Comparing the Ways

Comp ar the ways in which Owen strongly portrays physical and custodytal consequences of contend in the metrical compositions Disabled and noetic Cases Wilfred Owens poems Disabled and psychic Cases each portray really assorted aspects of struggle and its consequences. As their names suggest, Mental Cases is about the psychological effects struggle had on soldiers, whitheras Disabled foc determinations more(prenominal)(prenominal) on the physical consequences of struggle. However, in both poems the physical and manpowertal costs ar all intertwined, and although they show very disparate state of affairss, in many ways the poems are a handle in their portrayal of the consequences of war overall.The first ways in which we can compare these poems is by their content, language and timberland. In the poem Disabled, Owen states the nationals situation in the first line of the poem He sat in a wheeled chair, wait for dark this line bluntly highlights to the indorser that the subject is disabled, and is obviously very handicapped by his injury, because he cannot do anything except waiting for dark. The bank clerk the informs the reader of exactly what the mans injuries are, in the same direct fashion Legless, sewn short at elbow. This emphasizes how starkly and immediately obvious the mans injuries would be to somebody who saw him. In comparing, the poem Mental Cases starts with the line Who are these? Why sit they here in twilight? which is a far less straight forward line, and reflects how little was understood about the manpowertal effects of war at the time. The physical consequences of war are not as prominent in Mental Cases, honorable now they are still mentioned.The most powerful example is when the narrator describes how the shell-shocked soldiers appear their heads wear this hilarious, hideous, awful falsehood of set-smiling corpses and the reader comes to understand that their torment is so great they energize lost control of t heir facial muscles. Owen uses the contrive their faces wear to show that their facial expressions are not a true illustration of their feelings, but like a mask covering their thoughts. He then eerily compares their expressions to that of set-smiling corpses to perhaps to suggest that these men are almost dead with torment.Another powerful physical description in Mental Cases is their eyeballs shrink tormented cover version into their brains which paints a picture of how gaunt the mens faces are, and how their mental torture is so real to them, that their eyes physically shrink away from the memories. Overall, physical consequences of war provide the central problem for the subject of Disabled, whereas in Mental Cases the subjects poor physical condition is because of their mental state. This brings us on to the powerful portrayal of the mental consequences of war in these poems. Mental Cases is set in an institute for mentally damaged soldiers, and starts with a stanza interro gativeing how the men concerned have been reduced to such a state of insanity. One very powerful question which describes the mens mental torment is -but what slow panic gouged these chasms round their fretted sockets? The oxymoron slow panic highlights just how terrible the suffering of the men is as panic is one of the most horrible, alarmed and rushed emotions a person can feel so to have this feeling d crankyn out and slow is awful.Owens use of the verb gouged is also poignant as it is a violent action, so it underlines that these men are the victims of something brutal. Another oddly moving line in the first stanza is Ever from hair and through their hands palms Misery swelters This statement is very effective at showing how all-consuming their fear and misery is as it metaphorically compares the misery to sweat which of data track comes out of every pore of ones skin, and the verb swelters is adds to the effect as it conveys the clammy fever which is plaguing the men along with their memories.In comparison to Mental Cases, the poem Disabled describes less direct mental consequences of war as the subject of the poem is not suffering from shell-shock, but rather from the loneliness and helplessness which his disability is ca employ him. Before the war, the subject of the poem was a handsome and fashionable teenager who was excellent at football, however, his injuries have left him disfigured and only dependent on others, which leads to a mental torment far subtler but almost as agonising as that of the subjects in Mental Cases he spends all his time thinking about the time ahead the war, and regretting that he signed up.This is the main tragedy behind this poem the fact that the whole situation could have been prevented if he hadnt. The narrator of the poem recognises this, and expresses the subjects regret with lines such as In the old times, before he threw away his knees. The use of the phrase threw away shows that the subject does not think th at it was worth it he feels that he lost his limbs for nothing it was a waste. It also suggests that he blames himself for what happened.Another phrase which is very powerful in impartation the mental consequences of war on the subject of this poem is in the first line when he is set forth as sitting and waiting for dark. This shows how he empty his life is, because he has nothing to do but wait for darkness to come, so he can go to bed. The final phrase which potently portrays the mental consequences of war is when, describing how the subject was naive when he signed up for the war, the narrator writes no fears of affright came so far. By turning the second fear into a proper noun, Owen