Execution by Enlistment: Society 's Hidden Noose Christopher Fry 's The Lady 's Not For Burning depicts Thomas, the weary veteran, as a suicidal cynic who accuses nobility 's justification of witch burnings. Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" recounts the tragic fate of a WWI soldier boy and the apathetic reactions of a two-faced society. Both Fry and Sassoon describe the despairs of war and criticize hypocritical onlookers who ignore the suffering of others. (72 words)
Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" portrays a WWI soldier 's anguish and accuses the boy 's "kindling" community for shaming his suicide. This "simple soldier boy," who previously "grinned at life in empty joy," was happy merely for the sake of being happy. His …show more content…
Thomas is haunted by traumatic "dreams which smell of henbane" and " [drinks] himself sick" to forget the horrors of warfare in alehouses "across half a dozen counties." However, "the sight of the damned world" prevents any "faintly festive hiccup." In the end, Thomas "only want[s] to be hanged." To him, life no longer holds meaning and solely exists to "fatten/[the] Gallows." Thomas claims that "all flesh is grass", biblically alluding to the ephemeral quality of life. This could also refer to the bloodied, corpse-ridden battlefields Thomas had saw. In addition, the "past seven years" of "floundering in Flanders" and "prising open ribs" have taken severe tolls on Thomas ' hope and identity. He portrays himself as a "perambulating vegetable/a blemish to be hidden/[and] a cake of dung," simply waiting for death. (163 …show more content…
When Margaret questions the clamor of the witch hunt as "ding-dong[s]" of "bell-ringing practice," Thomas retorts, criticizing "gleam of Hell" in her eyes. He claims that Margaret "understands those bells perfectly," and her feigned innocence gives off "quite an air of iniquity." She, too concerned with her "touches of vanity," is not even disturbed by the witch hunt to "the extent of a tut." The night before Jennet 's execution, Margaret complains that her "jewel box/ [and] the lavender from one of [her] first gowns" were borrowed by "this Jennet girl." She also prefers to see Jennet as nonexistent, and for suicidal Thomas, "someone [she] knew years ago" and "wouldn 't see again." On the other hand, Thomas blames Mayor Tyson for ignoring his alleged murders while arresting Jennet, the supposed witch. Frustrated, Thomas denounces "fog-blathering" Tyson for allowing "the fairies fox [him] while the devil does [him]." Tyson believes in the righteousness of his actions, but Thomas claims that Tyson has "cloven hoof-marks in the yellow snow of [his] soul." Tyson actually is 'the lion ' that beats "innocence/all round town" and advocates society as a place of "sleep[ing] hypocrisy [and] porcous pomposity." Returning to a corrupt society from the battlefield 's horrors
Both Fry and Sassoon advocate anti-war, but ultimately, blame society as the true perpetrator of
Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" portrays a WWI soldier 's anguish and accuses the boy 's "kindling" community for shaming his suicide. This "simple soldier boy," who previously "grinned at life in empty joy," was happy merely for the sake of being happy. His …show more content…
Thomas is haunted by traumatic "dreams which smell of henbane" and " [drinks] himself sick" to forget the horrors of warfare in alehouses "across half a dozen counties." However, "the sight of the damned world" prevents any "faintly festive hiccup." In the end, Thomas "only want[s] to be hanged." To him, life no longer holds meaning and solely exists to "fatten/[the] Gallows." Thomas claims that "all flesh is grass", biblically alluding to the ephemeral quality of life. This could also refer to the bloodied, corpse-ridden battlefields Thomas had saw. In addition, the "past seven years" of "floundering in Flanders" and "prising open ribs" have taken severe tolls on Thomas ' hope and identity. He portrays himself as a "perambulating vegetable/a blemish to be hidden/[and] a cake of dung," simply waiting for death. (163 …show more content…
When Margaret questions the clamor of the witch hunt as "ding-dong[s]" of "bell-ringing practice," Thomas retorts, criticizing "gleam of Hell" in her eyes. He claims that Margaret "understands those bells perfectly," and her feigned innocence gives off "quite an air of iniquity." She, too concerned with her "touches of vanity," is not even disturbed by the witch hunt to "the extent of a tut." The night before Jennet 's execution, Margaret complains that her "jewel box/ [and] the lavender from one of [her] first gowns" were borrowed by "this Jennet girl." She also prefers to see Jennet as nonexistent, and for suicidal Thomas, "someone [she] knew years ago" and "wouldn 't see again." On the other hand, Thomas blames Mayor Tyson for ignoring his alleged murders while arresting Jennet, the supposed witch. Frustrated, Thomas denounces "fog-blathering" Tyson for allowing "the fairies fox [him] while the devil does [him]." Tyson believes in the righteousness of his actions, but Thomas claims that Tyson has "cloven hoof-marks in the yellow snow of [his] soul." Tyson actually is 'the lion ' that beats "innocence/all round town" and advocates society as a place of "sleep[ing] hypocrisy [and] porcous pomposity." Returning to a corrupt society from the battlefield 's horrors
Both Fry and Sassoon advocate anti-war, but ultimately, blame society as the true perpetrator of