Warning: graphic images.
Watch from 1.28ish for a reason why this character became unable to speak until he received modern psychiatric treatment at Craiglockhart Hospital
Watch from 1.28ish for a reason why this character became unable to speak until he received modern psychiatric treatment at Craiglockhart Hospital
The Dead-Beat
He dropped, — more sullenly than wearily, Lay stupid like a cod, heavy like meat, And none of us could kick him to his feet; Just blinked at my revolver, blearily; — Didn't appear to know a war was on, Or see the blasted trench at which he stared. "I'll do 'em in," he whined, "If this hand's spared, I'll murder them, I will." A low voice said, "It's Blighty, p'raps, he sees; his pluck's all gone, Dreaming of all the valiant, that aren't dead: Bold uncles, smiling ministerially; Maybe his brave young wife, getting her fun In some new home, improved materially. It's not these stiffs have crazed him; nor the Hun. "We sent him down at last, out of the way. Unwounded; — stout lad, too, before that strafe. Malingering? Stretcher-bearers winked, "Not half!" Next day I heard the Doc.'s well-whiskied laugh: "That scum you sent last night soon died. Hooray!" Homework:
1) Find out a bit about the influences and timing of this poem. Research shellshock and how it was perceived in WWI. How was shellshock typically treated a)within the army b)within normal medical establishments c) within modern establishments such as Craiglockhart Hospital, where Owen was sent (this is where he met Siegfried Sassoon). 2) Write a letter to your civilian partner as if you had witnessed the event described in this poem. Make sure you echo the same sentiments as the narrator (ie unsympathetic). You may or may not choose to show some guilt at your actions at the end of the letter. 3) Find some powerful images of video. Be warned -- some of the images are potentially disturbing. |
Key ideas to consider:
1) Dehumanisation and brutalisation of the soldier 2) Disdain for civilians 3) How the persona implicates himself in the poem and what the effect of this is (remember that the persona is not necessarily created from Owen's personal experience) 4) What is more horrifying: the brutality shown to the shellshocked soldier or the fact that the soldiers themselves are so brutal and numb to his suffering? What are your reasons? What does Owen therefore tell us about the experience of soldiers in WWI? |