Scythe

Wilfred Owen is one of the most famous war poets. He became interested on writing poems when he was a teenager. On 21 October 1915, he volunteered to contribute to war and wrote many war poems, such as ‘Anthem for doomed youth’, ‘Exposure’, and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. In these poems Owen has described the horror and reality of war through his vivid experience. He has portrayed the severe situations of war and dreadful sights he has seen. Owen uses various language devices to convey the horror of war and make us understand his genuine feelings. Owen uses simile to express the fearful experience at war in his poem, ‘Anthem for doomed youth’. This is demonstrated in the line, ‘What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?’. The word, ‘passing-bells’, is defined as a bell rung to announce a death or a funeral. The use of the word ‘cattle’ implies the feeling that soldiers are being treated as cattle, which are animals that have no control and no freedom. It would also mean they are not considered as human beings who contributed to war for the nation. Moreover, the comparison between ‘cattle’ and soldiers evokes the idea that soldier is in the same status as humans. Cattle dies even though they do not want to, and Owen has proposed soldiers die at war although they eagerly want to live. This could mean soldiers have no choice to choose whether to live or die and no honour has given to them after death. Hence, the rhetorical question is asking what rights were given to the…

A world where death is a rare occurrence, and the only way to keep the population down is an elite group called Scythes. In the novel Scythe, written by Neal Shusterman, these elite members of society are given the power to kill whoever they want, whenever they want, and it's all for the betterment of their community. With this in mind, Rowan is taken in to train and become one of these elites. However, when he is taken in by a morally corrupt Scythe, Rowan is faced with a difficult decision;…

getting overpopulated So, the Scythes were created. An organization completely independent of the government (which is now just the Thunderhead, Scythes alone have the power to kill (or “Gleaning” as they like to call it referring to the medieval era when poor people would…

seen when Frost says, “…that was my long scythe whispering to the ground./ What was it it whispered? I knew not myself” (2-3). Generally, whispering, or speaking in general, is seen as a friendly gesture. At the end of the poem, however, the storyline takes a turn, as “My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make” (14). It is during this seemingly friendly action that the act of cutting the hay was done. This represents the fact that betrayal, which is a negative action, occurs during the…

When a person thinks of power, they usually think of the president or other rulers. But people with power aren’t always caring, and they may use their power for their own benefit. The dystopian novel Scythe by Neal Shusterman is about two teens, Citra and Rowan, who are chosen to be scythes, the population managers/killers. In the dystopian novel The House Of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, El Patron, a selfish ruler, has made a clone of himself, that will give him transplants so he can live…

Frost supplicates us to question, “what does the scythe whisper?” yet if we stay grounded in reality, we must admit that scythes are incapable of human speech whether in whispered form or otherwise. Frost, in structuring his poem around a whispering scythe, allows the poem to imply much more than it actually states. Frost questions whether the reader or mower in the field can help but look behind and within the facts stated in the poem for something more than just what is written. This listening…

Evening Hawk In the poem “Evening Hawk” by Robert Penn Warren the author relies heavily on description of the scene and mood for the reader to understand the tone and theme. The poem describes a hawk bringing the night and ending the day. Themes like death, wasting of time, and portraying humanity in a negative sense are explored through the flight of the hawk. Robert Penn Warren used careful diction to convey a deeper meaning to certain references and symbolism. These would include: the…

The poem “Mowing” by Robert Frost is about a working man who is in a field cutting grass with his scythe. The theme of this poem is about hard work and how hard work pays off and how you feel complete when you complete your task. A song with a similar theme to this poem is “Working Man” by Imagine Dragons. This song by Imagine Dragons is about the working man and the working class. Throughout the song it goes into depth about how the working life can be tough but you keep having to work…

In regards to the text, Rowan symbolizes the archetype of a civilization; a place that is sheltered with regulations, where moral values and ethics play a key role in determining a cultivating a refined civilization. On the other hand, one of the influential characters who molds Rowan into the ambivalent figure towards the end of the novel—Honorable Scythe Goddard— symbolizes the atrocious nature of savagery within this dystopian novel. Scythe Goddard displays the psychological aspect of an…

realized his fate was either to consume such a vile thing or succumb to hunger. "I fucking hate cucumbers." he repeated to himself as he sighed heavily, picked up one of the cans that wasn't already busted open and turned himself around to leave this wretched place behind once and for all through the remaining door. Halfway through the room he suddenly spotted something in his peripheral vision. He stopped, turned his head snappily and fixed his gaze on one of the tools hanging on the wall. An…