Literature Has Mind-Altering Power
The power of words is mind-altering. To read a writer’s first-hand experience of an event, in black and white, allows a personal encounter with the emotions and actions evoked by the literature. Literature, such as The Complete Maus by Art Speigelman and World War I Poetry, Arms and the Boy and Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, are the motivating readings of this essay. To begin, the Complete Maus is a story about Art Speigelman and his father Vladek's relationship surrounding the holocaust and WWII. From the German’s perspective, the Jews are portrayed as mice. It is with this belief that the Germans wished to eradicate the vermin. This illustrated book, through conversational narrative, has Vladek
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As a note, this condition is not exclusive to WWI but to all wars, conflicts, and any traumatizing event that takes place in a person’s life. However, one statement that rings the loudest is, “These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished” (Owen). Clearly, military personnel are mentally forced to relive the pain and suffering of the deaths of their brothers in arms and those of their enemies. It is overwhelming to see those who gave their all to defend our country sitting by the wayside because, “always they must see these things and hear them”, long after the war had ended (Owen). This poem impacted me from the stance of how young boys go off to war and their innocence is lost. As the poem progresses, their curly hair becomes filled with the fingers of memory and the “Multitudinous murders they once witnessed” (Owen). Then, at death, the “awful falseness of set-smiling corpses” is viewed (Owen). Still, not all of the veterans of wars return home in body bags, yet many wish they had because of the complications of PTSD. Notably, the progression of war completely changes a person’s character and appearance. Personally, I have witnessed the changes that take place in young men going to war, full of life and vigor. Only to see them return home, fighting to wear a smile when inside their heads are wrought with hellish flashbacks. My cousin …show more content…
To begin, in the Maus, Art says, “I wonder if Richieu and I would get along if he was still alive” and then explains that his “ghost brother had died before his birth” (Spiegelman, 175). I mention this because I too, had a brother that died years before my birth. I would often think of him when growing up and wonder what he would be like or would we like each other. Of course, unlike Art, I did not have an issue of sibling rivalry with my deceased brother but I did share the pondering. Ironically, I found it interesting that Art and I both had so many things going on in our lives that we would even ruminate over our deceased brothers. Then, the poem, Dulce Et Decorum Est, exposed the dreadful effects of gas, fatigue, and war on the soldiers. Again, the gory description given by Owen’s agrees with the description given by my uncle that served in the Vietnam Conflict. Owen said, “and watch the white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupt lungs…” To this, my uncle said, “Yes!” With a puzzled look, I asked what he meant. He replied in a dry and hardened manner, “That’s an everyday occurrence in war and in my case, nearly an everyday battle, now.” You see, my uncle suffers from the effects of Agent Orange with three types of incurable caner,
The powerful poem ‘Weapons Training’ showcases a sergeant, through malicious words, guiding his troops. However it is through ‘Homecoming’, where Dawe exposes the brutal hopelessness brought forth by the futility of war. Therefore it can be seen that war has an emotional toll on both families and the soldiers. Both poems have a recurring message that all war does is bring loss, death and mourning, showcasing Dawes strong opinions about a futile
Throughout the history of war poetry, no aspect of war can be said to feature more prominently than the representation of death and dying. While such representations are constant in their inclusion in war texts, the nature of the representation varies greatly, be it as a noble act for ones country, or as the defining negative of war. Poems such as Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’ and Seaman’s ‘Pro Patria’ are strong examples of the former; while others such as ‘Dolce et decorum est’ by Owen and ‘The Rear Guard’ by Sassoon best exemplify the latter. The question remains however as to why these representations of death and dying differ so, and whether there is a relevant relationship between the type of depiction and the time period or conflict, as well as the author’s proximity to death’s harsh reality.
In conclusion, war ruins a multitude of lives; nevertheless, it affects not only the lives of the veterans but everyone who surrounds them. Guilt, shame, and regret fill the empty voids that are left within them. When going to war an individual expects to kill someone, although, the physical act of killing another person takes an emotional toll on a person. Various veterans return suffering from PTSD and without a cure.
Many individuals look at soldiers for hope and therefore, add load to them. Those that cannot rationally overcome these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley precisely depicts the critical impact wars have on people in his novel by showing how after-war characters are not what they were at the beginning.
War changes people. Usually when one thinks of war, blood, battle and death are the first things that come to mind, but psychological trauma is over shadowed by these popular thoughts. Though war, on the surface, is focused on such gory aspects, The Wars by Timothy Findley shows us an angle where the chaos of war significantly affects a soldier’s mind mentally. War definitively effects the life of all soldiers, so much so that they may show signs of insanity after, or even during battle. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder triggered when a victim experiences a significantly traumatic event in their life, and has difficulty returning to life as it was (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). Insanity as defined by Psychology
Understanding the effects of war and the appalling experiences our soldiers have to endure while fighting for their country facilitates communicating effectively about literature and its function in the context of American and world history and culture (SLO2). The purpose of imagery is to help get the poet’s message across in a language that is strong and vivid.
