Literature on wars

Changes in place forepart and war forepart

Relationship of society on the home-front to the war-front lines has changed tremendously between universe war one and subsequently wars. World war one was sparked off with the “assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia” . Greatest loss of military life was reported during universe war one.

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Patriotic feelings were spread among the populace during universe war one. Young work forces were line uping up to acquire recruited to the ground forces. Posters were used to promote the lesson of the people and the soldiers. War was glorified during universe war one. It was seen as a brave and loyal act to fall in the war. Lot of propaganda was used to promote the young person to fall in the war during this period. Moral remained comparatively high and newspapers played a cardinal function in this state of affairs.

The state of affairs in the home-front underwent many alterations during this clip. There was monolithic alteration in the function of adult females. As work forces were required to fall in the war adult females had to take over the occupations of work forces. Work force had to be reduced as there were no work forces to work in mills. Womans were recruited as nurses, drivers, cooks and telephone operators. There was “fixed allowance for sugar, butter, jam and tea”

Ammunition industries were put up in order to provide the war forepart with necessary arms and ammo. Food had to be produced for civilians every bit good as the soldiers. Priority was given to these countries of production. Transportation was besides an of import issue every bit far as war was concerned. Equally far as the war forepart was concerned ten million soldiers and seven million civilians were reported dead during World War 1. More than 200,000 work forces died with “infection and disease” .

W.B. Yeats as a non- soldier poet “wrote wholly about the English experience” . In his verse form “the 2nd coming” Yeats says “Things fall apart ; the Centre can non keep ; ” ( 3 ) . This is the consequence of war. Thingss are falling apart. “Mere lawlessness is loosed upon the universe, ” ( 4 ) . He says that “The ceremonial of artlessness is drowned ; ” ( 6 ) . This is the state of affairs of the young person who has joined the war. They lose their artlessness. He is expecting “the 2nd coming” . “Surely the 2nd approach is at hand” ( 10 ) . There is nil lauding in the war. Yeats in his verse form “An Irish Airman foresees his death” speaks about the inevitableness of decease. The aviator says “Those that I fight I do non detest / Those that I guard I do non love ; ” ( 3-4 ) . He has joined the war as “A lonely impulse of delight” ( 11 ) . He has two inquiries. The grounds for fall ining the war and what awaits him in the war. This is the state of affairs in the war forepart.

Wilfred Owen is a poet who has first manus experience of the war as a soldier. In his verse form “Anthem For Doomed youth” he explains the true state of affairs in the war forepart. The soldier’s decease is compared to cattle. “What passing-bells for these who die as cowss? ” ( 1 ) . The word “Anthem” is really ironical here because there is no regard to the soldier who has died. He does non even acquire a nice funeral ceremonial. There is merely the sound of machine guns for him. “Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle” ( 3 ) . Owen is both angry and sympathetic. There is nil to laud war harmonizing to him. This is the existent state of affairs of the war forepart. Peoples who are apathetic stay at place and will ne’er cognize the state of affairs of the war forepart. Death of a soldier is a silent, personal heartache. Society attaches small value to decease. There is no value when soldiers die.

Owen in his verse form “Dulce et Decorum Est” once more points out the horrors of war. He addresses the people at place. They are non cognizant of what is go oning in the war forepart. Soldiers are “like old beggars” ( 1 ) . He sees his companion dice in forepart of him and can non get away the horrid image of war. He speaks back to the people. He says that if you can see the horror of war you would non state “the old lie.”Owen says non to misdirect the childs by stating them that it is “sweet and right to decease for one’s country.”He gives a graphic image of the war forepart by explicating how the soldiers die in the battleground. He draws a bloodstained image to do the people understand the horror of war.

