Theme of Suffering in the Poems Disabled by Wilfred Owen and Out, Out by Robert Frost - Coursework Example

The Theme of Suffering in the Poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “Out, Out” by Robert Frost Work November 09, 1750 words Name of the University The Theme of Suffering in the Poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “Out, Out” by Robert Frost Human beings, despite their intelligence and the faculty of free will to take informed decisions, always have engaged in activities that harm one another. Though such attitude may perhaps serve some vested interest, but will cause ravages to humanity as a whole. However, in spite of the realization of the negative impacts of hostility, humans never correct their mistakes and work together for peaceful coexistence. The poem, “Disabled” (1917), written by Wilfred Owen narrates the anguish of a young, unnamed protagonist, who sustains injuries as a result of which his legs have been amputated. The poem shows him sitting in a wheelchair and pondering over his past, comparing it with his present. Since the poem has been written in 1917, it can be construed that the author is referring to World War-I. On the other hand, the poem, “Out, Out” (1916), written by Robert Frost speaks of the suffering of a young boy, who accidentally gets his hand chopped off while cutting logs with a buzz saw in his yard and subsequently succumbs to his injury in a hospital. This poem does not refer directly to the war but it symbolizes the turmoil of World War-I, as can be deciphered from the time it is written. Both poems illustrate the theme of human sufferings through the anguish of the young protagonists, as a consequence of war, though they are different on many perspectives. The young man in Owen’s poem has been a football player, who often enjoyed the pleasure of “being carried shoulder-high” by his fans, obviously after he wins a match or scores a goal.1 He reminisces about the slimness of the girls’ waist and the warmth of “their subtle hands” that he has cherished in the past.2 Later, he gets drafted in the army, apparently out of a youthful fancy for adventure rather than as a result of a mediated decision. Due to an injury, his limbs are amputated and he gets relegated to a wheelchair. Owen chooses the theme of the perils of war to depict the extent of suffering it can inflict on humans. By using an anonymous character, the author alludes to the fact that his case is just one among many. On the other hand, the young boy in Frost’s poem is not a hero, nor he had gone to wars or laid girls. However, he endures the same kind of suffering that the former does, by the so called quirk of fate. His suffering primarily has derived from a lack of care on the part of his family, which comes in the form of his hard work, sawing logs. But he also suffers, from a different perspective of having to assume higher responsibilities than his age demands, and endures the pain mutely. They boy works till “day was all done” and sun sets, without even having a half hour break.3 When his sister comes and calls him for supper, he feels exalted at the prospect of the food as well as the break from work and in his excitement, cuts his hand, which eventually leads to his death. The main difference in the poems is that in the former, the protagonist becomes directly involved in the war by becoming a soldier. In the latter, it transpires that the boy has had to assume a higher responsibility than his age because there may not have been another male member as his father may have been away on war. Thus, while Owen’s poem depicts the direct perils of war that makes humans suffer, Frost subtly alludes to the indirect consequences of war that entails in human suffering. The language Owen deploys to emphasize his protagonist’s agony that derives from his suffering is designed to sting the audience and create a lasting impact on them. Similarly, the title, “Disabled,” prepares the readers for what to expect in the poem. Besides, the use of the word “dark” in the first line as well as the phrase “ghastly suit of grey” in the second line sets the mood right at the very outset of the poem.4 In the beginning of the second stanza, however, he shifts the tone of his language to the romantic flavor of the man’s joyous past with the reference to the town swinging “so gay” and the girls glancing “lovelier as the air grew dim” and then contrasts it by alluding to the protagonist’s indiscretion due to which he “threw away his knees”5 Thus, by following a joyous moment with the misfortune of losing one’s legs, the author paints a vivid picture of human sufferings as a consequence of war. Similarly, Frost also uses disturbing language in the very beginning of his poem, with phrases like “snarled and rattled,” which he repeats later.6 Again, by providing the audience with a unique imagery of the saw leaping out at the “boy’s hand,” Frost subtly illustrates the effects of war that forced a young boy to toil with such hazardous tasks, that entailed in his suffering and subsequent death.7 Both authors also use alliteration as a means of communicating the severity of human suffering. Owen’s poem is divided into seven stanzas, in which the first four alternate from present to the past