Demonstrate how Wilfred Owen brings out the futility of war in

Disabled

Wilfred Owen, born in 1893, is one of the very few famous British war poets
from the First World War. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to see
the official end of the war. His poets are in stark contrast to the public opinion
of the war, describing it as futile, sad and hopeless. Other poets of his time,
such as Robert Brooke, portrayed war as a glorious and admirable thing; it
was something to be proud of being part of. The youth of the time also
adopted this idea into their minds, and so going to fight in the war was more
about showing off their masculinity rather than exercising their patriotism.
Disabled is considered to be one of Owens best and most powerful poems,
written while he was recovering at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh.
In the first stanza the young soldier is depicted in a dark, isolated state as he
sits in his wheelchair, wearing a ghastly suit of grey. It may be the colour of
death or it could just be its suit. The colour grey in either case indicates
something lifeless. By this stage, the reader learns that he lost his legs in
battle. The soldier recalls and envisions the voices of boys having fun in a
park and the how they were all in pleasure, until gathering sleep had
mothered them from him. Owen gives a great personification of sleep as a
mother who would be calling her children back, hence the phrase mothered
them from him.
Moving on, he describes that Town used to be very colourful and filled with
enthusiasm and spirit during this time. In the actual verse, Owen wrote the
word town with a capital T, meaning that it was a specific town that the
soldier had ever gone to, and not just any generic one. He then brings to
mind the images of lamps and dancing girls, the good old times, before he
realises the disheartening fact that he could no longer meet with such
experiences for the rest of his short life. The girls look at him as if he has a
queer disease due to his physical disfigurement.
The memories continue. He was a young and handsome man with such a
perfect face that even artists would want to draw it. Unfortunately, the soldier
is said to have lost his colour very far from here and poured it down shellholes until veins ran dry. In its context these descriptions could be
explaining about his face, but the phrase until veins ran dry could also mean
his blood and youthfulness.
Owen then describes the soldier having a blood-smear on his leg while
playing football, which represented a symbol of pride and respect for looking
manly. As a complete opposite to the reaction of his current injuries, he
looks back on himself with regret and recognised the foolishness and
insignificance of this incident in comparison. He explains that his decision to
go to war was almost spontaneous, just by a simple compliment by a pretty

girl and a night out drunk. His disregard for not contemplating the
consequences illustrates his demise.
The write goes on to state that the soldier lied about his age to get into the
military and the officers put him down for the forces unhesitantly. He wasn't
thinking about the 'fears' he had to face, but "jewelled hilts" and "smart
salutes" and "drums and cheer". The "esprit de corps", he mentioned. This
was all the imagery that the government propaganda wanted to put into the
minds of the youth, and he ended up being a slave towards it, having a
complete lack of understanding of what he was getting into.
Following this, the story goes on to describe a strange meeting began on the
soldier's path to the war. It was an old man who took time to 'inquire about
his soul'. Not much was mentioned about this man, but this suggests that he
may have experienced the hardships of war and understood the difficulties,
and could most likely be a war veteran. Nevertheless, the youg soldier did not
take any notice of him. This short conversation that he stumbled on
foreshadows the hardships of his future.
Overall, Owen successfully balances this poem with the immaturity of the boy
and the anger of the soldier looking back at his attitude towards war before
he enlisted. The poem is just about one soldier, but it is so universally
relatable to everyone due to its compelling and involving qualities.