Siegfried Sassoon, another soldier poet in universe war one speaks about the state of affairs in the war forepart and place forepart in his verse form “Hero” . The female parent is proud of her dead boy. “We female parents are so proud/ Of our dead soldiers” ( 5-6 ) .Although the female parent is under the feeling that her male child was brave but for the colonel he was a coward. Jack was “cold footed” . But the female parent would ne’er cognize what happened to her boy. He would ever be a courageous boy to her. “Because he’d been so courageous, her glorious boy.” ( 12 ) .Only the female parent feels the decease of her boy. Others at the place forepart are incognizant of the state of affairs in the war forepart. “and no 1 seemed to care/Except that alone adult female with white hair” ( 17-18 ) .

In his verse form “Reconciliation” Sassoon says that soldiers die for the pick of the authorities. As the war is glorified the childs join the war forepart but it is non their pick to decease. They are the guiltless party. The authorities takes the determination and the soldiers die. Jesus excessively had to decease for the wickednesss of others. Both Jesus and the soldiers are guiltless. In the war front “Men fought like beasts ; and horrid things were done ; ” ( 5 ) . Peoples in the place forepart were incognizant of these “hideous things” .

Philip Larkin in his verse form “1914” speaks about how the place forepart was affected by the war. In the first stanza he speaks about the young person who are waiting in “Those long uneven lines “ ( 1 ) to be recruited to the ground forces. They are “Grinning as if it were all/ An August Bank Holiday lark ; ( 7-8 ) . He is in retrospect as he thinks of the yesteryear. He thinks how they lined up to watch pes ball lucifers. Now things are different. They are acquiring ready to fall in the front line. They are non cognizant of what is traveling to go on to them. In the 3rd stanza Larkin speaks about the beauty of the state side. Beauty of nature is contrasted to the “bloodiness” of the state of affairs. In the last stanza he speaks about the artlessness that will ne’er be once more. “Never such innocence” ( 25 ) .Thousands of male childs will go forth their matrimonies and travel to war. They will go forth their matrimonies every bit good as their artlessness. Their matrimonies will last merely for a short clip as they will hold to travel to the war forepart. “Thousands of matrimonies, /Lasting small while longer ; ( 30-31 ) . This is the state of affairs in the war forepart and the place forepart. Larkin ends the verse form by reiterating the line “Never such artlessness again” ( 32 ) .This tells us that the male childs who are guiltless at place will ne’er hold that artlessness once more one time they have faced the war forepart.

This has been the state of affairs during universe war one and poets like Owen, Sassoon, Larkin and Yeats speak of the horror and the unreason of it. Although war is glorified they do non see any glorification in it. They depict the hapless conditions of the war forepart and the place forepart through their poesy.

Poets who wrote about ulterior war excessively depict the horror and the futility of war. “Invasion of Poland” by Hitler sparked off the Second World War and the Sino-Japanese war was sparked off by the “massacre of Nanking.”W. H. Auden wrote on Spanish and 2neodymiumSino-Japanese war. Auden in his verse form “Refugee Blues” speaks about the quandary of a Judaic twosome who have become refugees as a consequence of the war. Although they have a state of their ain they can non travel there.”We cannot5 go at that place now” ( 6 ) . The person is non of import here. If he does non adhere to the Torahs of the authorization he is “officially dead” . The place forepart suffers because of the war. The scarceness of staff of life symbolizes the agony of the place front.”They will steal our day-to-day staff of life ; ” ( 17 ) . There is no feeling for the agonies of the fellow existences. Even the animate beings have their freedom but the worlds are derived of it. “Saw a door opened and a cat Lashkar-e-Taiba in” ( 23 ) . Auden refers to the Second World War here. The twosome has become refugees which is non their mistake. They have become war victims and cipher attentions about it. They are derived of their belongings, freedom and felicity. They have to populate in fright because the soldiers are “ Looking for you and me, my beloved, looking for you and me” ( 36 ) .

Carol Ann Duffy through her poem “War photographer” shows us how detached people have become of the war. The war lensman takes the message of the war forepart to the place forepart through his images. But the place forepart does non care about the state of affairs of the war. This is because they have got used to the state of affairs and they no longer attention. The war lensman is “In his dark room” ( 1 ) . He has images of “suffering set out in ordered rows” ( 2 ) . The word “ordered” is ironical as the agony of worlds is seen in an order. Can at that place be an order for enduring? The war forepart is described as “A hundred torments in black- and- white” ( 19 ) . But “his editor will pick out five or six” ( 20 ) to demo it to the populace. They will see it “between bath and pre – tiffin beer” ( 22 ) . This is the photographer’s occupation and the people “do non care” ( 24 ) .

