The Theme Of Death In Dulce Et Decorum Est

War is gruesome no matter what. “Dulce Et Decorum Est” is Latin for, “It is Sweet and Fitting to Die for One’s Country”. The authors of “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” “The Man He Killed,” and “Do Not Weep, Maiden, War is Kind” show people what was going on in different wars. Each author expresses very different perceptions on war. In each story, the characters explain their thoughts and what they went through. The theme of death is portrayed by the setting of “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” “The Man He Killed,” and “Do Not Weep, Maiden, War is Kind.” The theme of death is shown through the setting throughout the entire poem, “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” The first scene tells of the men were heading back to shelter to rest. On their way, they encounter gas shells …show more content…
At the beginning of the poem, the author paints the scene in which the narrator is sitting at the bar, waging an emotional war about the man he killed. This brings the setting inside of his mind. He believes that he could have been friends with the guy he killed. Tyrus Miller agrees by stating, “the man he killed might have easily been included among his present drinking companions.” The internal turmoil that the narrator faces also follows the theme of death because he killed a man and cannot get away from the thought of his death. The author also explains the aftermath of the Boer Wars. On the battle field, more than fifty-five thousand British soldiers were killed, bringing about, yet again, the theme of death. The final setting is the memory of the narrator standing on the battle field right in front of the man he killed. “But ranged as infantry, And staring face to face, I shot at him as he at me, And killed him in his place” (5-8). The narrator only killed the man out of necessity and is now left dwelling in the horror. Marie Napierkowskoi states “that two decent men who have no quarrel with each other would be shooting at each other.” This also sheds light on guilt the narrator feels and how he is trying to reassure himself what he did was necessary. Death glooms over the narrator as he struggles to flee the thoughts the man he killed. The theme of death is portrayed by the war …show more content…
“Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky And the affrighted steed ran on alone” (2-3). The horse grew scared and frantic because the man that was on his back was killed. The death whilst riding horseback gives away the setting. This tell reveals that the setting took place during the Revolutionary War. Next, the narrator explains how the lives of men are determined at the battle front by clarifying that men are either born to kill or born to die. Finally, a man is described as dying in the yellow trenches, this bringing the scene to a different war. The author tells gruesome details about the kids’ father dying. Not only is the theme of death shown in the father’s death, but it is also shown in the little piece of the child that died with his father. Diane Weber supports this by stating, “The first line ("Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind") is repeated at the beginning of the second section, changing only the person addressed.” Throughout the poem, the author tells different stories about loved ones that passed away on the battle field in a tone that sounds as if to address the children of the people at war. The theme of death is swarms throughout the poem through the man on a horse, how the lives of men are determined at the battle front, and how the father died in the