What does clumsy helmets mean

Download paper. Analysis, Pages 5 words. Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on. Get quality help now. Verified writer. I am really satisfied with her work. An excellent price as well. Deadline: 10 days left. Number of pages. By using 'cursed', the image created is that the soldiers were struggling, desperately unhappy and exhausted. The word 'trudge' is an onomatopoeia used to emphasise the fact that the pace is tremendously slow, creating the impression that the men have little strength or stamina left.

Additionally, it portrays the image that it takes a lot of effort for them to move. Furthermore, it suggests that they are in a horrific condition and are facing extreme and excruciating pain. However, the soldiers do still have a small amount of energy left and determination is shown because they do not give up. To be 'Drunk with fatigue,' these men must be so tired that they are no longer sane and can barely even think for themselves.

You can almost imagine large numbers of people dragging their boots through the mud, tripping over their own shadow. It highlights the point that they have been forced to withstand war for such a long period of time that they have become 'deaf' as a consequence. It could also suggest that the soldiers are so exasperated with war that it has had a subconscious effect on them. A personification is used to describe the shells as 'tired,' which gives the impression that the author thinks that the war is pointless and has been occurring for so long that even the shells have become wary of this futile catastrophe.

In the second stanza there is suddenly a massive contrast and the mood instantly changes. The pace rapidly speeds up and the difference between the sombre, slow mood that had been previously displayed to a much faster, more frantic mood is obvious. The image created is that everyone in 'an ecstasy of fumbling' was forced to run out into the mist, unaware of their fate. Anyone wanting to fight in the war would become nervous at the image of himself running out into a blood bath.

The graphic images displayed here are profoundly affecting and can never be forgotten. The word 'ecstasy,' is ironic as it gives the impression of extreme joy, yet the opposite emotion would be expected. Following this sudden opening to the stanza, words are frequently used to portray the frantic movements of the soldiers, such as 'clumsy,' and 'stumbling.

Also, the image created is that the soldiers suddenly move very quickly, despite their fatigue. Alliteration is then used in the next line to emphasise that there is just one person left, making hysterical movements.

The writer then uses the simile 'As under a green sea I saw him drowning. The reader can imagine a man slowly sinking into thick, deep water as he violently moves about, but nothing can be done. It also helps to create a surreal feel to the poem. This surreal feel is particularly established by Owen's continued use of metaphors when describing the atrocious scene.

The penultimate stanza is reflective, as if the writer has taken a step back and surveyed the situation. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Questions — Stanza 1. What state are the soldiers in exactly? Which two surprising comparisons describe the soldiers?

Why is the expression blood-shod dehumanising to the soldiers? What happens in the in the last line of this stanza? Owen selects ugly, textured, guttural diction to convey a hideous event and landscape.

Find others. Quick, boys! Questions — Stanza 2 6. Why is GAS repeated and in capitals? Three comparisons describe the fate of one man. What are they? What effect does the dying soldier have on the narrator? In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. Stanza 3 9. What do the soldiers do for the dying man?

What horrible details of the face are given to us and with what is it compared? This shines light over your dead comrades, but the image is haunting in itself, and the smoke that the flares leave behind do not help. With the smoke, it really looks like ghosts are flying around in the night sky.

Similarly, it also shows that soldiers live haunted by fear and peril of death, or not dying but living in hell instead.

It could be perhaps that they are retreating and leaving some of their friends or even family members to die in the background. Very rhythmic, like the ringing in your head after a loud noise. After the loud shells of war. Additionally it does also give a reference to the military. Many had no boots to wear and had to peel it off the dead people. This is also a contrast to the propaganda posters that we see when we see a soldier fully dressed in the war.

The fact that people did not wear boots not only means that they had to walk on soil or mud, but they perhaps had to walk over and on the dead as well. Their feet are saturated with blood as they walk over the bodies of the dead. Perhaps there is no word to describe this. They are not lame but they are just so tired or too traumatised that they do not wish to talk about the war.

It could also mean that the loud explosions that they have heard during the battle has made them unable to speak. Metaphorically, it could also mean that they were walking into a future they did not know about.

The darkness that lay ahead was nothing more than death. It was only a matter of time before they got lost in it. It also shows the contrast between the city and the battlefield, when in the battlefield you get drunk on beer and have fun while on the battlefield all you get drunk on is fatigue. Move faster than and overtake. These artillery shells are moving very fast towards them, but they do not care anymore.

They are just tired of the war and tired of living. So not only are they fatigued from the war, but they are also reluctant, which could make them all the more slower. Exclamation mark representative of how urgent the situation was. The fatigue was also clouding their alertness and better judgement. In fact, they were very primitive. The gas mask was very primitive which made it hard for soldiers to put it on. In another life they could have been friends. Alternatively, the fact that it was impersonal could signify the fact that it could have been anyone: anyone who was a soldier could have been easily put into that situation.

A lot of the gas used could dissolve or melt skin, giving the image of the man being burnt alive even without the fire being there. Lime is a reference to the colour of the uniform that the soldier wore.