Wilfred Owen's Dsiabled

7/31/2019 Wilfred Owen's Dsiabled

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Wilfred Owen

Disabled

By: Gauhar Raina

Winfield Chen


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Wilfred Owen

English Poet and

Soldier

One of the leadingpoets of WWI

Influenced by Sassoon

Focused on reality ofwar


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Disabled

1 He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,

2 And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,

3 Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park

4 Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,

5 Voices of play and pleasure after day,

6 Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.

7 About this time Town used to swing so gay

8 When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees

9 And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,

10 In the old times, before he threw away his knees.

11 Now he will never feel again how slim12 Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,

13 All of them touch him like some queer disease.

14 There was an artist silly for his face,

15 For it was younger than his youth, last year.

16 Now he is old; his back will never brace;

17 He's lost his colour very far from here,

18 Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,

19 And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,

20 And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.


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21 One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,

22 After the matches carried shoulder-high.

23 It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,

24 He thought he'd better join. He wonders why . .

25 Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.

26 That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,

27 Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,

28 He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;

29 Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.

30 Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fears

31 Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts

32 For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;

33And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;

34 Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.

35 And soon, he was drafted out with drums andcheers.

36 Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheerGoal.

37 Only a solemn man who brought him fruits

38 Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.

39 Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,

40 And do what things the rules consider wise,

41 And take whatever pity they may dole.

42 To-night he noticed how the women's eyes43 Passed from him to the strong men that were

whole.

44 How cold and late it is! Why don't they come

45 And put him into bed? Why don't they come?

-Wilfred Owen


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Thesis

Through the use of literary devices, imagery,

irony, tone, atmosphere as well as the contrast

between life before and after joining the war,

Wilfred Owen shows the lost of youth in the

soldiers and the old lie spread by the

commanders of the army during the war.


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Title of the Poem

Soldiers disabled physically by war

wheeled chair (1)

Life of the soldiers ruined

Now he will never feel again (11)


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Theme

Truth of the old lie: In this poem, Wilfred

Owen shows the reality of war, which is the

opposite to what the propaganda by the

government described.

Effect of war on soldier: The soldier described

in this poem lost everything due to the war.


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Form and Structure

Poem is divided into two parts

Soldier reminiscing about life

Remembers life before war

The old lie

Life after joining the war.

Life after the war

DisabledCannot return to life before war


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Rhyme

In the first few stanzas, the rhyme is all over

the place.

Some signs of rhyme, but not in order

In the final few stanzas, the rhyme is more

noticeable.

Switch in line (21) Change between the sadness of

the lost to the reason for joining the war.


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Figurative Language

Similes:

Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn (4)Song of praise, but saddened, soldiers were not praised

touch him like some queer disease (13)Girls does not want to be with him

War destroyed the soldier physically

Metaphors:There was an artist silly for his face (14)

Another indication of the effect of war


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Imagery

Limb/Body Parts Imagery:

Legless, sewn short at elbow (3)

Before he threw away his knees (10)

His back will never brace (16)Show that the soldier is disabled

Blood Imagery:

leap of purple leaped from his thigh (20)

a blood-smear down his leg (21)Refer to the brutality of war


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Imagery Continued

Girls Imagery:

to please his meg (26)

to please the giddy jilts (27)

notice how the womens eyes (42)

Shows how the soldiers join the war for the honour

while not receiving it after losing their lives.


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Irony (General)

Owen uses irony to get across his message of reality of war to

the readers in this poem

It is evident he opted to join the army in order to please

his girlfriend meg, feeling that the fact he was a soldier

would be attractive to women. (24)

What is ironic is that the war is in fact the reason why he

will never feel again how slim girls waists are.


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Irony Cont

he noticed how the womens eyes passed from him to the strong men

that were whole (42)(43)

why dont they come and put him to bed (44)(45)

Ironic because the soldier does not see himself as a full man.

The soldier needs the girls to put him to bed. Ironic because the men

are suppose to put the girls to sleep


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Tone and Atmosphere

1st Stanza

Negative, Sad, Depressed

Middle Stanzas (2,3,4,5)

Envy

Reminiscent , Sad

Sense of Loss

6th and Last Stanza

Criticizes the war through rhetorical questions


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Contrast

In the poem, Owen contrasts the life before

the war and life after the war to show the

effect of war on the soldiers and the lie told by

the generals through propaganda.


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Contrast

Life Before War

Played Football (23)

Believed war to be

glorious (26) Went to war for the girls

(26)

Pride

Life After War

Disabled (1)

Have to have women to

help him to bed (44) Girls do not notice him

anymore (12)(42)


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Other Significant Lines

He didnt have to beg (28)(29) Shows the officers eager to send soldiers to war

Germans he scarcely (30)(31) Only joined the army for the glory

Only a solemn man who brought (37)(38)

No one cares about the soldiers dying

After the matches, carried shoulder high (22) People care more about football


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Connection With Other Poems

Similarities:

Dulce et Decorum Est

The Old Lie

Lost of Youth

Propaganda spread by the government

Differences

Base Details Does not emphasize on an specific event during the war

Memories of before the war


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Conclusion

In conclusion, through the use of contrast,

imagery, irony and other literary devices,

Owen, in Disabled, was able to show the

reality of war and criticize the propagandaspread by the government


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MUSIC!


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Explanation of Music


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Explanation of Picture

Painted by Fay Jones

is an official combat artist who paints scenes of

soldiers in Iraq.

His work helps show the human side of our troops

and their struggles .

Paints about disabled soldiers


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Analysis of Disabled

Disabled is about a young soldier who joins the military because he likes the look of theuniform, wants pay and thinks it will impress girls. He then is sent to France and loses hisarms, legs and youth. He returns home to a town that has changed and to people that nolonger want anything to do with him. He is neglected by his society and is left to a life offollowing rules in a hospital while the world passes him by.

This poem shows how the Western world paid little attention to the veterans after the war.The boy in the story is regarded as having A queer disease (line 13) and the girls attentionwhich he sought is placed upon men who are uninjured and not him.Tonight he noticed how the women's eyes

Passed from him to the strong men that were whole(Line 43-44) The boy has also lost his youth as is evident in lines 16-19:

Now, he is old; his back will never brace; He's lost his colour very far from here,Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,

And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race

The poem ends with the boy showing how alone and abandoned he is because none of thehospital orderlies have come to wheel him to his room.How cold and late it is! Why don't they come

And put him into bed? Why don't they come?(Line 45-46)

Documents

Wilfred Owen's Dsiabled