Owen’s Poems Reveal Tenderness and Compassion - 709 Words

Owen’s poems reveal tenderness and compassion towards those whose lives have been destroyed by the war. Discuss. Owen, in his war poetry reveals the awful reality of war and its effect on the young men involved. Given that these men are suffering in treacherous conditions, Owen expresses empathy towards the wretched soldiers who are fighting in a battle which they have little hope of surviving. Owen discloses his sympathy towards these young men by revealing the harsh conditions they live in and exposing their suffering both physical and mental. He exposes the reality of the war in an attempt to reveal the lives shattered to the unknowing public who do not know the true war conditions. Owen at times shows the brutal reality of the war†¦show more content†¦We are forced to empathise with the inescapable suffering of the men. We are shown the potential friendship and camaraderie in â€Å"Strange Meeting† where the soldier sees his enemy and tells him â€Å"Strange friend†¦here is no cause to mourn† revealing how even though they are fighting against each other, there is nothing preventing them from becoming friends. Even on their return home the soldiers do not have a hero’s welcome instead they are shunned and isolated from normal life by civilians. The rawness of a life wasted is revealed in â€Å"Disabled.† The disabled soldier looks back at his former life and aspirations and realised how superficially he understood war and life. Owen makes us feel his suffering as he is ignored and isolated. Young girls avoid him and he feels â€Å"now he will never feel again how slim girls’ waists are† The young man realises that his appearance and the fact that he is a cripple for life has locked him out of involvement with women. We are made to feel his pain when he describes how â€Å"half his timeline lapsed in the hot race† when really his life is really just about to begin. He describes how before the war he liked â€Å"a blood-smear down his leg†¦[and being] carried shoulder high.