before the protagonist joins the army. The author uses the contrast of experiences of the protagonist during these occasions to provide his audience with a clear understanding of his suffering. Before the protagonist joins the army, he has cherished the notion of a blood smear on his leg as a sign of heroism in football. In stark contrast, the blood one sheds as a soldier acquires an entirely different connotation. While the former endows a man with a glamorous glory, the latter pushes him into a world of carnage, where basic survival through bloodshed becomes a reality. Thus, by offering the audience contrasting concepts in alternating stanzas, the author depicts the intensity of human suffering. The remaining three stanzas sway from the present and the past after he joins the force. The suffering of the protagonist remains accentuated in the fifth stanza, where the poem mentions his drafting out of army “with drums and cheers” which is in utter contrast to the glory he received as a footballer.8 Thus, Owen uses both structure and form to illustrate the intensity of human suffering as a result of the war. Frost, on the other hand, also uses narrative structure and form of his poem to convey how a boy, who has no direct role in the war, suffers due to it. The work, fraught with beautiful imageries, strives to take its audience on a breathless tour of the boy’s single day of his life. Yet it tells them enough about the boy and his suffering. The poem’s structure is so designed that the reader is able to understand the author’s meanings despite the brisk narration as it distinctly states each aspect. For example, immediately after a vivid description of the boy’s hard work, the author makes the narrator wish that someone ask the boy to stop it. This way, the readers get a clear idea how taxing the job will be on the young lad. Then, towards the end, Frost alludes to the boy being “a child at heart” yet “doing a man’s job.”9 By keeping the reference to the man at the end of the poem, Frost attains the full impact of his meaning that because men were sent to the war, the boy has had to take the responsibility of the home and thus suffer, without getting the opportunity to enjoy his childhood. Both authors also use tone as well as rhyme and rhythm schemes to achieve a dramatic effect of their poems on their audience. Owen attempts to attain a gloomy tone of narration right from the onset of the poem and uses words such as dark and grey. Then he deploys the word park to rhyme with dark, which shows a shift between the mood of the present and past. While dark is relevant to the current state of the protagonist, park, which alludes to playfulness and peace, has been an experience of the past before the war. Thus, the darkness in his life comes as a consequence of the war, which seems to have nullified the concept of the park. Frost, on the other hand, does not seem to focus on any rhyme schemes but similar to Owen he also swings between the dark and the pleasant with the snarling, rattling buzz saw and the sweet scent when breeze washes over the wood. Similarly, towards the end of their poems, both authors use clinically precise and cold tones to accentuate the suffering of their protagonists. While Owen refers to the rules one has to mechanically follow while spending “a few sick years in institutes,” Frost uses a bitter tone to suggest that when a person dies, others have to go on, taking care of their affairs.10 Besides, Frost uses a rhythm while referring to snarling and rattling saw, which personifies his narrative mode. He not only uses rhythm in his words but also in the images as can be perceived from the way he alludes to the mountain ranges in Vermont, which alternatively may also seen as the piles of wood cut by the boy, which again connotes to his suffering as he has to take care of the affairs in the absence of men who have gone on war. On the other hand, Owen’s portrayal of human suffering comes to a full circle when the protagonist thinks of the pity that others may dole, and his realization that the women’s eyes pass from him to the “strong men that were whole.”11 Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Disabled,” through the explicit depiction of the feelings of an anonymous narrator, illustrates the perils of war that entails miseries and sufferings for the human beings. On the other hand, Robert Frost’s poem, “Out, Out,” through the subtle portrayal of the hard life of a young lad, attempts to signify the impacts of the war over humans and hints that when they engage in battles, their children are left at home without receiving due care and deprived of childhood pleasures. Both authors use several literary devices to achieve an effective impact on the audience and convey to their readers the futility of war in which mothers lose their sons, children their parents and nations their citizens. Thus, both poems illustrate the suffering of humans, as the consequence of war, through their theme, use of language, structure, rhyme and rhythm schemes though they share some major differences. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anthology for Edexcel IGCSE in English Language (Specification A) and IGCSE in English Literature (Issue 1; Edexcel Limited, 2008). Read More