Category: Writing

“I am haunted by humans”

Markus Zusak shows us a unique side to the narrater “death” when the sentence ” I am haunted by humans” comes along. Most humans live their lives fearing death, waiting and wondering when death will rid them of their place on earth. This quote allows the reader to see that much like an ant, death is more scared of us than we are of it. I think Markus included this into the book to show us, that we as humans have the power to “scare” death, by living our lives to the fullest. By getting out into the world, travelling or exercising we will continue to show death that we have the power, that we are not the victims.  

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak is a novel based in Nazi Germany. The book is narrated from deaths perspective, which is different to anything I’ve read before as I become opened to the possibilities that death is not just black and white but instead is something much deeper. Throughout the book we follow a nine year girl named Liesel Meminger and her foster home. The acts that her new family show are out of the ordinary and if caught could get them killed. The bravery they show as a family is incredible. Thus kind of bravery lacks in todays world as people will do whatever it takes to blend in, even if its wrong.

I see the book as a representation of Nazi Germany coming from a child’s point of view. We travel through the experience of Liesel Meminger as she discovers who and what Hitler actually is doing. Liesel then decides she’s not on Hitlers side, but is told she has to keep it to herself if she wants to survive. I think people would benefit from reading this book because it shows how people should stand out and speak up if they dont think somethings right. It shows that just because everyone else is doing something, you dont have to follow.

The Book Thief shows us a look at one of Nazi Germanys few courages families as they chose to defy Hitler by taking in and hiding a boy as well as many other occasions including when Hans, who is Liesels foster dad paints an anti-semitic sign on a jewish mans door. Thinking about myself, I probably wouldn’t have the bravery to stand out like Liesel and her family did. They put their lives at risk every day, I personally simply wouldn’t have the guts. Examples of people fitting in and not questioning things that are wrong happen every day. I would say it’s almost like peer pressure, everyone just wants to fit in so they do what the other are doing.

I commend the actions or crimes at the time committed by the family because from my point of view and in most of the worlds eyes we now see that Hitler tricked people into believing in such things like a “superior race”.  Putting my self in Liesels shoes is a hard place to be and it’s hard for me to say that I would have found it very hard to do what she did. I, like many other people have been manipulated by someone and have later found out that I’ve been tricked onto the wrong side by which point it’s to late. So I personally know how easy it is to be swayed. Liesel was around the age of nine when she had to choose a side and most nine year olds would probably just follow their friends beliefs, but not Liesel. Liesel gathered information before she chose and when she decided to help the Jews/communist, you couldn’t sway her mind.

I think this text relates heavily to what is going on in America today with Donald Trump. I believe that some of the issues being approached in this text are happening in the USA, like an uprise of weapons and war talk with other countries. Hitler started off by slowly winning over a small group of people and over the years he insanely became the leader of a country, I watched this happen wit Donald Trump and although he’s not as smart as Hitler I see him as having some of the same views. For example Hitler wanted to rid the Jews and Donald Trump wants to rid the Mexicans. People in our generation need to be more like Liesel and stand up for themselves, before it’s to late.

Futility – Wilfred Owen 

The poem Futility by Wilfred Owen starts off by talking about soldiers moving another into the sunlight in hope of brining him back to life. It’s a cold snowy morning in France and even though the sun is usually the thing that provides life to many things, it cannot help this young, cold, dying soldier.  A reference to the “kind old sun” is made by using personification to give the sun emotions that the reader can relate to. I believe Wilfred Owen chose to include this to show us the sun in a different light, we see the sun as if its seen a-lot in its “old” age. I think that we are also shown the compassion it provides to all who fall under it on this cold day. Throughout the rest of the poem we see how all hope is being lost as the writer talks about how the soldier is lacking movement when he asks, “To hard to stir?”. This makes me think how the men usually have faith in the sun as it gives life to the plants and animals but now are loosing themselves as the sun seems to not even be trying to help their friend.

