Regeneration, Birdsong and the First World War Poetry by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon - Coursework Example

? Comparison of Regeneration, Birdsong and the First World Poetry by Wilfred Owen: A Review of How They Present Conflict between the Individual and Their Public Duty Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Comparison of Regeneration, Birdsong and the First World Poetry by Wilfred Owen: A Review of How They Present Conflict between the Individual and Their Public Duty Introduction Regeneration is a war novel by Pat Barker based on the treatment of British army officers by Dr. Rivers at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. The soldiers had fought in the 1st World War and were being treated for shell shock sometimes known as War neurosis. Birdsong is a war novel by Sebastian Faulks about a man named Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life before, during and after World War 1. It tells of the events and attitudes towards the Battle of Somme and the life in the trenches. The novel also echoes several war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen who are also characters in the novel Regeneration. Wilfred Owen was a war poet who wrote poetry that put across the truthful account of the damage the 1st World War did to the minds and bodies of a generation of young men. He was a patient at Craiglockhart after serving in the world war where he met Sassoon. He wrote his poetry from his own war experiences. Sassoon read his poems and was like a mentor to him giving him advice on his poetry. His poetry expressed the full horror that he had experienced. He appeared at Craiglockhart War Hospital with war neurosis. Pat Barker through her novel Regeneration and Owen through his poetry are able to portray the effects of the World War 1 on young men at different times (Barker, 1992). Siegfried Sassoon was a poet and decorated soldier and was against the war due to what he had seen him and his fellow soldiers endure. Sassoon’s diary entry on 19th June 1917 states “The men who write these manifestos do not really know what useless suffering the war inflicts”. This statement clearly shows his hate for the war because of how soldiers suffered while in combat (Bourke, 2002). His negative views on the war led him to be labeled “shell-shocked” at Craiglockhart so that people could discredit his views against the war. Dr. W. H. Rivers, a real life character in the book, was a psychiatrist at the Craiglockhart Hospital and was the treating physician for Sassoon. He read Sassoon’s declaration and doubted that Sassoon was shell shocked. Robert Graves a fellow poet and Sassoon’s friend advised Sassoon against his statements against the war (Cambell, 1999; Faulks, 2012). He however shared the same views of the war being unjust and immoral but did not believe the war could be stopped. By Sassoon making a declaration against the war he had hoped that he would undergo a court martial so that the public would be aware of his views. Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart by recommendation of the medical board. Rivers met Sassoon at Craiglockhart and his main aim was to get Sassoon to return to combat. Rivers was clearly aware of the horrors that soldiers endured. Sassoon while at Craiglockhart suffers the idea that he is safe yet his fellow soldiers are dying in the war (Ferguson, 1999). Regeneration describes the suffering of soldiers and how they were alienated. The young soldiers are sent to war and come back different. They cannot relate to other people when they come home and can only relate to fellow soldiers who understand what they go through when at war. Regeneration describes soldiers’ experiences that were at Craiglockhart. Anderson is a former surgeon whose war experiences have made it impossible for him to continue practicing medicine after a mental breakdown to the extent of him not being able to deal with the sight of blood. This makes him alienated as he cannot be the surgeon he was before the war. David Burns was another patient haunted by hallucinations after being involved in an explosion landing him in the stomach of a rotting soldier (Hynes, 1990). The memories cause him to vomit anything he eats. Billy Prior another patient suffers mutism and asthma. He could not communicate using his voice. After regaining his voice he never wanted to talk about his war experiences. Prior rose to the ranks of Lieutenant something that was rare for a person from the working class. He realized that just as there were classes within British Society, these were also seen in the army and the trenches. He feels alienated as he is from the working class which is very different from his experience in the army (Kerr, 1993). When Prior recovers his memory, it reveals more emotion compared to his usual human detachment that eventually breaks down. Willard is a patient who does not have any physical damage from being injured in the war but insists that there is injury to his spine that causes him not to walk. The soldiers at Craiglockhart all had terrible experiences during the war and are unable to relate to other people when they return from the war (Spiller, 1990). Regeneration reveals the different experiences the soldiers underwent during the war and the effects these had on them after the war. Pat Barker’s book and Owens poems reveal experiences about the war that the general public never knew. The war affected each soldiers’ conscience. An individual conscience can be seen as the ideas and feelings that you have that tell you