Topic > Wilfred Owen's Depiction of Suffering in the Disabled

Wilfred Owen's poem Disabled forms a narrative that follows an unnamed soldier through six stanzas, containing vignettes of fragments of his life, at odds with his conscience, and thus his knowledge, everywhere. Focusing on the consequences of the war, Owen focuses on the hope and purity of the young soldier from before, to contrast the destruction of this, now "disabled" him, this label that shapes his identity. This central idea of ​​the poem is accentuated not only by the fact that it is portrayed from the soldier's point of view, but also by how others view him, primarily women, determining his value. From the first line of the poem, Disabled, Owen emphasizes the importance of the soldier. insulation; 'waiting for the dark', suggests that he has no distractions from his own thoughts and thus the narrator portrays the lack of value he places on his life, not waiting for the morning, a new day, but instead 'dark', conveying the futility of life followed of the war. Owen further accentuates the idea that soldiers are trapped between life and death, even once the war is over, referring to the "ghostly gray suit" this soldier wears, "horrible" akin to "ghostly", with connotations of death. , but not quite, echoing its borderline existence. In the last stanza, Owen describes the soldier as not "whole", forming the idea that his life is unable to reach the full capacity possessed by other men, as well as his physical impairment. Owen emphasizes the need for closure with the repetition of "why don't they come?" when the soldier wants to be put 'to bed', perhaps also implying the control of a higher power over his life, beyond the mere lack of autonomy or ability to take care of himself. This idea of ​​sleep, at the beginning and end of the poem, is described as a comfort, a sense of finality for the soldier, yet the repetition in the last line suggests a continuous cycle of routine, Owen potentially conveys that war leaves no never anyone. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Owen describes the control that war inflicts on an individual, providing the opposite, that the soldier voluntarily "threw off his knees," "poured ['his color'] into the shell holes." Placing blame to the victim, and simultaneously juxtaposing her, portraying her innocence, “her face/younger than her youth,” Owen paints this soldier, as well as many other young soldiers, as victims of war and the military system that thrived on their ignorance and youthful naivety. This depiction is accentuated by Owen's comparisons between war and a game in Disabled. In the third verse he describes war as a "hot race", the thrill and speed within it enhanced by the whistling sounds provided by "race". ” and “embers,” three lines above, and yet this is clearly due to the disparity of meaning conveyed in both these lines, “rush,” of exuberant energy, and “your back will never support itself,” of inability, both figuratively how literal. In the fourth stanza, Owen illustrates the nostalgic image of a football game and the sense of accomplishment after an injury as the soldier is "brought up to shoulder height", which later, in the fifth stanza, contrasts with the few who " they cheered him home." '; the soldier reflects that this is not "how the crowd cheers for the goal". Likewise, instead of the sense of honor that follows an injury, it is seen as "a strange disease", immediately conveying the poignant difference between the games of youth and war, despite the soldier initiallysaw only within his own boundaries of knowledge. in which this soldier decides to go to war, and many others join together in groups such as battalions of friends or under the influence of others, is criticized by Owen, especially for the casual and childish nature that this soldier's priority is " to like" others, which he repeats to himself, rather than thinking for himself, as he does now, in the present that Owen is using to counter, as "he wonders why." However, Owen is actually criticizing more harshly the military system that allows war to be a conversation of childish jokes and drunkenness, and also allows young people to "lie" about their age, as Owen describes them as "smiling". The rapid change in the young man's view of war is exemplified not only in the language and shifting between past and present throughout the poem, but in the shift from a regular ABAB rhyme scheme at the beginning of the poem to a more irregular one, creating a rhymes every three lines in some cases. This, as well as the extra feet in many lines, which destroy regular iambic pentameter, perhaps exemplifies the collapse of expectations and, of course, of mind and body. Thus, Owen communicates the inability of young people to know better, and thus portrays their vulnerability to the unjust military system that cares little about the promising lives of young people and instead feeds on them and their youthful ignorance. In contrast to this waste of life, Owen focuses on the hope that these soldiers, as young men, possess, in his vivid description of the "city" as "swing", yet the "incandescent lamps sprout among / blue trees" suggest a layer of artifice to their existence, Owen also criticizes the idea that the purpose and quality of young men's lives are defined by the presence and favor of women. In the second stanza, Owen describes the promising and flourishing life as one made up of "girls" who "seemed prettier as the air darkened", the repetition of the "l" sound as well as assonance suggesting a sense of playful indulgence, and yet, a repulsion towards their changing and seemingly superficial attitude towards men, and the effect this has on them, is manifested in the contrast between describing their hands as "warm" and "thin" and touching the soldier "like a strange man". disease', a complete opposition in meaning and sound. Owen also returns to this theme at the end of the poem, as the thought that makes the soldier want only to sleep is "the eyes of women" passing "from him to strong men who were whole." Although love and care are clearly significant to soldiers, especially when they return home and find no respite, Owen, perhaps, dislikes women because they increase the struggle placed on them by war alone, particularly due to the role what "like[ing]" they had about his volunteering. and the necessity they have in a man's happiness. Therefore, this poor representation of women potentially reflects both the soldier's disappointment and Owen's dislike of their ability to provoke him. The lack of attention from women perhaps also reinforces the soldiers' lack of identity due to their wounds. In the first line of Disabled the first detail the reader learns about the man is that he sits "in a wheelchair," as if this is the most important part of his identity, everything he is now. This stark realization is at the heart of the poem, which returns everywhere; it is also described as a "strange disease", something inhuman, an irregularity in society, and Owen describes "its colour", perhaps happiness or personality, as if it had been "poured into shell holes until the veins they dried up, implying that his life, and within it his.