I wanted to study this poem because I have read other pieces from Wilfred Owen and I like how he tells the reader what exactly happened during the war. He shows us a theme throughout his writing that war is a pointless activity. We see this in the poem when he writes “fields half-sown”, this sentence tells the reader how the man and many other soldiers who have past are only given half a life, much like the fields which have only been half done. It makes the reader see how these men had so much more to live for rather than dying on the battle field with a half fulfilled life. I think he does this to show the public what really went on, he wanted the truth to be uncovered. His writing has changed how I see war, I know now and can emotionally feel the trauma of this haunting past. I would recommend this text to others because it’s a short read showing a different side to war. Also because it’s shown me how these soldiers lived, it’s really helped me to relate to these poor men. The poem shows the absolute faith and commitment these soldiers have for each other, how they will try anything to save one another.

To me this text and Wilfred Owens writing teaches the reader very valuable information about the world we live in today. I believe he shows us the very brutal truth about war through the use of his writing. In this poem we see men standing up for each other and thats more than I can say for today. “It’s touch awoke him once” shows us how the soldiers helping the dying men know that the sun has given him life once before and are desperately going to try anything to save their friend. This sentence proves to the reader that these men had time for each other, that they cared for one another. In everyones busy lives there seems to be no time for anyone else, all I can see is  every man for himself. These young men were forced to fight for their lives and they still had time to look out for and commemorate one another. I think Wilfred Owen showed us their compassion to show us the hidden side of war, I think it was used to help represent the idea that these men were humans fighting in a machine war, how they were fighting the wrong battle. I believe the world we live in today really needs to start focusing on whats important, we need to look after the land the soldiers helplessly fought for, we need to stop focusing on social media when other countries are still at war and we need to share our fortunes with countries who cant afford to feed their selves let alone a family.  Wilfred Owens writing proves that even at the darkest of times soldiers proved themselves as caring humans. This makes me think how today there are no longer people looking out for each other in their day to day lives.

After reading Wilfred Owens work it really proves to me how brave you have to be to speak out about something everyone else just considers normal. The point to Wilfreds Owen writing was to present the truth about war, this has swayed my judgement on war because he’s really uncovered things no one else wants to bring up. Like in the sentence “even in France,” showing the reader that even in this place were so much blood has been drawn, the suns touch should give its life to a soldier. It tells the reader that the sun is forgiving even in this god forsaken place. He represents the idea’s of how war is an unnecessary fight numerous times throughout his writing by proving to us that war is pointless, contrary to what most of the population believed at the time. This relates to me on a much smaller level because everyday I have trouble watching girls in this school fight or say mean things behind each others backs about things that aren’t even important. One day I truly hope to be as brave as Wilfred Owen, I hope one day I can dare to be different and face these “bullies” in my life in the way Wilfred Owen was able to face his “bullies”. I want to change what the girls at school “consider normal” cause deep down I know its not.

Wilfred Owen is a talented writer who was faced with the traumas of war, but unlike his peers he decided to speak up. In my opinion this is what makes him stands out and this is how he was able to connect with the world today, generations later. This is inspiring in todays world as there is so much that no one talks about and that no one wants to confront, like third world countries not having enough food or global warming. Historically I am grateful that Wilfred Owen didn’t let us forget our past, the worlds mistakes. I’m grateful because hopefully we learnt from all those wasted lives, hopefully these young soldiers didn’t die for nothing.

2.4 Wilfred Owen Essay

In the poem Anthem for Doomed Youth and Exposure by the author Wilfred Owen language techniques are used to help me understand the main theme of how war is an unneeded exercise. I am going to talk about the similes and personification used in these two poems.

Anthem For Doomed Youth

A simile is used in the sentence “these who die as cattle”. Similes are used to compare two things, in this example it is used to compare the soldiers dying as how cattle die by attaching the characteristics of one thing to another. I believe the author used this example as we all know how stock cattle die. All at once, in the hundreds, tail to tail, following their leader to walk up the path to their already decided fate. The link between the soldiers and cattle is easily depicted by the reader and paints the picture I’ve described above, it sends a message to people about how these men dont need to follow in the footsteps of one another, they dont need to act as cattle do, they dont need to die. War is pointless and unwanted, unlike these brave soldiers who have a life at home and who’s families are waiting for their return.

Personification is the language techniques that allows an inanimate object to obtain a human quality. We are shown and example of this in the poem where its written “monstrous anger of the guns”. Guns are unable to be angry but the author has given them the human quality to help the reader connect to the sentence as humans can understand how it feels to be angry. Thanks to the author we as the reader are able to imagine what it’d would have been like to be the mind behind a gun. To me I think about how the gun has been portrayed as angry and how it scares the rivals,  even though the man behind it is emotionless due to the things they’ve seen. Wilfred Owen once said “all poets can do today is warn,” for me this quote alongside the personification used in the poem conveys the messages of how war is an unneeded exercise that turns people and their weapons evil.

