How effectively does Owen convey the horror or war? I am going to analyse the poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and attempt to answer the following question: “How effectively does Owen convey the horror of war?” I believe that throughout this poem, war is described as an awful thing where everyone suffers. He manages to convey this horror well by using many different methods. The first paragraph generally sets the scene of war and the state the men are in. The men are described as ‘beggars’, this suggests they are living in poor conditions and in many ways are like beggars. The next line backs this up: ‘Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge,’ , as this once again suggests they are in bad condition, and that they are having difficulty walking on the muddy ground.
The poem says that many of the men had ‘lost their boots’s how ing that they had very little during the war, and that they had to keep on going even in bad conditions. The line: ‘But limped on, blood-shod.’ , conveys a sense of pain within the men. The word ‘limped’s suggests they are moving painfully and slowly, and the word ‘blood-shod’s imply shows they were covered with blood. The first verse on a whole suggests the men have given up all hope. The men no longer care: ‘Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs’, as this shows they have turned their backs on the war and the memories of death. The next line gives the impression the men are slowly nearing their death: ‘And towards our distant rest began to trudge.’ , as if the words ‘distant rest’ means death.
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It could also simply mean the men have a long journey before they can rest again. As the men are shown to no longer care about the war, they are also shown to have become zombie-like and desensitized to all the horrors around them. The men are described to ‘march asleep’ as if they are too tired to think about their actions. The following line also helps emphasise this fact: ‘All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots’, as this once again shows they are too tired to think. This also conveys a sense of numbness of emotions, as if the men have shut their senses down as to avoid the horrors of war. This is very effective as it gives the impression war is too horrific for the mind to take.
The second verse talks of an event, but the impression is given that the event would rather be forgotten. It shows a sense of panic among the men: ‘Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;’ as they are fumbling to get their helmets on in time in order to save their lives. The words ‘clumsy’ and ‘fumbling’ are used well and are effective as they help emphasise the sheer panic the men are in. The word ‘ecstasy’ is also a very effective word to use as it suggests the men have an adrenaline rush due to the intensity of the situation. The verse describes one of the men to have not made it in time, and to have ‘drowned’ under a ‘green sea’. The verse generally gives the impression the green sea is a greenish gas.
In the line: ‘And found ” ring like a man in fire or lime… .’ , Owen has used a simile that gives the impression the gas burns, and that this is something that he would rather forget. In the next line, everything is described to be dim: Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,’ this could show that his memory is ‘misty’ as he wishes to forget once again emphasising the horror of war. The impression is given that the gas is thick as one of the men is seen to be ‘drowning’ as if he is engulfed in the gas. The third verse is closely linked with the second verse as it helps emphasise that he wishes to forget these horrific events.
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I think the third verse is the most effective verse within the poem as it is short and therefore really grabs your attention. The lines: ‘In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, gluttering, choking, drowning.’ , really shows that you can only begin to imagine the horror Owen saw during the war. The words ‘helpless sight’s ugg est that no matter what he did he had to watch, he was helpless and could not avoid the awful sight of the man drowning in the sea of gas. The word gluttering is an unpleasant sounding word which suggests the man is struggling to breathe, this is also an onomatopoeic word. The last verse summarises what he has said and really emphasises just how horrific war really is. Throughout this verse Owen has directed what he is saying at the reader by using the word you: ‘If if some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in,’ .
The words ‘smothering dreams’ once again suggest he could not escape what he saw. The second line backs up the fact the men had no energy as they flung the man into the wagon with little effort. Owen has made good use of cacophony throughout the third verse: ‘And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;’ , As he describes the dead man. Its describes a lifeless sense as the mans face has become slack and his eyes have become empty. The devil is mentioned to be ‘sick of sin’.
This is effective as it suggests that even the devil, who is associated with evil, is sick of war as it is so horrific. In the next few lines he has once again used cacophony to really emphasise how sickening war is. The line: ‘If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,’ , Suggests painful slow movement which has already been conveyed in the first verse. Owen has used the words ‘gargling’ and ‘froth-corrupted’ well as they are cacophonous and show what a sickening sight the dead man really is. This also suggests innocent people have become diseased and their bodies have been corrupted by war.
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War is conveyed as a sort of punishment that innocent people do not deserve to receive: ‘Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -‘, and that they do not deserve to die this way. The last four lines bring the whole poem together as it gives the impression war is not what people make it out to be and it will not bring you glory. Once again, it is directed at the reader which works effectively as it makes it more personal. On the whole, Owen manages to convey the horror of war very well.
He has mainly done this through the use of cacophony to emphasise how sickening war is. The poem is well written and has described what war is really like.
