'Marxist critics tend to believe that literature is the product of the writers own cultural values and that literary texts are themselves products of a particular ideology.' Using ideas from the critical anthology and Wilfred Owens poem 'Dulce et Decorum est' to what extent do you agree with this view?
Introduction
From his experiences in the war he is aware of all the false patriotic ideologies as he has witnessed it first hand, shouting out to the audience and the higher class himself, giving the proletariat a voice for a change.
Statement by Owen: "All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the poet must be truthful."
'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest'
•Direct address to writer Jessica Pope, who glorifies war when writing.
•'If you were to have seen it yourself you would not describe it as glory'
•He sees war as brutal and wasteful of young lives.
•The Direct Address to another writer will highlight to the reader that even other writers are oblivious to the reality of war and they should listen to someone who spent their days fighting in it.
'The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' • TRANSLATION: Sweet and honourable to die for ones country.
•Link to the title.
•Making it clear that by seeing the war ground himself the higher class is lying to people of England by saying that going to war is sweet and honourable, however, they should listen to the first hand account, as although he is from a lower class he seen the war first hand and as a result knows the truth.
•Overall message of the poem: what the higher class present about the war is all lies.
•Wilfred Owen overall shows the reader the truth about being a soldier, and if at the time the reader is reading the poem while the war is taking place, the reader may feel unsettled, as Owen describes all what is like to go to war, and society at the time does not recognise the torture and devastation the soldiers have to face.
S.I.W
'Lad'
'See him going, aye and glad.'
•Colloquial language: voice of the working class.
•Giving working class a voice.
Paragraph 3- Second argument: Language, structure and form-Marxist opinion- context
Patriotic ideology false: effect it has on soldiers:
'Old beggars'
'Coughing like hags'
•Reduced further into the bottom of the social hierarchy accepting their plight and following the orders of their higher class superiors.
•Powerless.
•Considering Owen describes the soldiers as old and weakened, the reader will maybe begin to understand the horrific circumstances the soldiers had to face as it shows that war has broken the soldiers.
'All went lame; all went blind'
•War affects all men.
•No escape from the horrendous circumstances they find themselves in.
•Complete opposite to 'sweet and honourable.'
•Denying the trauma they have witnessed.
•Slowly loosing their will knowing they have to keep going, and if they stop they will no longer have the energy to carry on through the turmoil.
•The reader will see that no matter who the soldier is, they will not come out the war healthy, as war affects all men, due to its brutality.
'Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues'
•The higher class don't understand the effect that the war will have on the soldiers, the soldiers will always have the memories and stories to tell that will never be forgotten.
•The higher class aren't innocent, its the men that they are sacrificing in the name of the war that are suffering.
•Wilfred Owen emphasises the effects the war will have on each soldier by saying every sore is incurable and that every soldier is innocent, because of this the reader will feel sympathy towards the soldiers, as all the lies to the superior class has broadcasted to the public did not prepare the soldiers for the trauma they had to face.
S.I.W
'Untrapped the wretch'
•' It is this feeling of never being able to escape which drives the boy soldier to take events into his own hands and to escape the horrors of war by killing himself.' QUOTE FROM: http://crossref-it.info/textguide/wilfred-owen-selected-poems/36/2630
'And truthfully wrote to his mother, 'Tim died smiling'.'
•Killed himself to escaped the horrors of the war.
•He was truthfully happy due to him escaping the war scenes.
Paragraph 4- Third argument: Language, structure and form-Marxist opinion- context
Patriotic ideology false: Ruling elite actions are wrong for sending the innocent to their deaths due to their conflict with other higher class members:
'Like a devils sick sin'
•Negative
•Very religious during the time of the war.
•Direct address to the higher class; comparing them to the devil.
•War is the devils work.
•Having to deal with the hand they have dealt, with no choice.
•Due to the England's in the 1900's being extremely religious, the reader will see the direct address to the higher class superior being described as the devil, automatically this creates a negative imagery towards the bourgeoisie, due to the impressions created by Wilfred Owen.
'Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues'
•The higher class don't understand the effect that the war will have on the soldiers, the soldiers will always have the memories and stories to tell that will never be forgotten.
•The higher class aren't innocent, its the men that they are sacrificing in the name of the war that are suffering.