Exposure

The idea of “exposure” (being dangerously exposed to the natural elements / weather) is represented throughout the poem. We first see it in the title with the word “Exposure”, from this we dont know if the weather is extremely hot or extremely cold but we have been introduced to the idea of exposure within the war. “Winds that knife us” is the next example of exposure in the poem. The sentence uses personification by allowing the wind to have stabbing abilities. We are able to understand how the wind is so cold or so strong that it is like painful stabs as the soldiers walk through it. As these soldiers are being put through treacherous  conditions we are once again shown the idea of how war forces the men to face activities that are completely unneeded, war is pointless.

The weather has been presented as an enemy in the poem. We see this all through the poem when for example the author uses the simile “like twitching agonies of men amongst its brambles.” It shows us how the strong winds are tangling the men up in the barbed wire, capturing them in these harsh conditions. As the enemy it is telling us that the weather is in some situations more deadly than a bullet. Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers are caught in a vicious cycle of fighting off their countries enemies and attempting fight off the enemy of weather.

“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us”
– This is an example of personification, the east winds are ‘knifing’ the author. In other words they are stabbing the author with cold. This language feature is used instead of just saying that the wind is ‘cold’ as it adds more interest. Its saying that the wind is so icy it’s piercing through them.

“Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous, But nothing happens.”
– The author uses listing in this way to slow the piece down. It gives time to set the scene, they’re scared its freezing and nothing is happening to interest them. Also the emotive language used gives insight into what the soldiers are thinking. They have confused feelings about the silence, wondering why nothing is happening; these feelings set the scene of what the soldiers feel.

“But nothing happens.”
– This phrase is repeated at the end of multiple stanzas throughout the piece. This is partly an oxymoron as it is used at the end of a verse which clearly has gunfire at the start. “Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence.” Yet it still says that nothing had happened. But the phrase “But nothing happens” is for the most part used to add to the feeling of slowness which the poem depicts. It’s repetition is too emphasise the, cold slow deaths/pace of the soldiers/poem. This phrase is also used at the end which is a nice touch to finish of the poem, saying that all that has happened during the poem, does not matter; it says that nothing of importance has happened in the whole poem.

The idea of “exposure” (being dangerously exposed to the natural elements / weather) is represented throughout the poem. We first see it in the title with the word “Exposure”, from this we dont know if the weather is extremely hot or extremely cold but we have been introduced to the idea of exposure within the war. “Winds that knife us” is the next example of exposure in the poem, with this example we are able to understand how the wind is so cold or so strong that it is like painful stabs as the soldiers walk through it. “mad gusts tugging on the wire” sets the scene for the sentence “men amongst its brambles”. It shows us how the strong winds are tangling the men up in the barbed wire, capturing them in these harsh conditions. “air that shudders black with snow” this is telling us how the freezing temperatures these men are facing could likely be more deadly than a bullet itself. “clouds sag stormy” is another example of exposure as it paints a picture of how heavy the clouds are, as if they’re threatening to once again leave the soldiers shivering and soaked.  “we drowse sun-dozed” tells us that after all the harsh, cold weather these men are now exposed to the sun which leaves their bodies drowsy. Over all throughout this poem we learn how exposure was very dangerous to these men stuck in trenches, so dangerous it had potential to be more dangerous than the guns, bombs or enemies. It was a silent killer.

The weather has been presented as an enemy in the poem. We see this all through the poem when for example the author uses the sentence “flights of bullets streak the silence, less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow” this shows how exposure is presented as the enemy as it is telling us that the weather is more deadly than a bullet.

Vocabulary – I think the author of this poem has chosen words like anthem in the title “Anthem for Doomed Youth” to show the reader how the younger generations were living in a  world where their main priority was to go to war. How these children were brought into a cruel world that praised fighting and the death of their enemies. This help me understand that these children were  dying young, following the anthem of the past.

Another example of a compelling word the author has used is demented. “demented choirs of welling shells”. This sentence alone paints a vivid picture in the readers head of a loud out of tone screech coming down on the men fighting. It shows to me the men attempting to  run and escape the shells, but  the high pitch screams distracted them making them stumbling to the ground. Allowing me to understand how the men over come with sell-shock from the “demented choirs of welling shells”.

