The Poems Disabled by Wilfred Owen
The poems Disabled by Wilfred Owen and ‘Out, out by Robert Frost were written 1917 and 1916. the poems were both written with the theme of loss and adolescent mistakes prominently featured throughout this piece of poetry.
Wilfred Owen was an English poet, well known for writing poetry to recover, and soldier during the First World War, he wrote a tremendous amount of poetry which portrayed War and none the less his shocking, realistic war poetry which created a genuine contrast to the readers perception of war and his use of comparisons and harsh imagery keeps his readers entertained throughout the whole poem.
Robert Frost was an American poet who was highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life in the US. He uses literary terms, to anticipate the theme of loss in ‘Out, out’ using imagery and personification. Both poems acquire the theme of loss quite efficiently and adolescent mistakes to describe to the modern reader the detrimental effects of war.
The theme of loss and adolescent mistakes in Wilfred Owen’s poem is created from his surroundings when he wrote it; His poem was written mainly throughout his recovery period in which he had accommodated when he was in the trench or at war. Wilfred Owen’s view on the war was quite poor at this point as he had seen many horrors while fighting in the trenches and because of his exposure to victims of Shell Shock otherwise known as PTSD. The poem ‘Disabled’ talks of the tormented recollections and thoughts of a soldier in World War I who has lost his limbs in battle and is now confined to a wheelchair and is utterly helpless. The poem contrasts the living death he is now facing with the pleasures he once enjoyed “before he threw away his knees”. The main character then recalls the captivating crowds which had cheered as he joined up to fight in the war (this was the biggest mistake he made in his life). Wilfred then tells the reader, as he came back from war, the difference in which the public showed to him. No loyalty, no respect and most importantly no love. Is this moral but at. Wilfred Owen uses the poem title itself: ‘Disabled’ to exhibit the theme of neglection and loss, the title is quite important as it is what grabs the reader’s attention and gives a brief description of the poem furthermore the title is straightforward to acknowledge as this gives the reader a picture of sadness and loss due to the resourceful language features based throughout the poem.
The poem ‘Out, out’ can be used to demonstrate how grim the circumstances such as war can change a person’s appearance towards life and encourage innocent young boys and men to leave their precious childhood behind them, finally in which comes to a conclusion that circumstances created by the ‘responsible’ adult, as well as the idea that even if somebody dies life will go on as if nothing happened, are only portrayed if experienced by man.
Disabled is an imposingly and strong poem which illustrates the theme of loss and adolescent mistakes because the style, language feature and structure on what Owen operates upon. Harsh words are used to emphasize the theme of loss inside the poem through imagery; this is shown when the man is wearing a “ghastly suit of grey’ which shows the man’s morbid and depressed state of mind. The girls all touch him like a “queer’ disease” while he used to dance with them freely in his youth; this shows how he has paid for his egotism with the loss of his legs. The of adolescence mistakes is also further noticed as Owen creates a tragic atmosphere amongst himself as Owen come back from war. He regrets the loss of ‘throwing’ away his knees which suggests that the ideas and inspirations behind joining the war were not as patriotic or loyal as they should have been and his immaturity only has now left him a cripple, however from a broader perspective Owen didn’t grasp much information about the world and only made it upon the sources surrounding him. Propaganda was the main key factor.
Wilfred Owen also uses contrasting images to cultivate loss and adolescent mistakes throughout “out out”, the quotations “Town used to swing so gay” uses past tense to help compare the community in which he lived in and what were the before and after effects of war that impacted on him and his society, this helps to show how he is regretting the losses since he joined the army.
The quotation “Now he is old; and a leap of purple spurted from his thigh and his back will never brace” shows Wilfred’s loss through his active state and can be contrasted to the other quote: “for it was younger than his youth, last year.” The use of contrasting imagery is used when the narrator talks about the man’s life bleeding out of him through a wound on his thigh, and the use of the word ‘purple’ which is usually a colour denoting life and moral actions, shows what the scenic effect of what had on the soldier had gone through when he had been injured, In conclusion to this had a deep impact on him, as he no longer feels like he had a reason to live or be happy while compared to when he was younger when he was full of joy and was living life to the fullest.
The theme adolescent mistakes is anticipated in ‘Out, out’ with the repetitive and imaginative use of personification, an example of this would be the personification of the Buzz Saw which constantly buzzes and snarls while jumping out of the boy’s hand in ‘excitement’. The line: “leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap” as well as the word ‘excitement’ to describe the saw helps to create an image in the readers mind through personification that the saw is acting however it likes.
Robert Frost at first starts poem with mentioning the tragic event to come when he states that he wished that the workers would have “called it a day” and “given” the boy “the half hour that counts so much when saved from work”, this leads the reader to wonder what will happen as there is foreshadowing for an unknown event. This eventually leads to the sense of loss when the boy nearly unintentionally amputates his hand. After the boy’s hand is nearly in half, he is still mature and old enough to realize that he has lost too much blood to survive.
Robert Frost also shows the theme of loss when he writes: “the watcher at his pulse took fright….” this use of imagery shows that maybe an acquaintance and not a family member who is with the boy when he dies. This scene is a cold image and shows a lack of humanity to help demonstrate the theme of loss as the boy is shown to be without much family when he dies. The particular had truly touched me as it shows a lack of humanity
The boy is shown to desperately attempt to “keep the life from spilling” from his hand, but even that is only an attempt since nothing can be done and everybody including the boy knows he will die soon. Above all, the boy hopes to maintain his physical dignity in his death and would rather die with a hand than die with a missing hand, this helps to shows the theme of loss when the boy dies.
As we come close to the end of the poem the narrator says ‘Little—less—nothing’, this is an example of diminishing words used to create a pause hence putting some emphasis on what has just been said. The theme of loss is communicated here because it articulates a sense in which the boy has lost all hope/child hood life as a consequence of his mistake by going to war.
To communicate the theme of loss at the end of the poem Robert Frost writes that the workers: ‘And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs’, this shows that the family did not feel much emotion when the boy died and instead just carried on with their work without the boy. Another key language feature, Onomatopoeia is significantly implemented within the poem to help aid the personification throughout, an example of this would be: ‘And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled’, this helps build up tension for when the boy loses his hand to help further communicate the theme of loss and adolescent mistakes.
In conclusion both poems have created a vivid image for the reader to interpretate plus show as the 2 themes of loss and adolescent mistakes
