Hey, I'm doing some revision and i'm writing a comparative essay (exposure and remains). I know i should have done one more paragraph but i was doing it under timed conditions so i didn't have time and i would rather see what i can do under pressure anyways since it will probably be worse in the real exams. Can someone read it and give some feedback?
Compare how poets present the effects of conflict in ‘Exposure' and in one other poem from "Power and conflict”.
Both poems present the effects of conflict on soldiers, while they both explore the psychological and physical impact on soldiers, they do this in distinctive ways. Armitage focuses on the trauma that soldiers accumulate due to their horrifying experiences in war, whereas Owen portrays the physical pain that soldiers were forced to endure and how it psychologically affected them.
Both poets show physical effects of conflict that devastates soldiers, but Owen focuses on the pain nature inflicts on the soldiers, Armitage highlights the violence soldiers inflict on each other. The personification in “ the merciless iced east winds that knive us”, portrays nature in a sinister way presenting nature as the enemy which could evoke fear in the reader, mirroring the fear the soldiers felt whilst having to endure the extreme weather. The use of sibilance further contributes to the sinister tone implying that nature is an even bigger threat than the actual enemy. Owen exposes the true horror of war as he experienced this in the trenches, dying in battle a week before the armistice in 1918. On the other hand, Armitage uses violent imagery in “ tosses his guts back inside his body” to show how the soldiers have been constantly exposed to horror and suffering, that they have become desensitised to it. The verb “tosses” connotes a lack of care and respect which implies that the soldiers have lost respect for human life. The verb “tosses” could also be interpreted as colloquial language which could demonstrate how the speaker is pretending the sight of this had no impact on him. The speaker’s use of colloquial language could be seen as a stream of consciousness, centered around uncensored memories and thoughts. This contrasts with the expectation of soldiers to be aggressive and masculine, in order to conceal their emotions and feelings. In modern literature, this is a popular theme, especially following Freud's psychoanalysis and discovery of shellshock.
Owen and Armitage both explore the psychological effects of conflict, while Owen highlights the collective despair of soldiers, Armitage focuses on personal guilt. In “remains” the last stanza is significant as it only contains 2 lines which contrasts with the 4 lined stanzas throughout the rest of the poem. This breakdown of the stanza in, “but near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands” could mirror the gradual breakdown of soldiers during war. It could also portray the speaker being truly broken due to him fully accepting the blame of killing the looter and no longer minimising his own role in the incident. The adjective “bloody” could be armitage making a pun as he could be describing the gruesome nature of the looters death, or it could be seen as slang or a curse to show how the speaker is saying that he is cursed with the memory of killing the looter and he can’t escape it which is similar to curses from fairy tales which are normally inescapable. The last stanza clearly displays the speaker’s guilt as “bloody” and “hands” are symbolic motifs for guilt. In Macbeth it similarly portrays guilt through the quote “ all the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand”. Thus, Armitage is exploring the psychological impacts of inflicting violence on another person. However, Owen expresses the collective despair that soldiers endured whilst “nothing happened”. This is portrayed through the blunt, passive phrase “we turn back to our dying” which shows the soldiers disillusionment with their cause. This could evoke sympathy within the reader as they sympathise with the soldiers. It is considered that Owen is not against war itself but poor leadership and unnecessary wars (the futility of war), which is why he repeats “but nothing happens” to criticise soldiers who are put into military situations where they are put through agony and suffering. In Britain, war was romanticised to the point of it having a mythical status. Owen (advised by his therapist) exposed the brutal reality of war. Due to the fact that Owen fought in the trenches in 1917,it creates an authentic first person narrative as he was an actual soldier in the midst of conflict.
To conclude, despite their differences, both poems effectively present the effects of conflict on soldiers physically and emotionally, exposing the true consequences of war.