Duffy besides explains the state of affairs in the countryside. This is the state of affairs in the place forepart. It is all within the same environment. The place forepart has become apathetic towards the war. They are used to it so it has become something natural to them.

Stephen Spender in his verse form “Thoughts during an air raid” speaks about the “depersonalization” of war. Spender worked as a newsman and is sarcastic about the official studies of the war.”A hundred are killed” ( 3 ) shows how impersonal the war has become. The functionaries are concerned about the statistics. The bed is compared to a hearse. “The girdered bed which seems so like a hearse, ” ( 6 ) . Here the soldier has a little remainder and he thinks of the bed as a hearse. This shows that he is believing of decease. So many people are deceasing but it has become less tragic. The war has become “impersonal” . There is no personal engagement. “and no 1 suffer /For his neighbour’ ( 18-19 ) . Death is merely in the intelligence print and the wireless. Cipher cares about the loss of human lives. “The indispensable is /That every 1 should stay separate” ( 16-17 ) . The horror is felt merely if it is a first manus experience. “Until it settles on him” ( 20 ) . Then it becomes a heartache. “That garland of incommunicable grief/which is all enigma or nothing” ( 21-22 ) . This verse form excessively shows us how hardhearted people have become towards the war. This once more shows us that war has become something natural to the people.

Auden in his verse form “Here war is simple” shows the distance between the topographic point and the people who are involved in the war. There is a program, and a map shows where the military personnels are sent. This shows the impersonality of war. He says that wherever the war is it is incorrect, whether it is “Nanking” or “Dachau” . Nanking and Dachau are two far off topographic points. One is in the E and the other is in the West, but wherever the topographic point is and whoever the people are the calamity is the same. Auden refers to the “massacre, colza and robbery of the inhabitants” in Nanking. Dachau besides echoes the same fate to its dwellers. This was the first concentration cantonment in Germany and a topographic point where big scale slaughter took topographic point. There is a distance between where the program is made and where the calamity takes topographic point really. In the 2nd stanza Auden compares the thought and the adult male. Man “unlike an thought, can decease soon” ( 8 ) . The horror of the war is really vividly shown here. “Where life is evil now: ” ( 13 ) . As the rubric of the verse form says “Here war is simple” , it has decidedly become a minor affair. Cipher cares what happens to people. It has become a simple and ordinary thing.

We can see that there is a huge difference in the place forepart and the war forepart during universe war one and subsequently wars. During universe war one place forepart was affected as the work forces were recruited to the war forepart. War was glorified during this clip. There were monolithic alterations in the function of adult females. Rationing and work stoppages could be witnessed during universe war one. Peoples were incognizant of what was go oning in the war forepart. During universe war one the soldiers in the forepart line lost their lives. In subsequently wars non merely the soldiers but the civilians excessively had to pay with their lives. During this clip the place forepart has become apathetic towards war and there was no feeling towards your fellow human existences.

Both universe war one and subsequently war poets speak of the calamity, futility and the unreason of war through their poesy.

Plants cited

  • Yeats, WB, The Second approach, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Yeats, WB, An Irish Airman foresees his decease Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Owen, Wilfred, Anthem for Doomed young person, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Owen, Wilfred, Dulce et Decorum Est, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Sassoon, Siegfried, Hero, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Sassoon, Siegfried, Reconciliation, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Larkin, Philip, 1914, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Auden, WH, Refugee Blues, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Auden, WH, Here War Is Simple, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Duffy, Carol Ann, War Photographer, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Spender, Stephen, Thoughts during an Air Raid, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • De Silva, Annemari, Modern British Literature, [ University of Sri Jayewardenepura ] , May-August, 2014.
  • Home Front in World War one, history larning site.co.uk, htt: // www.historylerningsite.co.uk

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