'Shame' by Sergeant John ‘BJ’ Lewis (37), Royal Air Force, Iraq (Operation Telic) 2008, taken from 'Heroes'
The poem “shame” by BJ Lewis was written in 2008 to reflect the media criticism soldiers faced after participating in the war in Iraq. The title of this poem swiftly introduces us to the theme of this poem and the contemptuous mood in it. The author further uses irony to emphasize this title where he states”
“We endured much hardship to do the right thing,
With no concept of the guilt and great shame it would bring.
Overall the poem makes me understand that this poem is about soldiers who went to war and committed a lot of crimes during the war in spite of their victory and on coming home the media exposes the crimes they committed to …show more content…
In this particular time the number of service members and defense department civilians to die in the Iraq war had reached an approximate 4000. This war was most likely not supported by both the citizens of the United States and Iraq. Instead it was all about political gain and conspiracy theories thus the soldiers’ actions were not in any way appreciated. It was also in 2008 that Iraqi government regained control and the main goal was to bring the troops home.
The poem “shame” narrates the experience of patriotic and dedicated soldiers who took part in the war in Iraq, the soldier did not only manage to survive the war they also conquer their enemies grayly, however all this changes when they go back home and face criticism first hand. That’s why the poem starts in a heroic tone but the tone gradually fades away as the poem goes on to expose the theme of betrayal, deceit and shame, instead of the heroic …show more content…
A lot of the soldiers who fought in the frontline were young men who were patriotic and sacrificed their lives for their country “And shed some tears for this lad”. The total number of American soldiers who served in the war was more than 1 million. Their deployments often would be long and the condition became even worse, soon the only thing they had was the bond between them: this was the most important thing to them in war that’s why they are angry and sad on announcement of the death of their
The poem “shame” by BJ Lewis was written in 2008 to reflect the media criticism soldiers faced after participating in the war in Iraq. The title of this poem swiftly introduces us to the theme of this poem and the contemptuous mood in it. The author further uses irony to emphasize this title where he states”
“We endured much hardship to do the right thing,
With no concept of the guilt and great shame it would bring.
Overall the poem makes me understand that this poem is about soldiers who went to war and committed a lot of crimes during the war in spite of their victory and on coming home the media exposes the crimes they committed to …show more content…
In this particular time the number of service members and defense department civilians to die in the Iraq war had reached an approximate 4000. This war was most likely not supported by both the citizens of the United States and Iraq. Instead it was all about political gain and conspiracy theories thus the soldiers’ actions were not in any way appreciated. It was also in 2008 that Iraqi government regained control and the main goal was to bring the troops home.
The poem “shame” narrates the experience of patriotic and dedicated soldiers who took part in the war in Iraq, the soldier did not only manage to survive the war they also conquer their enemies grayly, however all this changes when they go back home and face criticism first hand. That’s why the poem starts in a heroic tone but the tone gradually fades away as the poem goes on to expose the theme of betrayal, deceit and shame, instead of the heroic …show more content…
A lot of the soldiers who fought in the frontline were young men who were patriotic and sacrificed their lives for their country “And shed some tears for this lad”. The total number of American soldiers who served in the war was more than 1 million. Their deployments often would be long and the condition became even worse, soon the only thing they had was the bond between them: this was the most important thing to them in war that’s why they are angry and sad on announcement of the death of their