DISABLED Wilfred Owen

1. DISABLED Wilfred Owen

2. What injury has this soldier experienced? How do you know? • He has lost his legs. • He is described as “legless” with his pants sewn at the “elbow”

3. Comment on the use of Alliteration in Line 2 “ghastly suit of grey”. Why do you think this imagery has been chosen by Owen? • Negative emotive language • The ‘grey’ colour indicates a lack of colour in his life. The loss of his life and enthusiasm of youth.

4. Identify a simile used in Stanza 1 and comment on the effect. • The comparison here is between the sound of young boys playing and a hymn. • A hymn is a song sung in church usually at a funeral. Here the young man mourns the loss of his legs and his youth. He will no longer run around carefree like the boys he overhears in the park.

5. In Stanza two describe how the Soldier is treated by young women. Explain why you think this is and provide evidence from the poem. • He is ignored or viewed with pity. They do not want to look at him or touch him. Women avoid him as though he is has a “disease” they might catch.

6. What do you think is meant by “now he is old” despite only a year having passed? • The experiences he has had while at war have traumatised him and ‘aged’ him prematurely. He has lost his innocence, naivety and air of confidence he had before enlisting.

7. What sport did the soldier use to play? What link is made between sport and war? • Football • Owen portrays the way that many young men thought that war was going to be a bit of fun – a game to be enjoyed with mates. In this poem he shows that the ‘game’ of war actually has serious consequences. The young man who used to enjoy a bit of blood down his leg from being rucked during football loses his leg after being shot while at war. • This is also a contrast to Jessie Popes poem ‘Who’s for the game’ where the metaphor of a football game is used to portray war as a glorious fun adventure.

8. For what reason did the Soldier enlist and what was his “lie”? • The soldier enlisted largely to impress young girls who said he would look good in uniform. Also because he had had a few drinks with his football teammates and was feeling confident. • He lied about his age as he was too young to enlist.

9. Describe the soldier’s view of war when he first enlisted? What comment is Owen making about recruits in general? • He didn’t think about the enemy at all and had no fear – he is typical of many young men who believe themselves to be invincible. • He was impressed by the thought of a smart uniform, being saluted and using guns. • He looked forward to fun during leave and being paid good wages for an ‘adventure’ • He also looked forward to being with other likeminded men and offering advice to new recruits. • Owen is commenting on the sheer naivety and lack of life experience that these men had. They

10. In the final Stanza what has happened to the soldier? How was his return from war different to his departure? • Owen contrasts the short-term glory (admiration of young women, looking dashing in a kilt) with the long-term reality of lifelong disfigurement and isolation. In other poems, the truth of death in battle is detailed. Here, we may even wonder if death might not be better than life in such a state. The veteran here is probably not even 21 yet, and his life is effectively over. Live as long as he may, love will never be his. He won't ever run again. He can only wait for the nurse to come and move him.

11. The poem finishes with the repetition of a question “why don’t they come?” Comment on the effect of this technique. What does it tell you about the Soldier’s mental state? • At the end of the poem, the repetition of the words "Why don't they come?" shows the poor man's sense of desperation. He is totally reliant on others to look after him. He no longer displays the air of bravado and slight arrogance that he had on enlisting. He is plagued by anxiety and is despondent about his lack of possibility for love and a future.

12. “Disabled” is another poem which contains sport imagery. How does Owen’s poem contrast to the way sport is depicted in Pope’s “Who’s for the game?” • Poets such as Jessie Pope also fuelled the patriotic fervour by accusing those who did not sign to war cowards, and told tales of war being an adventure in which to find fame. • Wilfred Owen is completely justified in his thoughts as he witnessed firsthand the horrors of war and fought alongside the young soldiers who ignorantly signed up to war expecting fame and glory.

13. THEME • The poem Disabled is about a young man who joined the war not thinking about the negative side or the risks involved. The young soldier used to be a bit of a ladies man, very good looking, flirting with the girls however he is now represented as an old man. He lost his legs in the war and is completely dependant on other people. • Owen implies that the boy has thrown away his life by fighting in the war, however, with the false propaganda that the government was sending out, there was no way that young boys could have known the truth about what war was really like. Owen emphasises the naivety of these men and the fact that war destroyed their youth. • The reader cannot help but feel sorry for the young man. He went into war with dreams of becoming a hero and having glory, but now he is just a wounded, disabled soldier who is completely dependant on others with no real hope of love or a future.