•Wilfred Owen emphasises the effects the war will have on each soldier by saying every sore is incurable and that every soldier is innocent, because of this the reader will feel sympathy towards the soldiers, as all the lies to the superior class has broadcasted to the public did not prepare the soldiers for the trauma they had to face.
'Obscene as cancer; bitter as cud'
•The word cancer at the time of the war was taboo, because of the destruction it comes with, and the fact that Owen uses the word in one of his poems shows the reader the catastrophic circumstances war can bring, in contrast to the higher classes views of war being 'sweet and honourable.'
•The word almost fails the reality of war.
•The word cancer emphasises to the reader the disastrous circumstances of the war, and the everlasting disease it will have in the soldiers mind.
'The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' • TRANSLATION: Sweet and honourable to die for ones country.
•Link to the title.
•Making it clear that by seeing the war ground himself the higher class is lying to people of England by saying that going to war is sweet and honourable, however, they should listen to the first hand account, as although he is from a lower class he seen the war first hand and as a result knows the truth.
•Overall message of the poem: what the higher class present about the war is all lies.
•Wilfred Owen overall shows the reader the truth about being a soldier, and if at the time the reader is reading the poem while the war is taking place, the reader may feel unsettled, as Owen describes all what is like to go to war, and society at the time does not recognise the torture and devastation the soldiers have to face.
S.I.W
'At the pleasure of this world's Powers who'd run amok.'•Ruling elite causes suffering to the lower class within the hierarchy.
•Lower class are alienated by being forced into the horrors of war.
'And truthfully wrote to his mother, 'Tim died smiling'.'
•Killed himself to escaped the horrors of the war.
•He was truthfully happy due to him escaping the war scenes.
Statement by Owen: "I am more and more a Christian... Suffer dishonour and disgrace, but never resort to arms. Being bullied, be outraged, be killed: but do not kill." Letter to his mother, May 1917.
Paragraph 5- Fourth argument: Language, structure and form-Marxist- context
Patriotic ideology false: Direct address to audience to unravel the truth:
'My friend, you would not tell with such high zest'
•Direct address to writer Jessica Pope, who glorifies war when writing.
•'If you were to have seen it yourself you would not describe it as glory'
•He sees war as brutal and wasteful of young lives.
•The Direct Address to another writer will highlight to the reader that even other writers are oblivious to the reality of war and they should listen to someone who spent their days fighting in it.
S.I.W
'Father would sooner him dead than in disgrace'
'Death sooner than dishonour that's the style!'•Don't want his son to be seen as coward.
•War is more important than a family members life.
•'Owen emphasises the power of the father’s voice by telling us twice of his views on war and fighting' QUOTE FROM: http://crossref-it.info/textguide/wilfred-owen-selected-poems/36/2630
"Perhaps his mother whimpered oh how shed fret until he got a nice safe wound to nurse."
•Pressurising him to come home safely, with only 'safe wounds.'
'Girls to could shoot, charge, curse...'
•Feminist viewpoint: girls not being able to face wars.
•War written to the public as a honourable event.
•Pressurises brother to live up to expectations.
Statement by Owen: "The people of England needn't hope. They must agitate." Letter 19 January,1917, shortly after arriving at the front line in France.
Paragraph 6- Counter argument: Marxist opinion- context
Owen although is clearly against the patriotic ideology, he was a Officer so was caught up in the war machinery and is to a certain extent part of the dominant ideology. QUOTE FROM: Anthology of suggested poems for the NEA.
Due to being an officer he is one of the victims who is witnessing the deaths of all the soldiers that take his orders, yet because he has seen the horrors of war he is reaching out to the audience from a proletariat's point of view, so his literature is not the product of the writers own cultural values, due to him not actually emotionally or physically being in the state of one of the soldiers from a lower economic class than himself.
Paragraph 7- Counter argument: Marxist opinion- context
Although he himself isn't going through the exact traumas of those from a lower class, he is giving the lower class a voice by writing the catastrophic events of the war, and if he was to write the conditions of war for them due to him being higher in the social hierarchy he may be able to reveal the alienation of the soldiers by the ruling elite to the public. Additionally, it is obvious that he feels guilt for the traumas of the war when he reflects on the misery majority of the soldiers had to go through, one of them being when he witnesses a man choking on his own lung fluid because of the gas attack in the poem Dulce et Decorum est.
Paragraph 8- Conclusion: sum up key points- use a named critic to back you up
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