Analysis of Theme through Dictions of Wilfred Owen's Poems.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis tema dari tiga puisi Wilfred Owen yang berjudul “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” “The Last Laugh,” dan “Anthem for Doomed Youth” melalui diksi. Ketiga puisi tersebut menggambarkan

penderitaan orang-orang, khususnya para prajurit yang ikut berperang pada

Perang Dunia Pertama, dan diungkapkan oleh Wilfred Owen melalui berbagai pilihan kata yang berhubungan dengan perang.

Melalui puisi-puisi tersebut, pembaca seolah diajak kembali ke masa-masa

kelam yang dialami oleh para tentara di masa itu. Betapa banyaknya penderitaan yang mereka hadapi dalam masa peperangan, dan betapa banyaknya kematian

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Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

World War I was such a devastating tragedy in history that it inspired

many literary figures to write about it, prominently in poetry. It can be seen from the fact that there were poets produced war poems at that time. Among all of the war era poets, I choose to focus on Wilfred Owen, who is against the war.

Wilfred Owen is a famous English poet and was also known as a great soldier. His poems were characterized by brutal honesty about the condition at the

battlefield and deep compassion for the soldiers as victims, as stated at this biography; “Owen is regarded by historians as the leading poet of the First World

War, known for his war poetry on the horrors of trench and gas warfare” (“Wilfred Owen”). Besides, his poems were rich and multi-layered, concerning his negative points of views about the war. I choose to analyze three poems which

showed his dislike towards the war, namely “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” “Anthem for Doomed Youth,”and “The Last Laugh.”

In my thesis, I am going to analyze the theme of the poems through the

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poet’s view about World War I. Theme itself means “the total meaning discovered by the writer in the process of writing and by the reader in the process of reading” (Kenney 94), while diction is "a saying, expression, word, in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and

style of expression in a poem or story” (“Diction”). Diction can also mean “The

choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language in a literary work; the manner or mode of verbal expression, particularly with regard to clarity

and accuracy” (“Diction”).

Statement of the Problem

1. What are the themes of the poems?

2. How do the dictions help in revealing the themes?

Purpose of the Study

1. To show the themes of the poems.

2. To show how the dictions help in revealing the themes.

Method of Research

I conduct a library research for my thesis. First, I read the poems. After that, I analyze the themes of these poems through the dictions. And then, I search

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Organization of the Thesis

I divide my thesis into three parts, preceded by the Acknowledgments, the

Table of Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the

Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the theme analysis of three of Wilfred Owen’s poems. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the bibliography and the

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having done my analysis in chapter two, I am going to draw some

conclusion from the analysis. I find that Wilfred Owen uses sarcasm in the dictions to show his view on World War I. In addition, he also employes figures

of speech, such as simile and personification, to deliver his message. As a soldier fighting in World War I, Owen knows exactly what war is like. His description of war and the meaninglessness of the deaths of the soldiers at the battlefield provide

the readers with a gloomy perspective of war. In the three poems, the readers can also learn that Owen is pessimistic about war. He clearly shows the readers about

the grief, misery and sufferings of war.

I conclude that the three poems have different themes that concern with the same war. The theme of the first poem, “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” is “Fighting in a

war is worthless because it only brings suffering and traumatic experience.” He uses simile like “bend double, like old beggars under sacks,” and dictions like “Drunk with fatigue;” to give the image of suffered and weak soldiers. Owen also

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zest. To children ardent for some desperate glory,” which is emphasized in the next two lines, “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est.” “The old lie” is an

encouragement for the soldiers to fight for their country, but in reality fighting for one’s country also means sacrificing oneself and suffering. Then Owen shows the

reader that the soldiers also feel traumatic experience through “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light. As under a green sea, I saw him drowning, In all my dreams before my helpless sight. He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning,” which mean that the soldier sees the death of his friends with his own

eyes. In a simile “His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin,” the narrator is said to have nightmare or bad memory of war and is powerless to do anything about

that.

The theme of the second poem entitled “The Last Laugh” is “War brings adversity and horrifying situation.” This sarcastic poem tries to convey to the

readers about the adversities and cruelty of the battlefield by personifying the

weapons which hit them to emphasize the horrifying situation and the suffering. Each of the three stanzas opened with the soldiers’ cry as emotional expressions to

make the readers imagine how miserable their condition is.

Owen uses personifications such as “The Bullets chirped - In vain! vain! vain!” which literally mocks the soldiers’ useless sacrifice. The sound of a big

gun that “guffawed,” or in “And the Bayonets' long teeth grinned;” are to

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even the splinters “tittered” to mock the soldiers’ useless sacrifice. With the words

“kissed the mud,” the poet wants to convey a tragic and a horrifying condition of

the soldier who ends up kissing the mud instead of the girl he loves. Then the words “grinned” and “groaned” are used to emphasize how the weapons mock the

soldiers and at the same time generate a horrifying situation of the war.

The theme of the third poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” is “War is a cruel event that only brings sadness and sorrow.” Owen uses sarcasm to

emphasize the cruelty of war that brings sorrow. There are two questions in the poem, the first question “what passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” and the second question is “What candles may be held to speed them all?” arouse

sorrowful feeling to the readers and emphasize the useless fighting in a war. Then the question “who die as cattle” provides the readers with the meaninglessness of

war that only brings bad impacts to strong and spirited young soldiers who are slaughtered in the battlefield like cattles. Owen also personifies the guns to have “monstrous anger” to show how violently the guns kill the soldiers at the

battlefield. There will be no prayers and bells to praise the soldiers but the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires

which emphasize the sad and sorrowful death of the soldiers in that cruel war. The cruelty of a war above is informed through sarcastic lines in which the mourn

for the dead soldiers comes from the weapons instead from their families or relatives.

Having analyzed the theme of three of Wilfred Owen’s poems, I find that

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only causes suffering and pain to the soldiers and I am personally against the war because it only brings restlessness not only to the soldiers, but also to the citizens

and the children. In addition, war also brings destruction to the environment. I argue that the poems show Owen’s effort as one of the victims of the war to show

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Texts

“Wilfred Owen.”Poem hunter. Web. 26 May 2015.

References

“Bugles.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition._{Oxford: Oxford}

University Press, 2008. Print.

“Cattle.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition._{Oxford: Oxford}

“Chirp.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition._{Oxford: Oxford}

“Christianity: death rites.” bbc.co.uk/ schools/ gcsebitesize/ rs/ death/

chdeathritesrev3.shtml. 2014. Web. 1 January 2016.

“Chuckle.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th Edition. Oxford: Oxford

“Cud.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

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“Drunk.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

Duffy, Michael. “Feature Articles - The Causes of World War One.”First world

war. 22 August, 2009. Web. 8 April 2012.

“Hasty.” Dictionary.com. Web. 20 May 2015.

“Hoot.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

Kenney, William. How to analyze fictions. Canada: Little, Brown and Company. 1983. Print.

“Monstrous.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th Edition. Oxford: Oxford

“Obscene.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

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“Orison.” Dictionary.com. 2009. N.d. 20 May 2015.

“Pall.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

“Smother.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

“Titter.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

“Vile.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th_Edition_{. Oxford: Oxford}

“Wilfred Owen: Poet of the Trenches.” wilfredowen.org.uk/Biography. Web. 20

May 2015.

Wilde, Robert, “Wilfred Edward Salter Owen.” europeanhistory.

/poetrysongsofww /a/ biowowen.htm. N.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

“Wilfred-owen.” wordsworth-editions.com/authors/owen-wilfred. 2014. Web. 21