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Wilfred Owen Essay

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Wilfred Owen Essay
English Essay
Wilfred Owen, through his poems, shows the harsh reality of human conflict and contrasts the portrayal of these conflicts with the reality. Owen purpose is to challenges our thoughts and perspectives on war to show its true effects and stop the glorification that it receives in society. This can be seen in his poem Dulce et Decorum Est as he causing us to question whether it really is sweet and decorous to die for ones country by showing the reality of war through his personal experiences. These views can also be seen in the poem Anthem for Doomed Youth as Owen portrays the treatment the dead soldiers are receiving contrasted with the treatment a normal desist civilian would receive. This help to give the forgotten soldiers a voice and an identity.

Owen Challenges the reader to question the understanding of dying for your country in war by showing the harsh reality of it through his personal experiences. This is evident in the poem Dulce et Decorum Est as Owen uses multi sensory imagery and derogatory language to show the true reality of war. The multisensory imagery is used to portray the brutality of the soldiers ordeal and can be seen when he is describing the effects the mustard gas is having on one of his colleagues as he states, ‘The blood come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs ‘. The derogatory language such as, ‘lame’ and blind’ and imagery in the first stanza, ‘beggars under sacks’, degrades the soldiers and causes the reader to feel almost sorry for them and therefore creating a sense of pathos. By showing the true reality of the soldiers and their ordeal Owen challenges our thoughts and perspectives on war and causes us to question whether it really is worth dying for our country.

The poem Dulce et Decorum Est demonstrates how Owen challenges our thoughts and perspectives on war by warning the reader and showing them the reality of it. Owen does this by speaking about the horrible experiences in first person by using

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