Wilfred Owen shared views with Siegfried Sassoon, in that the spoils of War are no more than the injustice slaughter of soldiers alike. Like Sassoon, he also enlisted in the French Lancashire Fusiliers as lieutenant. And like Sassoon, he also experienced “shell-shock” from “unimaginable privations” and “being blown into the air while he slept in a foxhole” (1100). As a result, his poetry portrayed the realistic horrors of war with vivid imagery and emotions of despair. Particularly in “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” instead of a patriotic song of praise, ironically, Owen sings the sad song in honor of the young soldiers’ meaningless deaths.
Owen expresses the value of soldiers in war to that of “cattle” as their lives are disposable by the “monstrous anger of the guns.” Their deaths are not acknowledged with “passing-bells,” “mockeries,” “prayers,” or “voice of mourn.” Only the next soldier is the next object of the “stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle.” The only songs for their deaths are the “shrill” and “choirs of wailing shells.” Owens use of imagery vividly expresses the meaninglessness of War through the close encounters of the front line as well as its devaluing of human life. In addition, Owen’s use of alliteration and choice of word in the lines “Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons” gives us the feelings of intense anger and violence of war as well as the helplessness of the soldiers’ inevitable destruction. In these lines, War gives them no mercer, even in their prayers. (1100-1101)
The hopelessness is further portrayed as the author describes the “glimmers of good-byes” in the "eyes" of the “boy." Nothing awaits them at home but the “pallor of girls’ brows” and “flowers the tenderness of patient minds." It's as if their deaths have been set in stone and only a funeral is what remains waiting for them at home. Owens illustrates to the reader that the young soldier’s life diminishes everyday at “each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.” This gives us feelings of grief, despair, and helplessness as they have already died, and all we can do is shut our eyes (“drawing-down of blinds”) to the errors we have made. (1101)
They put their lives on the line only to be “cattle” to the preys of War’s destruction. They are there to protect us, but who is there to protect them. Ironically, it is the very weapons that will kill them that serve as their only protector. We cannot forget that a nation is not only the people back at home, but also the ones on the front lines. Unfortunately, it is their duty to serve and risk their lives for their nation and the greater good. They are the few sacrifices to save the thousands. But is it just, when we consider that many were even forced by drafts? Is it really something to be proud of when the men sent to the front line never had a choice? Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is exactly that, a song and cry for the injustice and cruel nature of War. It is this song that acknowledges their deaths to be no more valued on the battlefield than the lives of “cattle” on a farm. (1101)
Van,
ReplyDeleteGood comments on Owens's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" in this post. I am not sure you catch the point that the poem is based on the metaphor of a funeral service, not in a church with a human choir but on a battlefield with the shriek of shells serving as a choir. Most points of the poem set up a similar correspondence. You list some elements of the poem, but never fully emphasize that connection. The comments you make, however, are good ones.
I enjoyed reading this post, Van, partially because this piece had somewhat of an affect on me too. I liked how you noted that we just close our eyes ("drawing-down of blinds") to what is happening to our own sons, brothers, fathers- and in this day in age, our daughters, mothers, and sisters too. We send them off to their own funeral, which doesn't say much about America as a whole.
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