Wilfred Owen

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Wilfred OwenDisabled

• By Gauhar Raina
• Winfield Chen

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Wilfred Owen

• English Poet and Soldier
• One of the leading poets of WWI
• Influenced by Sassoon
• Focused on reality of war

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Disabled

• 1 He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
• 2 And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
• 3 Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
• 4 Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
• 5 Voices of play and pleasure after day,
• 6 Till gathering sleep had mothered them from
  him.
• 7 About this time Town used to swing so gay
• 8 When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees
• 9 And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew
  dim,
• 10 In the old times, before he threw away his
  knees.
• 11 Now he will never feel again how slim
• 12 Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle
  hands,
• 13 All of them touch him like some queer disease.

• 14 There was an artist silly for his face,
• 15 For it was younger than his youth, last year.
• 16 Now he is old his back will never brace
• 17 He's lost his colour very far from here,
• 18 Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran
  dry,
• 19 And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,
• 20 And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

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• 21 One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
• 22 After the matches carried shoulder-high.
• 23 It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
• 24 He thought he'd better join. He wonders why .
  .
• 25 Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.
• 26 That's why and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
• 27 Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
• 28 He asked to join. He didn't have to beg
• 29 Smiling they wrote his lie aged nineteen
  years.
• 30 Germans he scarcely thought of and no fears
• 31 Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
• 32 For daggers in plaid socks of smart salutes
• 33And care of arms and leave and pay arrears
• 34 Esprit de corps and hints for young recruits.
• 35 And soon, he was drafted out with drums and
  cheers.

• 36 Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer
  Goal.
• 37 Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
• 38 Thanked him and then inquired about his soul.
• 39 Now, he will spend a few sick years in
  Institutes,
• 40 And do what things the rules consider wise,
• 41 And take whatever pity they may dole.
• 42 To-night he noticed how the women's eyes
• 43 Passed from him to the strong men that were
  whole.
• 44 How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
• 45 And put him into bed? Why don't they come?
• -Wilfred Owen

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Introduction

• Injured Soldier
• Regrets going to war
• Life before war compared to life after war
• Feelings of bitterness

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Thesis

• Through the use of literary devices, imagery,
  irony, tone, atmosphere as well as the contrast
  between life before and after joining the war,
  Wilfred Owen shows the lost of youth in the
  soldiers and the old lie spread by the commanders
  of the army during the war.

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Title of the Poem

• Soldiers disabled physically by war
• wheeled chair (1)
• Life of the soldiers ruined
• Now he will never feel again (11)

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Theme

• Truth of the old lie In this poem, Wilfred Owen
  shows the reality of war, which is the opposite
  to what the propaganda by the government
  described.
• Effect of war on soldier The soldier described
  in this poem lost everything due to the war.

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Form and Structure

• Poem is divided into two parts
• Soldier reminiscing about life
• Remembers life before war
• The old lie
• Life after joining the war.
• Life after the war
• Disabled
• Cannot return to life before war

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Rhyme

• In the first few stanzas, the rhyme is all over
  the place.
• Some signs of rhyme, but not in order
• In the final few stanzas, the rhyme is more
  noticeable.
• Switch in line (21) Change between the sadness of
  the lost to the reason for joining the war.

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Figurative Language

• Similes
• Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn (4)
• Song of praise, but saddened, soldiers were not
  praised
• touch him like some queer disease (13)
• Girls does not want to be with him
• War destroyed the soldier physically
• Metaphors
• There was an artist silly for his face (14)
• Another indication of the effect of war

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• Personification
• as the air grew dim (9)
• glow-lamps budded (8)
• Joined the war for the girls
• The use of personification shows the reason why
  the soldiers first signed up for the war.

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Imagery

• Limb/Body Parts Imagery
• Legless, sewn short at elbow (3)
• Before he threw away his knees (10)
• His back will never brace (16)
• Show that the soldier is disabled
• Blood Imagery
• leap of purple leaped from his thigh (20)
• a blood-smear down his leg (21)
• Refer to the brutality of war

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Imagery Continued

• Girls Imagery
• to please his meg (26)
• to please the giddy jilts (27)
• notice how the womens eyes (42)
• Shows how the soldiers join the war for the
  honour while not receiving it after losing their
  lives.

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Irony (General)

• Owen uses irony to get across his message of
  reality of war to the readers in this poem
• It is evident he opted to join the army in order
  to please his girlfriend meg, feeling that the
  fact he was a soldier would be attractive to
  women. (24)
• What is ironic is that the war is in fact the
  reason why he will never feel again how slim
  girls waists are.

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Irony

• one time he liked a blood-smear down his leg
  (21)
• shows how the injured soldier once felt proud to
  be injured
• ironic as he was seriously injured at war, and
  instead of feeling proud, feels shame
• Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer
  Goal.

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Irony Cont

• he noticed how the womens eyes passed from him
  to the strong men that were whole (42)(43)
• why dont they come and put him to bed
  (44)(45)
• Ironic because the soldier does not see himself
  as a full man.
• The soldier needs the girls to put him to bed.
  Ironic because the men are suppose to put the
  girls to sleep

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Tone and Atmosphere

• 1st Stanza
• Negative, Sad, Depressed
• Middle Stanzas (2,3,4,5)
• Envy
• Reminiscent , Sad
• Sense of Loss
• 6th and Last Stanza
• Criticizes the war through rhetorical questions

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Contrast

• In the poem, Owen contrasts the life before the
  war and life after the war to show the effect of
  war on the soldiers and the lie told by the
  generals through propaganda.

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Contrast

• Life Before War
• Played Football (23)
• Believed war to be glorious (26)
• Went to war for the girls (26)
• Pride

• Life After War
• Disabled (1)
• Have to have women to help him to bed (44)
• Girls do not notice him anymore (12)(42)

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Other Significant Lines

• He didnt have to beg (28)(29)
• Shows the officers eager to send soldiers to war
• Germans he scarcely (30)(31)
• Only joined the army for the glory
• Only a solemn man who brought (37)(38)
• No one cares about the soldiers dying
• After the matches, carried shoulder high (22)
• People care more about football

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Connection With Other Poems

• Similarities
• Dulce et Decorum Est
• The Old Lie
• Lost of Youth
• Propaganda spread by the government
• Differences
• Base Details
• Does not emphasize on an specific event during
  the war
• Memories of before the war

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Conclusion

• In conclusion, through the use of contrast,
  imagery, irony and other literary devices, Owen,
  in Disabled, was able to show the reality of
  war and criticize the propaganda spread by the
  government

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Music!
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Explanation of Music
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(No Transcript)
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Explanation of Picture

• Painted by Fay Jones
• is an official combat artist who paints scenes of
  soldiers in Iraq.
• His work helps show the human side of our troops
  and their struggles .
• Paints about disabled soldiers