Disabled Analysis 2

1.
Owen did not want to write poetry that glamorized war, or made it seem
exciting and glorious, rife with opportunities for heroism. Regarding this
subject matter, he famously declared, "the poetry is in the pity". His
subjects are naive young men, not conventional heroes. They cry, sleep,
jest, mourn, rage, and die. Even when the war is over, the survivors must
deal with the aftermath of the conflict in the form of post-traumatic stress
disorder or horrific injury (see "Disabled"). Owen's poems were not deeply
personal though they drew from his personal experiences; instead, they
create a universal sense of what war was like and what war could do to a
person. It is certainly not pretty nor something a reader would think that
they would want to experience. Owen's poetry evokes pity for wasted life.
2. These lines make it clear that Owen wants to show that enforced
celibacy will now be the soldier’s lot, and that if anyone does look at
him, it will only be as an object of pity. This impression is reinforced in
the final lines of the poem:
Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes

And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
Tonight, he noticed how the women’s eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come
And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?
3. One of Owen’s most famous pronouncements was ‘My subject is War, and
the pity of War. The poetry is in the Pity’. By this he meant that war was
the ultimate evil, subverting all the values that human beings might hold
dear – values such as goodness, justice, compassion.
In this way the maimed soldier in ‘Disabled’ is an emblematic figure – one

who shows the terrible cost of war. But as Disability Studies academics and
activists have shown, to afford disabled characters a purely emblematic
status is both to shield oneself from the reality of continuing to live life and
exist in the world with an impairment, and to adopt an overly fatalistic
attitude to the difficulties – both physical and psychological – that
someone with an impairment may experience.
Throughout the poem, for example, Owen impresses upon the reader the
soldier’s isolation: he has no-one with him, he has no prospects, he will
never be a husband or father, the only gazes he will attract will be ones of
pity orBy analyzing the poem "Disabled" outline how Owen uses the poetic
form to illustrate his ideas about the war.
4. In the poem "Disabled" Wilfred Owen clearly expresses his opinion about
First World War and the peer pressure that was used to force young
people to join the army. The images created by a poet are very realistic as
Owen was a soldier himself. In this poem he looks to the world through a
young man's eyes, who went to the war to become a hero, but had his life
finished before it has begun.
From the very first lines we are given a clue that a person has lost his legs
"He sat in a wheeled chair", this creates a sense of sympathy and pity at the
same time. The poet uses a very powerful imagery in the first three lines.
He expresses the sadness of man's life by using words "ghastly suit of
grey", which creates the dark and gloomy atmosphere, as the reader links
the grey colour with void, sadness. However in the third line it is written
"legless, sewn short at elbow" it is common to sew shut pant legs and
sleeves if someone is missing that appendage. This indicates that person
has lost his leg and forearm and now his life depends on other people. It is
fascinating how the poet plays with the reader's emotions, making him feel
responsible for the unenviable situation of the man, in just three lines. At
the same verse, the poet uses contrast to make the created atmosphere
even stronger by describing the happy life of boys playing outside. "Voices
of play and pleasures after day" is very sad phrase, as the man is not able
to do anything by himself, yet is forced to listen to voices of playing
children until the night time comes and kids have to go home to their
families, where they are safe. But this man is in an institute, he doesn't feel
safe, he doesn't feel like home and he never will. The words, "dark",
"shivered", "ghastly" and "grey", as shown in the first stanza, reveal the
isolation of the soldier and help to create pitiful atmosphere.
embarrassment.
5. ‘Disabled’, by Wilfred Owen, is about a young boy who experiences war

