John Singer Sargents painting Gassed

This impressive painting depicts soliders

blinded by gas being led in lines back to the
hospital tents and the dressing stations; the
men lie on the ground all about the tents
waiting for treatment.

With mustard gas, the effects didnt become
apparent for up to twelve hours. But then it began
to rot the body, within and without. The skin
blistered, the eyes became extreemyl painful and
nausea and vomiting began. Worse, the gas attacjed
the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous
membrane. The pain was almost beyond endurance
and most cases [people] had to be strapped to their
beds. Death took up to four or five weeks
Eye-Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World War I, John Ellis, 1976
A nurse wrote:
I wish those people who write so glibly about this
being a holy war and the orators who talk so much
about going on no matter how long the war lasts
and what it may mean, could see caseto say
nothing of ten cases of mustard gas in its early
stagescould see the poor things burnt and
blistered all over with great mustard-coloured
suppurating blisters, with blind eyesall sticky and
stuck together, and always fighting for breath, with
voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats
are closing and they know they will choke.
Eye-Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World War I, John Ellis, 1976

Owens Thoughts Before War
I do now most intensely want to fight.

The people in England neednt hope. They
must agitate. (to move fast and violently)

I hate washy pacifists. (someone who
doesnt agree with war)
Then he went to war
A shell exploded close to him, just two yards
away. After several days in a bomb crater with
the mangled corpse of a fellow officer, he was
diagnosed with shell shock.
In hospital, Owen and his comrades woke up
screaming in the night remembering the
nightmares from the war,
His view started to change

He became critical of people who hadnt
experienced the war, but thought it was
sweet and right to die for your country.

To show this he wrote
Attitudes
Look at the last four lines. What do these words or
phrases suggest?
Quote This suggests
High zest
People were very quick and enthusiastic about
encouraging men to go to war
Children
The soldiers were young, too young to really
think or make a decision about whether to go
Desperate glory
They all thought that war would bring pride,
they wanted to be part of the victory and make
people proud of them
The old lie
Lots of people must know that this isnt true,
but for some reason it is always repeated
Example
Owen is rejecting the accepted attitude back at
home that serving your country in war is
glorious. He is critical of the 'high zest', or
great enthusiasm, used to convince men to go
to war. He sees war as brutal and wasteful of
young lives. His choice of the word 'children' is
also significant; impressionable young men
are almost lured to war by the promise of
'desperate glory'.