Wilfred Owen's Disability

Throughout the poem, Owen describes how the war has affected the soldier emotionally, mentally and physically as he regrets going to war and not thinking about the consequences which lead to his current state; his disability. He does this by using a variety of techniques such as similes, alliteration and a range of imagery that portray the aftermath of the war and the horror of it.

Disabled people are often prejudiced by society in a negative way leading to loss of identity and purpose in life. The author presents the idea that the individual has lost hope because of how his disability has limited everything the former soldier can do. This creates a feeling of sadness for the reader as an image is created of a miserable man who is “waiting

He therefore didn't think of the damage war would have on him, just thought of gaining attention and was merely concerned with intensifying his masculinity. This is ironic however because on his return women wanted nothing to do with him anymore as their eyes “passed from him to strong men”. They wouldn't look at him the same way they did in the past due to his injury and disability. This furthermore, gives an impression to us that the individual had joined the army for reasons of vanity. Owen uses juxtaposition to reiterate the horror of war. The soldier had been an attractive healthy man, “There was an artist silly for his face” before going to war. Upon returning he “shivered in his ghastly suit of grey”. The adjective “ghastly” gives the reader a sense of disgrace as he lost his dignity along with his limbs at war. The alliteration in “ghastly” and “grey” emphasizes a ghostly haunted atmosphere. One associates the colour of grey with loss or depression, thus highlighting the soldiers

This is now ironic and perhaps mocking even because he went to war for the same reason. The attention. But instead of gaining “war wounds” to show off to people, he lost something much greater. Also, the last line in the poem reflects how hopeless and lonely he was as he keeps asking “Why don't they come?” using repetition and a rhetorical question to express his sadness and the horror of his situation. Therefore, because of his disability, it lead to his independence being stolen and taken away from him. Now he must rely on other people to help whether he likes it or