Modern responders can gain insight into the concerns of World War I through an appreciation of texts written during that time. Dulce Et Decorum Est and The Anthem for Doomed Youth, both written in 1917 by World War I veteran, Wilfred Owen typify wartime poems. His literature highlights the contextual issues of his society such as anti-war sentiment, the horrors of war and the erosion of religious faith. Owen’s work ultimately allows us to gain a deeper appreciation of the brutality war and for those who fought, lived and suffered through it.
Dulce Et Decorum Est. and The Anthem for Doomed Youth both capture the anti-war sentiment that grew as a result of the widespread death and suffering . The reader is introduced to the horror of war in …show more content…
During a time when religion played an integral role in everyday life, The Anthem of Doomed Youth casts doubt on the importance of faith. Owen conveys his own loss of faith by highlighting the pointless religious mourning that follows every death by using a rhetorical question, ‘What candles may be held to speed them all?’ The candles symbolic of religious tradition are depicted as redundant and an object of pure rhetoric. The contextual importance and significance of religion is further challenged when Owen suggests that religious traditions were a fast by using dark humour to state, ‘No mockeries now for them, no prayer nor bells’. The idea of declining religion and loss of faith is carried into many of Owen’s other works including Dolce Et Decorum Est. Here the poet employs religious imagery to subvert the positive and noble impact that religion was typically associated with during the early 20th century, ‘His face hanging, like a devil’s sick of sin’. By suggesting that the fallen soldier had traits in common with the devil, Owen proves that religion no longer holds the same sacred meaning that it once did for these soldier. Thus, through his poetry, Owen sets out to highlight how World War I has acted as the catalyst for the erosion of faith for many of the soldiers fighting on the front
Dulce Et Decorum Est. and The Anthem for Doomed Youth both capture the anti-war sentiment that grew as a result of the widespread death and suffering . The reader is introduced to the horror of war in …show more content…
During a time when religion played an integral role in everyday life, The Anthem of Doomed Youth casts doubt on the importance of faith. Owen conveys his own loss of faith by highlighting the pointless religious mourning that follows every death by using a rhetorical question, ‘What candles may be held to speed them all?’ The candles symbolic of religious tradition are depicted as redundant and an object of pure rhetoric. The contextual importance and significance of religion is further challenged when Owen suggests that religious traditions were a fast by using dark humour to state, ‘No mockeries now for them, no prayer nor bells’. The idea of declining religion and loss of faith is carried into many of Owen’s other works including Dolce Et Decorum Est. Here the poet employs religious imagery to subvert the positive and noble impact that religion was typically associated with during the early 20th century, ‘His face hanging, like a devil’s sick of sin’. By suggesting that the fallen soldier had traits in common with the devil, Owen proves that religion no longer holds the same sacred meaning that it once did for these soldier. Thus, through his poetry, Owen sets out to highlight how World War I has acted as the catalyst for the erosion of faith for many of the soldiers fighting on the front