Sweet Isn’t So Sweet How ironic is it that one’s life being stolen by death can be considered romantic to others? During WWI, American’s practically adored the idea of one freely giving their life for their countries sake, which is no doubt honorable and brave, but not so much idealistic for those actually experiencing the traumas of war. In former soldier, Wilfred Owen’s poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, he emphasizes the reality of war and it’s actual lack of beauty for those whose life’s are sacrificed and seized through the use of diction, imagery, and figurative language. Owen’s effective diction stresses the gruesome truths on the battlefield and trenches which the men of war fight, bleed, suffer and die upon. Wilfred successfully emphasizes the haunting reality through his word choice, for example, “He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning” (line 16). Owen
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He portrays how helpless and desperate the men are on their journey to safety through the use of simile, “Bent double , like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge” (lines 1-2). The men who are practically forced to leave their country to fight are described as poor men who are suffering due to lack of common necessities and resources, yet these men are volunteered and drafted to do such by law. The man who was in serious and crucial conditions due to inhaling in the gas is also compared through simile to reveal his reaction from the toxins, “But someone was still yelling out and stumbling, and flound’ring like a man in a fire or lime” (lines 11-12). If his reaction is compared to a man on fire, there is no confusion that he was in a critical state which one cannot simply endure, and there is doubt that this was not how he preferred to die. When one is defeated such as that young man, it is impossible for him to feel any sentiment towards the treacherous
He portrays how helpless and desperate the men are on their journey to safety through the use of simile, “Bent double , like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge” (lines 1-2). The men who are practically forced to leave their country to fight are described as poor men who are suffering due to lack of common necessities and resources, yet these men are volunteered and drafted to do such by law. The man who was in serious and crucial conditions due to inhaling in the gas is also compared through simile to reveal his reaction from the toxins, “But someone was still yelling out and stumbling, and flound’ring like a man in a fire or lime” (lines 11-12). If his reaction is compared to a man on fire, there is no confusion that he was in a critical state which one cannot simply endure, and there is doubt that this was not how he preferred to die. When one is defeated such as that young man, it is impossible for him to feel any sentiment towards the treacherous