...often times tragic and can ruin the lives of those who fight. The effects of war can last for years, possibly even for the rest of the soldiers life and can also have an effect on those in the lives of the soldier as well. Soldiers carry the memories of things they saw and did during war with them as they try and regain their former lives once the war is over, which is often a difficult task. O’Brien gives his readers some insight into what goes on in the mind of a soldier during combat and long after coming home.
In ‘Anthem of Doomed Youth’ Owen shows another version of the suffering- the mourning of the dead soldiers. When Owen asks “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”, his rhetorical question compares the soldiers to cattle as they die and suffer undignified. Owen uses this extended metaphor to confront us with the truth, that there are too many fatalities in war. As such, the soldier’s deaths are compared to livestock, to emphasise their poor treatment and question our perspective about soldiers dying with honour. With an overwhelming death toll of over 9 million during WWI, Owen depicts how the soldier’s die with the repetition of “Only the...” to emphasise the sounds of war that kills soldiers in the alliteration ‘rifles’ rapid rattle.’ Owen also illustrates the conditions that the soldiers died in and how they were not given a proper funeral in the cumulation ‘no prayers nor bells,/ nor any voice of mourning.’ Owen painfully reminds us that we have become complacent with the deaths of soldiers, seeing them as a necessary sacrifice during human conflict. Thus, Owen shows us what we have overlooked about war, that is, that it brings endless death and long-lasting grief to the surviving soldiers and the people around
As a poet, Wilfred Owens wants to show the effects of warfare from the viewpoint of a soldier during a War. Owens uses his own experience as a fighter to capture the reader’s attention and get across his point. He often uses graphic imagery and words to depict his thoughts about war. Wilfred Owens, poems, “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for doomed youth” talk blatantly about the effects of warfare on the soldiers, their loved ones, and those who make an ultimate sacrifice by making a statement about the efficacy of war.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
While defending their country in wars, thousands of brave souls perish, forcing their loved ones to move on without them. Others are lucky compared to these soldiers because they get to return home suffering from minor things such as disease, injury, or nightmares. In combat, warriors are forced to see horrific things that scare them mentally for the rest of their lives. Others are physically scarred and are constantly reminded of their treacherous memories from serving in the military. Often times, sleeping turns into a hassle for the veterans because they re-live the atrocities that occurred on the battlefield.
Throughout the times war has effected people immensely both physically and mentally. All people deal with their circumstances differently to help cope with what they dealing with. Whether it’s a fatality in the family, or post traumatic stress disorder most people find a way to heal from injury or emotional damage. In Brian Turners poem, “Phantom Noise,” he writes about the constant ringing he hears from the war he served in. The poem expresses that Turner seems to deal with his emotional damage by writing poetry about what he feels, hears, and sees during the time he spent in war and in civilian life. Even though Turner is no longer in war it still effects him greatly each day. The overall tone of the poem is very solemn and makes the reader
In conclusion, Owen only loosely bases the structure of this free-verse poem on the iambic pentameter. The comparison of the past and the present emphasizes on what the soldier has lost in war. There are several recurring themes shown throughout the poem, such as reminiscence and sexual frustration. Reminiscence is shown through the references to his life before the war, while sexual frustration is depicted through the unlikeliness of a girl ever loving him due to his disability. The message that Owen is trying to get across to his readers is the falseness of war propaganda and pacifism – what war can do to one - and he conveys his ideas using various themes, language and through the free-verse structure of this poem.
Lois R. Robley remarks that “the horrors of war cannot be imagined by those of us who have not witnessed it. It is perhaps up to the poets, the writers, the movie directors, and the photojournalists to distill and recapture the images that remind us of the traumatic influence of war. Perhaps only then can we extinguish the need to be reminded and ready for war related PTSD.”
Wilfred Owen can be considered as one of the finest war poets of all times. His war poems, a collection of works composed between January 1917, when he was first sent to the Western Front, and November 1918, when he was killed in action, use a variety of poetic techniques to allow the reader to empathise with his world, situation, emotions and thoughts. The sonnet form, para-rhymes, ironic titles, voice, and various imagery used by Owen grasp the prominent central idea of the complete futility of war as well as explore underlying themes such as the massive waste of young lives, the horrors of war, the hopelessness of war and the loss of religion. These can be seen in the three poems, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and ‘The Last Laugh’, in which this essay will look into.