Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

Singapore: It’s high-time we brought NS pay above the poverty line When Wilfred Owen wrote the famous poem, “Dulce et Decorum est,” he was not just describing the horrors of World War I, he was also condemning his government’s propaganda machine for glorifying a gruesome war in order to discourage draft evasion. He famously wrote at the end of his poem: The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori. The old Lie; it is sweet and honourable to die for your country. For Owen, the lie was not…

Introduction Wilfred Owen is one of the most well known poets of the First World War; he was born in England in 1893 and joined the military when he was 22 years old. He wanted to be a poet since a very young age and wrote his earlier poems when he was around 17 years old. In 1915, during the First World War, he enlisted in the British army and his first active service was at Serre and St.Quentin in 1917. He continued writing during his time as a soldier but was in active duty only for a few…

War is considered by many to be one of humanity’s central traits as an advancing species and as such it holds a heavy influence on our past, present and future. From warring tribes in Africa during the dawn of man to the great Empires of Greece and Persia warfare has always been present, whether this war is for defense of a homeland and families, to conquest for more power and wealth or freedom from persecution and oppression. These forces drive mankind and have pushed us technologically and…

Imagery plays a prominent role in this novel. The utilization of imagery is used to establish two major things. One, it provides the reader with a better perception on the situation and create and illusion as if the reader is actually there. In addition, the imagery is used to demonstrate how Ishmael's mentality and morals are altered by war all through the novel. Towards the end of the novel, Beah reminisces much of what he had witnessed and endured in the war, which left him in a daze. At one…

body with that of his nation; he is England, therefore as long as English remains, as will he. Similarly, Frost denotes a soldier as fallen lance susceptible to rust over the longevity of time. Even after death the soldier lives. The phrase "Dulce et Decorum est" is Latin for, "It is sweet and right to die for one's country" - or, more informally, "it is an honor to die for one's country". Through Owen’s sennott, the very definition of patriotism is spelt out. Owen explores the horrific…

When the opportunity to fight arises, does one fight for nationalism, for the people, or for the men above him ordering him to fight? And when the smoke clears, how is he held responsible for his actions if they were based on his best judgment at the time? Throughout It was the War of the Trenches, Jacques Tardi portrays the various realities, situations, and decisions of the French soldiers fighting in World War I (WW1); forcing the readers to question the ideals of nationalism as opposed to…

The image of smoke is tied somewhat ironically to both the act of destruction and the ability to engender complexities out of the raw materials of the earth. Smoke is indicative of fire -- a tool that has been simultaneously feared and utilized by humans for millennia. Given its relationship with destruction, smoke is often paired with images of war and conflict; thus, it is no surprise when Stephen Crane utilizes this symbol in the Red Badge of Courage to reflect the nature of war and its…

In War Photographer and in Refugee mother and child, Duffy and Achebe both witness the deadly war in Northern Ireland, the Lebanon and Cambodia, and Biafra respectively. Duffy and Achebe sympathize with the victims of the war as people are suffering from war. They look upon the idea of anti-war, which stops any further suffering and death. Duffy is viewing the war through the eyes as a photographer while Achebe is looking through the perspective of the mother, where a mother lost a child due to…

War- glorified, deemed necessary, and plastered with the image of heroism. Medals, ceremonies, and positions give war and battle and prestigious image. But, in the book Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley, the true inhumanities and unnecessary acts of war are shown through the characters’ first-hand accounts and perspectives on battle. The book highlights one of the most prestigious battles in American history, the battle of Iwo Jima. Most did not know what this tiny one square mile island was…

Carry On My Wayward Son The name the British gave the First World War speaks for itself; the Great War, it sounds like a title to an epic where battle is romanticized. Many men who enlisted expected the war to be great indeed, it would be quick and they would return as heroes. The reason the British men expected a great war was partly due to the fact that Britain had not been involved in a full-scale war since 1871, and ever since the idea of war had become a mythical journey, where boys became…