whether something that you are doing is right or wrong. In Regeneration Rivers was a physician at Craiglockhart whose main task was to treat the soldiers with the various disorders they had due to the effects of the war. His duty was to treat them in order that they may recover however his task was to ensure that they went back into combat to the same war that caused them the disorders in the first place. In Regeneration Rivers encounters Dr. Yealland from National Hospital who uses a different form of treatment from Dr. River’s for shell shock patients. Yealland believes that shell shock patients should go through pain in order to get cured. Rivers starts questioning himself about the kinder gentler methods he uses on his patients. Sassoon had taken part in the war and was a Rivers’ patient. His conscience made him make the anti-war declaration because of the horrors that his fellow soldiers endured. This is seen clearly in his statement that “The men who write these manifestos do not really know what useless suffering the war inflicts” Owen also a fellow poet and soldier used his poetry to relieve the soldier’s experiences and his conscience made him write poems about the solders experiences so that people would know what the war did to the soldiers. In Regeneration Sassoon assisted Owen in writing “Anthem for Doomed Youth” The poem clearly depicts the horror that the soldiers were going through in the war equating soldiers dying to cattle dying (Owen, 2004; Faulks, 2012). Pat Baker’s Regeneration novel and Wilfren Owen’s poems clearly depict conflict between the soldiers and their public duty. The soldiers were proud to be enlisted in the war as it is their public duty to protect and serve their country. Regeneration and Owen’s poems shows the conflict in as far as the effects of the war had on these same soldiers who were proud to do their national duty. Rivers after suffering exhaustion from working with the soldiers at Craiglockhart is ordered to take a break from the hospital. During this time Rivers using the story of Abraham and Isaac links it to young soldiers dying and being sacrificed in the war. Sarah, Prior’s girlfriend gets to see injured amputee soldiers by accident and is shocked and cannot believe that this has been hidden from society. Madness is a major conflict seen in the patients at Craiglockhart. Mutisms, hallucinations, fear of blood, Sassoon’s anti-war declaration are all signs of madness caused by the war and come into conflict with the individual soldiers. The treatment of soldiers at Craiglockhart only seemed to make them worse. This madness leads to question whether it makes any sense for soldiers to break down or to blindly follow orders to participate in the war. Rivers found it insane to treat these same soldiers of the disorders that make them behave in a questionable manner and send them back to the same war. Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum est” roughly translates to as “it is sweet and decorous to die for one’s country” This is a bitter irony showing the broken ideals of the young men who go off eager for war only to endue the horror seen in regeneration (Owen, 1967). Conflicts also came about into the sexual orientation of the soldiers. Sassoon is seen to have a special bond with his fellow soldiers to the extent that he makes the anti-war declaration. This bond is common amongst soldiers. However outside war this kind of love between men cannot be tolerated in society. Owens the poet’s sexuality comes into question. Owen adores Sassoon. The question of masculinity is another area of conflict. Anderson the surgeon dreams where he is wearing corsets. Sassoon’s describes a male soldier without genitals which makes the boundaries between male and female seem very blurred. Sassoon is in conflict with the relationship with his father. Due to this his closeness with Rivers makes him look at him as a father figure. Many patients at Craiglockhart referred him as a father figure with others simply looking at him as their “male mother” Rivers explains this due to the nature of his job with his patients (Owen, 2004). In conclusion, Pat Barker’s Regeneration war novel and Owen’s poems clearly depict the atrocities of World War 1. Owen participated in the war and Pat wrote the novel at a different time but with the same ideals. The novel and the war poems have had a great influence on our attitude towards the war. They have both shown another side to the war that people were not aware of. The issue of war neurosis is dealt with in the novel and was often seen as a sign of cowardice by the soldiers (Westman, 2001). References Barker, P., 1992. Regeneration. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Bourke, J., 2002. Shell Shock during World War One. World War One. Cambell, P., 1999. Siegfried Sassoon: A Study of the War Poetry. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland. Faulks, S., 2012. Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Ferguson, N., 1999. The Pity of War. London: Penguin. Hynes, S., 1990. A War Imagined: The First World War and English Culture. London: Bodley Head. Kerr, D., 1993. Wilfred Owen’s Voices: Language and Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Owen, W., 2004. Classic Poetry. London: The World Poetry Archive. Owen, W., 1967. Collected Letters. London: Oxford University Press. Owen, W., 2004. Classic Poetry. London: The World Poetry Archive. Spiller, R. J., 1990. Shell Shock. New York: American Heritage. Westman, K., 2001. Pat Barker’s ‘Regeneration. New York and London: Continuum. Read More