Question

Which TWO common themes of war literature are reflected in these excerpts?

1. My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(Wilfred Owen, "Dulce Et Decorum Est")

2. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
(Siegfried Sassoon, "Suicide in the Trenches")



(A) bitterness at the massive loss of life caused by war
(B) anger at the ignorance of civilians and leaders at home
(C) the innocence and ignorance of enlisted soldiers
(D) anger at the government for lying to enlisted youth
(E) the pain of those left at home waiting for the soldiers

Answer 1

• Option #1: "bitterness at the massive loss of life caused by war"
• Option #2: "anger at the government for lying to enlisted youth"

Prompt:

Select all the correct answers.

Which two common themes of war literature are reflected in this excerpt?

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

(Wilfred Owen, "Dulce Et Decorum Est")

[Option #1:] bitterness at the massive loss of life caused by war

[Option #1:] 2anger at the ignorance of civilians and leaders at home

[Option #3:] the innocence and ignorance of enlisted soldiers

[Option #4:] anger at the government for lying to enlisted youth

[Option #5:] the pain of those left at home waiting for the soldiers

Commentary: I hope that this helps you. The Lord bless you and keep you, my friend. Shalom

Answer 2

In the first excerpt we can discern the anger at the government for lying to enlisted youth (answer d). The message of the poem is that if anyone could see the atrocities of war and the suffering of the warriors, he should never lie to young boys who think it is glorious to fight for your country.

The theme that is evident in the second excerpt is anger at the ignorance of civilians and leaders at home, who would never cheer and applaud when the troops are marching if they knew the reality of war that they are going to face.