Summary Of The Poem 'Dulce Et Decorum Est'

Author Stephen Crane uses symbolism, imagery, and personification to depict the brutality of the war and how foolish Collins’ decision was. The water Collins retrieves is symbolic of his act of heroism and how he turned his back on the war to help a dying comrade. Imagery is used to illustrate how terrible the war was. This makes Collins decision seem even more ludacris to the readers. Finally, personification is used to show how the soldiers hid the horrors of the war and turned them into a more familiar sound like arguing.

In this inconclusive, yet baffled war story, author Tim O'Brien tells us his ambivalent feelings towards the war in order to allow readers to feel what he felt during the war. The author begins the story with a short one sentence paragraph. “How do you generalize?” He uses this rhetorical question to bring a point across about how when telling a war story there is no real place to start and to end. In the second paragraph the author uses abstract words to show just how contradictory the war is, for example he states “War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” In the third paragraph author Tim O’Brien says “awful majesty” to explain combat during the war.

The poem features a soldier, presumably Owen, speaking to fellow soldiers and the public regarding those atrocities. Correspondingly, drawing on the themes of innocent death and the barbaric practices of warfare, Owen expresses his remorse towards his fallen comrades and an antagonistic attitude towards the war effort through a solemn tone and specific stylistic devices. The poem is structured as free verse, contributing towards the disorganized and chaotic impression Owen experienced while witnessing these deaths firsthand, enabling the audience to understand the emotional circumstances of demise in the trenches as well. Throughout the poem, Owen routinely personifies the destructive weapons of war, characterizing them as the true instruments of death rather than the soldiers who stand behind them. Owen describes how, “Bullets chirped…Machine-guns chuckled…Gas hissed…” (Owen 3,4,15).

Also, it might suggest that the gas attack is perilous and unpredictable. Owen uses this gruesome and grisly image to emphasize it is not sweet and honorable to die for one’s country. In “Dulce et decorum Est”, Owen demonstrates the effect of battle as confusion and exhaustion through the use of simile: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks”. He characterizes the soldiers are extremely fatigued and anemic like “old beggars”. The word “double” exaggerates the soldiers’ movement to help indicate the physical effects of a clash.

The civil war was a bloody and gruesome fight to preserve a way of life that was looked upon as immoral and unconstitutional. John Sherman described in a letter the views of soldiers and men, “The same qualities that have enabled a single generation of men to develop the resources of a continent would enable us to destroy it more rapidly.” Government leaders and soldiers ignored the work that went into building America and were able to accept the killings fellow men or other innocent people without shedding a tear because of the need to feel superior to other men. Other leaders of war learned to settle with the consequences of war, “war means fighting and fighting means killing” (Forrest). The ability to kill because “it’s just war” is a learned characteristic after being involved in so many brutal and atrocious events. The human emotions become immune to sensitive events and the detachment is a mechanism to cope with the consequences of

The poem 's diction keeps emphasizing on death and the horrors of it which is intense. The era that this poem was written in influenced the tone because at that time no matter if the battle is won or lost the soldiers who sacrificed themselves should be honored no matter what, and should be acknowledged. In Mary Borden’s The Song of The Mud, the tone is sarcastic and ironic but still gruesome about war and going into the wars, the title of this poem is a great example of how ironic Mary is about war; in this title the reader would infer “song” is joyful and positive but then “mud” is negative and unpleasant. She believes that wars strip soldiers of their value and that no human being should experience the horrors of

A War Within War is inevitable, war is not peaceful nor accepted by many. War is the act portrayed by many men and women who believe they’re making a difference, that one less life in the world is nothing more than the act of taking it. Wars come and go claiming they’re making a difference in a positive way liberating a certain territory, whilst destroying it. War is the true equalizer between life and death, fairness and irony. The novel “My Brother Sam is Dead” symbolizes many of these traits.

What do you make of O’Brien’s definition of “truth”? Tom O’Brien defines a true war story as a story that embarrases the storyteller and makes the listener feel slightly disturbed after hearing it. War stories, as O’Brien defines them, do not have a happy ending or a moral. He even goes as far as to say “if a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie” (O’Brien 65).

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a war novel by Erich Maria Remarque that reveals the ways in which war is not glorious, and the ways in which destroys a soldier 's happiness, innocence, and youthfulness. In addition, it uses imagery and characterization to describe some of the hardships the soldiers face in the trenches and at the front. Likewise, "Suicide in the Trenches" is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that glosses over these topics as well, in the form of a poem. While both Remarque 's "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" portray war as a destroyer of innocence and youthfulness, Remarque 's use of characterization to illustrate the theme is more effective than Sassoon 's use of imagery and word play, because it is more

Meaning of War Tim O 'brien wants readers to understand the meaning of war. His way of explaining war is by writing fictional short stories and giving speeches. Even though his stories are fictional they still contain the thoughts and feelings of war through the eyes of a soldier. The first topic is stress.”It occurred to me that he was going to die.” O’brien explains the stress of war while his character watches a fellow soldier slowly lose his life. He also explains the stressful ”heat of the moment” decisions involved.

Not only by being insubordinate but by sending lies back home, his actions provide an initial impression of immorality. Beyond this literal interpretation, Heller goes out of his way to ensure that the word “Death” is capitalized and stands out as a command. While Yossarian’s enthusiasm towards this dark word taints his jovial view of the situation, the emphasis on such a word juxtaposed next to the word “game” creates an ominous yet comedic tone. Heller creates a parallel between Yossarian and war. He sounds ridiculous; war sounds ridiculous.

He had rid himself of the red sickness of , battle” (232). This passage gives the reader the idea that Henry’s inner battle is over, and the novel comes to a close shortly after. Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, writes Henry Fleming deeply flawed yet morally virtuous through his thoughts in and after battle, how he treats his friends, and the changes that he experiences as a character to show the triumph of bravery over faintheartedness. As Henry wrestles with

The Loss of Innocence in “Dulce et Decorum Est” and The Wars The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and the novel The Wars by Timothy Findley share several similarities when it comes to the theme being portrayed. Both literary texts illustrate that although one may suggest war is an honourable act of patriotism for one’s country, the detrimental effects of reality result in one’s loss of innocence. Firstly, in Dulce et Decorum Est, the narrator illustrates the reality of the unexpected atrocities of the war that young, innocent soldiers must face. Soldiers enlisted into the war because they were blinded by the idea that it is an honour to die for one’s country. As a result of wanting to fulfill deceiving notions, they are forced to

is written by Jessie Pope and Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen; the former patriotic, encouraging men to fight for their countries, and the latter in complete contrast, exposing the harsh brutality of war soldiers endured. Both have the same theme of war, but conflicting attitudes, language and messages cause the two to be completely different. This is to be expected, of course, as Dulce Et Decorum Est was directed to Pope in response to Who’s for the Game?. Jessie