The horrors of conflict include events from World War One and post-apocalyptic environments, both events can be presented through the harrowing and saddening works of both Wilfred Owen and Cormac McCarthy. Both texts look at the horrors that have derived from conflict including: nature turning against humanity; the loss of civilisation; the loss of faith and the idea of morality. Steven Frye notes that the themes within The Road “deal directly with violence, human degradation, and both human and natural evil.” These themes exhibit the horrors of conflict and can be clearly detected within Owen’s poetry too.
Both Owen and McCarthy present the horrors of conflict in various ways, one of these ways is through the clash between humans and nature. …show more content…
In many ways this links to Owen’s war poetry, Owen’s wanted to highlight the brutalities of war, not the run up to war. The idea of nature being cruel and turning its back on humanity is also displayed within Owen’s poem ‘Futility’, nature is portrayed as being more powerful than humans and leads to the themes and feelings of individual insignificance. This is brutally highlighted in the description of …show more content…
The sun, the main symbol of nature, is considered a life- giving force that nurtures men back to life. However, Owen is convinced that due to war, nature is angry and resentful towards humankind, thus when war breaks out, nature also reflects the ongoing chaos. The poet’s buildup of anger at nature leads to a deluge of verbal rage “O what made fatuous sunbeams toil” , here it is evident that the poet’s fury is directed towards the sun, the sun’s refusal to revive the soldier echoes the idea that nature has finally deserted humanity. Owen uses a sense of irony within this line, he makes reader’s question why the sun initiates and creates any life, especially if it is futile, meaningless and pointless. As well as this, it makes readers aware that it is useless to move the soldier, he won’t be spared from death, therefore futility in both senses. It is also important to note the structure of the poem as it is written like a Sonnet, however it has been divided up into 2 stanzas, the first stanza is full of hope and talks of the sun
Both Owen and McCarthy present the horrors of conflict in various ways, one of these ways is through the clash between humans and nature. …show more content…
In many ways this links to Owen’s war poetry, Owen’s wanted to highlight the brutalities of war, not the run up to war. The idea of nature being cruel and turning its back on humanity is also displayed within Owen’s poem ‘Futility’, nature is portrayed as being more powerful than humans and leads to the themes and feelings of individual insignificance. This is brutally highlighted in the description of …show more content…
The sun, the main symbol of nature, is considered a life- giving force that nurtures men back to life. However, Owen is convinced that due to war, nature is angry and resentful towards humankind, thus when war breaks out, nature also reflects the ongoing chaos. The poet’s buildup of anger at nature leads to a deluge of verbal rage “O what made fatuous sunbeams toil” , here it is evident that the poet’s fury is directed towards the sun, the sun’s refusal to revive the soldier echoes the idea that nature has finally deserted humanity. Owen uses a sense of irony within this line, he makes reader’s question why the sun initiates and creates any life, especially if it is futile, meaningless and pointless. As well as this, it makes readers aware that it is useless to move the soldier, he won’t be spared from death, therefore futility in both senses. It is also important to note the structure of the poem as it is written like a Sonnet, however it has been divided up into 2 stanzas, the first stanza is full of hope and talks of the sun