Platoon By Wilfred Owen

<b>1. Within each text the setting plays an important part. How do both Stone and Owen convey the setting and the conditions the men faced? (Don't forget you must refer to specific lines and poetic/film, techniques)</b>
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<br>Naturally it is a lot easier to convey the desired setting of a scene if the medium used involved visual concepts. However, Wilfred Owens poetry manages to give the reader an extremely vivid idea of what the conditions were like for the people whom he describes. Like Oliver Stone, in his movie Platoon, Owen uses some very simple concepts to set the scene in his writing, such as mud, or loud noises, which convey not only the setting, but also the mood that goes with it. For example, in the poem Duce et Decorum Est, in
Quick. Boys! –An ecstasy of fumbling,
<br>Fitting the clumsy helmets on just in time"
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<br>This excerpt not only give the reader a clear idea of what is physically happening in the trenches, but the language used and in particular, the incoherent shouting in the first line also implies the confusion of the situation, as if the author can recall no more than a blur of it.
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<br>Oliver Stone also uses techniques to imply confusion, such as when the platoon are attacked in the jungle scenes; the camera frequently changes perspective (from long-shots to close-ups) as well as focus, and is often jolting suddenly as if it is from the perspective of one of the soldiers running.
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<br>The movie Platoon also uses light against darkness to represent good and evil, or even at time to imply the emotion and fear which the characters are feeling. For example, the eerie, blue light, which is noticeable in the jungle scene, gives the scene an air of unfamiliarity, which is also reflected on the emotions of the characters' faces.
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<br>Despite these good points, it is clear that Platoon does not have the realistic scenarios that Wilfred Owen brings forth in his
Which medium did you find more accessible in terms of conveying themes and a message about the war?</b>
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<br>Although the movie Platoon is set in the Vietnam war, it does not seem to contain any messages directly relating to the moral issues of war, but instead it attacks the split-cultured attitudes which were present at the time. Also, it can be debated that the movie is a very general metaphor for the consistent battle between good and evil. Wilfred Owen on the other hand, very rarely focuses on general philosophy, and instead concentrates purely on condemning those who promote war, and attempting to educate those who ignorantly believe that fighting for ones country is noble.
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<br>The themes that Oliver Stone does present are usually quite relevant and accessible, for example the consistent theme of the arguing that goes on between the soldiers when they should be fighting the true enemy. However, these rarely compare to the motivating images and vivid thoughts that are brought forward in Wilfred Owens poetry. A classic example of the messages that Owen presents can be seen in the poem Dulce et Decorum Est, which includes the sarcastic usage of the Latin phrase "Dulce et decorum est; Pro patria mori", which roughly translates to "It is noble and brave to die for ones