and I am perfectly healthy. In fact, I rarely get sick. I depend on natural immunity and other natural means for my health, and that works great. (“Vaccines ProCon.org.”) Barbara Low Fisher, Co-founder of National Vaccine Information Center, stated, "If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good
In order to decide whether or not the swine flu vaccine is completely necessary, one must first gain a better understanding of the topic. It is a scientifically known fact that the swine flu is a result of a virus. A virus is a capsule of genetic material that causes infection in the body. The infectious particles are made up of nucleic acid enclosed in a protein shell, called a capsid. It cannot be considered a living organism like the disease causing agent of bacteria, because it does not carry out all the characteristics of life. Specifically, it cannot reproduce on its own.
Although war is often seen as a waste of many lives, poets frequently focus on its effect on individuals. Choose two poems of this kind and show how the poets used individual situations to illustrate the impact of 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.
"Vaccine Risks Are Outweighed by the Risks of Not Vaccinating." Should Vaccinations be Mandatory?, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010616205/OVIC?u=j031903001&xid=e0496826. Originally published as "Common Concerns About Vaccines," Vaccines: What You Should Know, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
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...
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.