Comparing Irony of War in Dulce et Decorum, Regeneration, and Quiet on

Irony of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum, Regeneration, and Quiet on the Western Front Many of the young officers who fought in the Great War enlisted in the army with glowing enthusiasm, believing that war was played in fancy uniforms with shiny swords. They considered war as a alarming task, an exuberant journey filled with honor and glory. Yet, after a short period on the front, they discovered that they had been disillusioned by the war fighting make them nothing but hopelessness, death and terror. They had lost their lives to the lost cause of war, which also killed their innocence and youth. They were no longer boys but callous men. Wilfred Owens poem Dulce et Decorum Est, puke Barkers novel Regeneration, and Erich Maria Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front, all portray the irony between the delusive glory of war and the gruesome existence of it, but whereas Owen and Sassoon treat the theme from a British point of view, Remarque allows us to look at it from the enemys. The poem Dulce et Decorum Est, an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen who was an English foots sexagenarianier, states that it is not sweet and fitting to die a heros death for a country. Right off in the first line, Owen describes the troops as being like old beggars under sacks (1). This metaphor indicates that the men are affair weary and suggests reluctance. They also have been on their feet for days and appear to be drained of youth as they marched asleep (5) and limped on, blood-shod (6). Overall, in the first stanza, Oundjian 2 there seems to be a tension between old and young because it shows how the impact of an endless war has reduce these once energetic young men to the point where they could be referred to as old (1), lame (6) and... ...s, demonstrated through the authors talent, are denouncing the authority figures who were supposed to authorize his generation into adulthood but instead turned the youth against each other in the pursuit of superficial ideals. The soldie rs were simply the victims of a meaningless war. In conclusion, Remarques firsthand encounters with trench warfare, Owens vivid descriptions of the soldiers experiences and Bakers touching accounts of the lives of historical figures, all state that there were no victors in war, only losers in a hopeless battle for territorial supremacy. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. Toronto Plume, 1993. Owen, Wilfred. Dulce et Decorum Est. The Faber Book of War Poetry. Ed. Kenneth Baker. London Faber, 1997. 3-4. Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Trans. A. W. Wheen. New York Ballantine, 1982.