The Target Gurney

World War I began on July 28, 1914 and lasted four long years. There were numerous countries involved, countries who either sided with the Allies (Britain, France) or with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary). WW1 resulted in the fatality of millions of soldiers and innocent civilians who were sent to fight for the well being of their own country. Many of these soldiers were not aware of the brutal reality of which war consisted of. This war saw the rise to trench warfare, holes which soldiers dug and waited for further instructions in. Conditions in the trenches were poor and dangerous. Often, soldiers were left to die out in the open, with nobody to mourn or bury them. Such incidents led soldiers to fall into a dejected abyss, as …show more content…
Evidence: It is during one of his moments of exhaustion that the soldier in the poem truly believes it “might be best to die” in order to set his mother's “fears to rest” (Gurney 7-8). In this sorrowful and slightly exasperated excerpt, the soldier’s only solution to his mother’s worry is reaching death itself. This provides insight into the tiresome state in which the soldier finds himself in after brutal days of battle. Under such conditions, a soldier has no other choice but to contemplate whether life is worth living or fighting for anymore. The melancholic way the soldier speaks gives the reader a sense of defeat and incompetence. The last few lines of a poem not only express the soldier’s defeat but also his frustration. The soldier claims that while the soldiers might scream and cry, “God he takes no sort of heed” (Gurney 19). In this dispirited excerpt, the soldier argues that no matter what a soldier says or does, God takes no notice. This displays the discouraged condition in which the soldier finds himself in after having endured the hardships of war, feeling as if not even God will help them. War was portrayed as an honor, a duty in which all men should pride themselves in. However, as demonstrated by the soldier in the poem, war consists of much more than what people paint it out to be. While many individuals had a glorified …show more content…
Sorley’s poem is directed mostly at the Germans, the enemies, who are similarly “blind like us [the British]” (Sorley 1). This somber resemblance among enemies presented by the soldier in the poem, displays the idea that Germans and British soldiers have more in common than they perceive. Men on both sides of the war were forced to fight for the unknown, which is what the soldier argues as he states that the German’s were also “blind”. This finding demonstrates that British soldiers did not experience the brutality of war alone, soldiers on both sides suffered for the need and well being of their native country. The young boys were helpless, having been sent to fight without truly understanding the reason and logic behind it. Furthermore, while not in battle, the soldiers stayed in trenches where they were to wait for further instructions. It is then that many soldiers wish for nothing more than peace, but until then “the storm, the darkness, and the thunder” they must endure (Sorley 13-4). In this dark excerpt, the soldier conveys his hope for the end of the war, for peace to finally arrive. This provides insight into the mind of soldiers as they encounter not only the harsh battles, but the weather itself. The storm can be taken both literally