Wilfred Owen wrote a variety of war poetry, these war poems were often illustrating to the audience, the dreadful truth about war. In his poem ‘disabled’ he explored a range of phrases that ensures the audience how war can/does ruin your life, briefly this poem is about a man (soldier) who decides to sign up for war and a year later he comes back “Disabled”- linking to the poems title. Now Wilfred is describing about what the man is feeling. In “disabled” Wilfred Owen examines the tragic things that have affected a man which was a soldier in the horrific war.
Owen clearly portrays that becoming a soldier doesn’t give you sign of neither dignity, nor fame or increase in popularity . The figurative language “waiting for the dark” states that the man is so depressed and fulfilled with agony that he is simply waiting for his death. It paints a picture to the reader that the man doesn’t look forward for anything but just longs for his days to end. By this quote, Wilfred is highlighting the fact that becoming a soldier in war is a repulsive, dangerous, shocking and wasteful experience which doesn’t help you in anything else than getting badly injured.
This also displays that certainly his life has ended- in a mental way; also this man is now suffering with pain, misery and a sense of torture. In addition this phrase also underlines that Wilfred Owen, was trying to reveal to the audience that war was nothing but negative, and you gain nothing in a heroic sense. Further on, there a few more examples in which display the ways Wilfred Owen shows the audience about his opinion about war.
For instance the metaphor, “threw away his knees” suggests that Wilfred Owen is implying that the man’s knees are no longer available for use, not working, just “metaphorically” dead. Also by writing this figurative language, Wilfred Owen is trying to persuade the audience, how once again, linking to the previous quote going to war doesn’t do you anything, then forces you to lose your life and waste it. Moreover, by specifying “threw away” his knees he is saying that it is actually no doubt that the man lost the sense in his knees and he is suffering deep pain.
In addition the quote “now he will never feel again” this quote was written to help support the previous quote, as it is also emphasizing the same meaning; he has lost his sense of everything, everything that he used to have is gone, now he is permanently disabled. Another example that helps draw out what Wilfred Owen is trying to point out – the horrific things on war, is the quote “Now he is old” this quote was written after the sentence “he was younger than his youth last year” so by adding the quote “now his old” makes us reader wonder, did war really ruin him that much?
Did he really get so old in a year? Additionally there is another couple of quotes and phrases which Wilfred Owen wrote that was meant to highlight his purpose towards the audience, such as “half his life time lapsed in a hot race” this metaphor is underlining that the man wasted half his life in war. Although technically half his lifetime hasn’t failed in a hot race, this is how Wilfred Owen wants to describe it to illustrate imagery on us, readers minds.
Besides this another metaphorical sentence/phrase added is “And leap of purple spurted from his thigh” Wilfred Owen is drawing out the fact that a sudden blood, dripped out of his thigh, however by adding the “metaphorical” words “leap and spurted” he is trying to create a brief image on the amount of blood, and the speed of the blood coming out of his thigh. Lastly, to confirm the fact that Wilfred Owen is trying to show how bad war is, and how much the man agrees that it was totally a waste, is the quote “he wonders why”.
This deeper meaning quote is written by Wilfred Owen to show the audience that the man is full of regret, bitterness and anguish on joining the war. The effect on Wilfred writing this is; he is trying to show the outcomes of war, through a man which is disabled from war. He is explaining all the emotions of a soldier in war just through the quote “he wonder why” Wilfred Owen also wrote this to point out, there is nothing in the “mans mind” that helps show the positives of war. They were all negative. Nothing is good for him at all.
