The Ghost Road and The poems of Wilfred Owen Essay Example

soldiers were victims of the First World War, therefore, resulted in shell shock. In Owen's poem it says ' Why do they sit here in twilight?', this means that only half of their mind is actually, in reality, the rest is still in the war. In this poem like other poems by Owen, there is a lot of references to hell, as it says 'purgatorial shadows'. It also says 'Surely we have perished Sleeping, and walking, and walk hell; but who these hellish?' Owen here is questioning his own mind; he wonders where he is, is actually in hell himself.

The first stanza is very effective, this is because there is a lot of questions, which will make the reader want to read on, so they can find the answers. Then the second stanza provides all the answers to the questions. As one continues reading on it becomes clear that it is set in a mental asylum, where it seems as all the men in it were previously soldiers who are suffering from shell shock, just like Prior and Owen in 'The Ghost Road'. In 'Mental Cases' it says 'these are men whose minds the Dead have ravished... Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. ' this shows how they are haunted by the murders they have watched of fellow soldiers and this will never leave them.

Owen's poem 'Dulce et decorum Est.' describes a soldier dying from a gas attack. The poem starts off with 'Bent doubled, like old beggars under sacks,' this shows the way in which the soldiers are walking and what they look like, they are walking like this because they are exhausted, it also

says how they look like 'old beggars' this is because their exhaustion is showing all over their face and they are all muddy and undesirable like beggars would look. It then goes on to say 'Till on the haunting flares we turned our back,' the word 'haunting' suggests that the soldiers are struggling to forget the memories of war, but this is made harder because they are constantly been reminded of it. The poem then goes on to say 'towards our distant rest began to trudge' this could mean that they are preparing for their death because that is the only rest and peace they will ever get. It then says 'Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!' this suggests a gas attack.

It then says 'Fitting the clumsy helmets in time' this suggests that all the men have managed to get their helmets on in time, but that's not the case. 'But someone still was yelling out and stumbling' this shows how someone hasn't been able to put his hat on in time. Owen then goes on to say how ' in all my dreams, before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. 'This shows how this situation of helplessness has affected Owen, he can not forget it and it's in all his dreams 'haunting' him. Owen then goes on to describe the man's physical appearance which is disturbing, as it says 'His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;' his means that the man is so sick of life, he looks the devil, sick of sin.

Owen then addresses the reader, asking one to 'hear, every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted

lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud...' here Owen is suggesting that the death is 'obscene as cancer' this death must be disturbing because cancer is a vile way to die, cancer strips all your dignity away, the soldier must be experiencing the same. Owen ends the poem with
'The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro Patria Mori,' which means it is sweet and honorable to die for one's country, yet he now knows that this is a lie and that many soldiers have been deceived by believing this. This poem generally shows the reader how disturbing the war was and how hard it is to forget the terrible things the soldiers witnessed day in day out, the poem explains why so many men in the war suffered from shell shock.

Like Prior in 'The Ghost Road' who suffers from shell shock, little things trigger it off. The war made the soldiers lustful and lonely. In 'The Ghost Road' Prior meets someone called Elina, who he has sex with, but he has to pay for it that's how desperate for the love he is, he notices 'He got into bed, telling himself the cold damp patch under his left buttock was imagination. This shows also how the women were lonely also and realizes the men were too and used this to their advantage and got men to pay for sex. During sex Prior moans as it says 'Ah, he cried, more with shock than please' Elina goes on to say 'What's the marra with you?' and Prior answers with 'I thought I could smell gas'.

This shows how the war has prevented him from living his

life, because the smell of gas brought back all the memories of war, even at times where he was meant to enjoy it. It also says 'he forgot her' more or less straight away this is because she is one of many he has slept with. Then it says 'bent doubled...' this taken from Owens poem 'Dulce et decorum est' By comparing and contrasting the portrayal and feelings of soldiers of World War One in the two chosen sources, it has been discovered that the Authors portrayed similar effects and experiences of war.

The view of war that Pat Barker portrays can be supported and expanded by reading the poetry of Wilfred Owen.