powerfully suggests that there are a bulk of different things encompassed in this word for a soldier, and shows how central fear was to soldiers lives when they were at war. Overall, Mental Cases shows the most sad and forceful mental consequences that war could have on a soldier, whereas Di sabled shows an indirect and much more subtle, yet still tormenting psychological impact of war. One thing which the poems have in common concerning the consequences of war, is that it is clear in both that war demanded great sacrifice from the soldiers, and caused great loss for them.This is very powerfully portrayed in Disabled when the narrator writes Hes lost his colour very far from here, poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry these two lines are particularly poignant due to Owens use of the verb poured which emphasizes the excessiveness of the young mans loss of blood. The word colour here could be interpreted to mean the mans happiness and natural blush which reminds the reader again of how handsome and popular he had been.The final shoot down which makes this line so powerful is the phrase till his veins ran dry which conveys to the reader that the subject gave everything he had to the war his limbs and with them his successful life -, yet got nothing back. In c omparison, the subjects of Mental Cases lost their minds to the war because of the unimaginable horrors they experienced. The narrator sums this up in the lines Carnage incomparable, and human squander rucked too heavyset for these mens extrication this shows that the men experienced too many horrors and too much slaughter for them to endure.Another point which both poems express is that the consequences of war, both physical and mental, are irreversible. This is obvious in Disabled, as there is no way he can make for his legs back but the narrator emphasizes this throughout the poem by using the word never frequently. For example Now, he is old his back will never brace. By describing the man, who cannot be more than nineteen years old, as old, Owen shows the reader just how much of an effect the war had on the subject, as age is one of the few indisputably irreversible things in life.In comparison, the narrator of Mental Cases, when describing the soldiers memories, says walk sloughs of flesh these helpless wander. Treading blood from lungs that had loved laughter by describing them as helpless the narrator shows he considers the men beyond help. After all, how can you help someone if the source of all their problems is their own memories? The lines are do particularly powerful as they describe the soldiers remembering when they trod on lungs which had loved laughter.This shows that the soldiers had known and laughed with the men whose lungs they were forced to step on because the ground was covered with so many bodies. Another line where we get the sense that the shell-shocked men are beyond help is when the narrator says on their sense sunlight seems a blood-smear Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh if something as beautiful and pure as sunlight and sunrise reminds these men of blood and wounds, then we feel that nothing will ever sedate them, and bring them back to sanity. Another way in which we can compare these poems is by their body structure.Most noticeably, Disabled is considerably eight-day than Mental Cases. This reflects how the subject of Disabled is in a state of thoughtfulness and pondering, whereas the narrator of Mental Cases is simply explaining the subjects to somebody, and because does not spend as much time contemplating. The two poems are similar in structure in the sense that they both fluctuate between past and present, but Disabled does so far more often than Mental Cases and this again could reflect the contemplation of the subject. Finally, Mental Cases does not rhyme at all, whereas Disabled has a constant, although not regular, rhyme scheme.The lack of rhyme in Mental Cases could reflect how harsh the realities of war are, and the raw pain and horror that is shell-shock perhaps Owen did not want to dampen the brutality of the truth in this subdivision by smoothing it over with rhymes. The final way in which we can compare how Owen powerfully portrays the consequences of war in these po ems is by looking at their tone. The first and last stanza of Disabled have a melancholy tone, which Owen achieves by using language such as ghastly, saddening, pity and cold. He also juxtaposes the words dark and grey, to create a general tone of gloom.The rest of the stanzas fluctuate between a tone of regret and despair, and one of bittersweet reminiscence, as the subject contemplates the past and present. In comparison, Mental Cases has a brutally honest tone all the way through, although it changes from skeptical at the beginning to guilty towards the end. Owen achieves this guilty tone with the line Snatching after us who smote them ,brother, in which the narrator accepts that he and his companion are partly to blame for the tragic ending the men in take care of them have, and the word brother suggests that he feels closer to his companion because of this shared guilt.In conclusion, although each poem powerfully portrays a different kind of consequence that war could have on a soldier, they both seem to agree that the losings the subjects of each poem endured were a great sacrifice to them, and one which is irreversible. Another point which the poems seem to recognize, is that their losses were a mistake it was not worth it. This is shown in disabled by the subjects regret and in Mental Cases by the narrators guilt at sending the subjects to war.