Dulce et Decorum Est – Wilfred Owen Critical Questions

Images

“Bent double, like old beggars…”
This quote gives me the image of broken men . Bent double makes me think are fatigued, in pain, maybe injured; the war is not giving them a good time. Old beggars gives me the image of men who have movement inabilities cant walk properly as if they are old.  Also the image of ripped and ragged clothes. There could also be literal begging, begging for the war to end so they can go home.

“Knock-Kneed…”
This gives me an image of men stumbling through difficult terrain, there knees not working properly. Stumbling along almost falling to the ground.

“Men marched asleep…”
This tells me how severely tired they all are. They are barely staying awake, barely keeping on going.

“But someone still was yelling out… and flound’ring like a man in fire”
Someone missed the chance to get their gas helmet on. He freaks out and starts yelling for help but there cant be any help as he has already been affected. He goes insane with pain and starts spazing out.
“As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”
Not only do they have the pain of getting shot at, gassed, fatigued, broken bodies, ripped clothes; but they have to watch there own friends and comrades die on a daily basis. I think that would out-way all the personal pain of war.

Language

“An ecstasy of fumbling”
The word ecstasy makes it seem chaotic, everyone is hyper and going as fast as possible to put on their gas masks.

“”As under a green sea”
There not a small amount of gas but his friend is drowning under a whole sea of the stuff

“Obscene as cancer”
The man was not foul but the foulest of foul. He was hideous.

“Cursed through the sludge”
They weren’t walking through the sludge all downcast, but were cursing as they went.

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