first hand, which results in losing his limbs. The loss of his limbs cause
him to be rejected by society and be treated ‘’like a queer disease’’.
Wilfred Owens personal opinion on war is evident throughout the
poem. Own expresses a negative attitude towards war due to own
traumatic past, experiencing war first hand.
Owen creates sympathy for the soldier in ‘Disabled’ by using a wide
range of poetic devices. Owen explores the themes of regret and
loneliness to portray sympathy for the soldier. Moreover he criticizes
the soldier for joining the war at a young age and for the wrong reasons.
The structure in ‘Disabled’ moves from past to present, then back to
past. In the first stanza (which is present) Owen emphasizes the soldiers
isolation, ‘’sat in a wheeled chair’’, this shows the aftermath of the war
(the loss of the soldiers limbs); this makes the reader fell pity for the
soldier. Also in the first stanza the imagery and language is dark. Owen
makes the reader empathize with the soldier by using the term
‘’shivered’’ which means to shake slightly and uncontrollably as a result
of being cold or frightened. In this case the soldier was cold and
frightened due to the traumatizing events of war. This also emphasizes
shock; it shows how the soldier is mentally scarred due to the war. This
contrasts with the second stanza which begins with colourful imagery,
‘’glow lamps…light blue trees’’, this illustrates the good spirits of the
town before the war. The contrast compares his life before and after the
war, emphasizing the impact war had on soldiers. The structure
highlights memory, emotion and sadness.
Owen portrays the soldier as helpless. In the second stanza the soldier,
‘’threw away his knees’’, the use of metaphor emphasizes his neglect
and lack of care for his limbs. Further in the stanza the author creates a
sense of sorrow as the soldier will ‘’never’’ be able to do the things he
used to do. ‘’Never’’ is a powerful word, it shoes how the soldier’s
disabilities are long term and will never be able to fit into society. This
makes the reader feel sympathetic towards the soldier.
The thirds stanza contrasts between a young and old version of the
character. The soldier was described as an ‘’artist silly for his face’’, this
suggests he was really handsome. This contrasts with the next sentence
when the soldier had ‘’lost his colour’’, the metaphor emphasizes the
soldiers shock, almost as if he is a different person from what he was
before the war, this emphasizing how the soldiers were affected. It
highlights the horror of the war. Furthermore, Owen creates more
sympathy for the character when, ‘’half his lifetime lapsed in a hot race’’,
this suggests half of his life has gone mentally, socially and physically,
meaning he has the characteristics of an old man due to the war. This
makes the reader feel sympathetic for the soldier, who has been aged by
his experiences.
Owen...
6. Through His Poetry Wilfred Owen Wished to Convey, to the General

Public, the Pity of War. In a Detailed Examination of these Poems,
With Reference to Others, Show the Different ways in which He
achieved this.
Wilfred Owen fought in the war as an officer in the Battle of the

Somme. He entered the war in January of 1917. However he was
hospitalised for war neurosis and was sent for rehabilitation at
Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh that May. At Craiglockhart he
met Siegfried Sassoon, a poet and novelist whose grim antiwar works
were in harmony with Wilfred Owen's concerns. It was at Craiglockhart
where Wilfred Owen produced the best work of his short career under
the tutelage of Siegfried Sassoon. Siegfried Sassoon had recently made
a public declaration against the continuation of the war by throwing
his Military Cross medal for bravery into the River Mersey in
Liverpool. Wilfred Owen's earlier work ignored the subject of war but
Siegfried Sassoon urged him to write on the war. Wilfred Owen wrote
his poems while at Craiglockhart as a cathartic experience to help him
to forget his experiences in France. He also wrote his poems as an
attempt to stop the war and to make people realise how horrific it
was.
In a thorough examination of the poems "Anthem for Doomed Youth",

"Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Disabled" and also with some reference to
other works by Owen, it can be seen that he uses different poetical
features, styles and methods. Wilfred Owen addresses his readers from
different stances right up to him addressing the reader personally.
This method is very effective in evoking feelings from great anger and
bitterness to terrible sadness and even sarcasm, making the reader
sometimes even feel guilty. Whichever way he chooses to portray the
pity of the war the end result is always the same.
"Dulce Et Decorum Est" is a direct attack at the people in Britain who

had been taken in by the propaganda drive by telling them the truth of
what life is really like at the front and in what conditions their
sons, fathers, brothers etc. are in. "Dulce Et Decorum Est" consists
of four unequal stanzas,

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1.

Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes

In this way the maimed soldier in ‘Disabled’ is an emblematic figure – one

5. ‘Disabled’, by Wilfred Owen, is about a young boy who experiences war

6. Through His Poetry Wilfred Owen Wished to Convey, to the General

Wilfred Owen fought in the war as an officer in the Battle of the

In a thorough examination of the poems "Anthem for Doomed Youth",

"Dulce Et Decorum Est" is a direct attack at the people in Britain who

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