Language Techniques – A simile is used in the sentence “these who die as cattle”. Similes are used to compare two things, in this example it is used to compare the soldiers dying as how cattle die by attaching the characteristics of one thing to another. I believe the author used this example as we all know how stock cattle die. All at once, in the hundreds, tail to tail, following their leader to walk up the path to their already decided fate. The link between the soldiers and cattle is easily depicted by the reader and paints the picture I’ve described above, it sends a message to people about how these men dont need to follow in the footsteps of one another, they dont need to act as cattle do, they dont need to die.

Personification is the language techniques that allows an inanimate object to obtain a human quality. We are shown and example of this in the poem where its written “monstrous anger of the guns”. Guns are unable to be angry but the author has given them the human quality to help the reader connect to the sentence as humans can understand how it feels to be angry. Thanks to the author we as the reader are able to imagine what it’d would have been like to be the mind behind a gun. To me I think about how the gun has been portrayed as angry and how it scares the rivals,  even though the man behind it is emotionless due to the things they’ve seen.

What has been included – The word “demented” alone paints a negative picture in my head as it makes me think of something broken or out of place. It shows the reader how the poet thinks about war in general, how its not right. This example has been chosen by the poet to show the reader how those people who experienced war were blinded by the glamour of the war, how they block out the crazy “demented” side just to follow orders of the men above them.

To me I see the sentence “drawing-down of blinds” as an end to a group of people, who died for the greed of mankind. The poet seems to be portraying a positive idea with this, as even though a negative aspect of the people dying is used, the sentence also shows the idea of the bringing down of an evil era in our world. It’s the end line of the poem and shows respect to those who have died, while also giving the reader a way to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Anthem For Doomed Youth

Wilfred Owen, 1917

The author doesn’t like the war and what it brings to innocent people. From the poem I came to the understanding that he had to leave behind his family, friends and loved ones, hurting them in the process.

“Die as cattle” = men are expendable in comparison to men and their personal lives 

Very religious  

Simile – “Coughing like hags” in this example of a language technique, the writer is using a simile to compare the soldiers coughing to a hag. This was used to show that even though the soldiers are young, their bodies having been put through so much trauma that they become older inside than they are outside, leaving them “coughing like hags”. This is disturbing as the youth should be able to enjoy their young lungs by taking deep breaths without the hassle of coughing.

Listing – “He plunges at me, guttering , choking, drowning.”  Listing is used to build understanding for the reader on what is happening. In this case listing is used to show the reader the acts the soldiers are going through as the gas overtakes their bodies. Each of the words used creates a picture of what is happening to the men. The picture that is shown to us is about a man who has got his gas mask on in time but now has to watch his fellow soldiers gasp for air. We also are able to see a man who is struggling to breath in clean air lunging towards the man.

Imperative – “Gas! GAS! Quick , boys!” This language technique is used to challenge the reader to believe or think about what the writer is saying, a command. For this sentence in the poem it used with exclamation marks and capitals to show the reader how important it is to these boys that they listen and that they act fast, their life may depend on it.

Dulce et decorum est was written by Wilfred Owen to emphasise the irony of his situation and how he blamed the war was “carrying on beyond reason”.

Died @ 25.

After school he became a teaching assistant and in 1913 went to France for two years to work as a language tutor.

“Dulce et decorum est” translates to, it is sweet and proper to die for ones country.

It is said he wrote the majority of his poetry in hospital while suffering from shell shock (may have bias).

Diagnosed with shell shock May 1917

His mentor was Siegfried Sacroom.

Born March 18th 1895

Got shot in the head from friendly five and survived.

Said to have been written for his mother.

HIs poem is about the horror soldiers went through.

Killed in action one week before armistice which ended in the war.

He began experimenting with poetry at age 17.

Said to have a protective side for his family, maybe he wrote it to worn others.

Written to shock civilians who thought war was glorious.

“Normal isn’t a word that has any mean for soldiers any more”.

Said to have written some of the worlds best war poems.

Only famous after he died (Posthumous).

3 siblings.

Poetry went through dramatic changes during and after psychiatry, Catharsis.

All his war poem we written within one year.