Dead Beat Poem

In Wilfred Owen's "The Dead Beat" poem, Owen speaks from a one sided opinion of a helpless trooper who let his emotions affect his fight at war. His problems from home transferred to the ground of a battlefield, making the poor soldier appear weaker than everyone else. His soldiers whom are on the same side as the trooper fail to make an effort to stand by and support the man, which completely contradicts the whole concept of fighting as a team. A war with soldiers is like a sports team with supportive team members. An athlete would rely on his teammates to play the game and have his back when needed and vice versa. However, it is not the case for 'the dead beat' man. Even the "old folks," those who have been in the war for longer, made no …show more content…
The contradiction of war being a courageous act for an individual is backfired when the unexpected occurs and one is faced with a complication of a post war condition. A healthy soldier is then diagnosed with an illness that cannot be self treated or controlled. This ends up being the result of what one pays for performing a good, courageous deed- protecting the honorary nation that is the United States of America.
In Owen's poem, "The Dead Beat," his use of diction come across as blunt and realistic. Owen uses words such as "dropped", "lay", "kick", "stared", and "whined" in the opening lines "to show the man's breakdown are plain and simple" (Crossref-it). Although the word choices are plain and simple, they are real and in no means exaggerated; they provide an effective imagery on what was happening to the man at war. It allows readers to somewhat grasp what it was like for this weary soldier to be on the …show more content…
Although this criticism was expressed as a response to one of his early poems "Disabled", his reputation can be carried to his other poems including "The Dead Beat". The irony of this entire poem, from the ambiguity title of dead beat to the comparison of the soldier's value to a cod and the humiliation he received from his fellow warriors, is beyond what any men should be able to tolerate. Not only were the other soldiers humiliating the fact that he was a loss cause as an addition to the troop, but they gave no mercy to the dead beat man who was not necessarily just physically hurt, but emotionally destroyed by the news from home of "his brave young wife, getting her fun in some new home" (Owen 12,13). "Unfairly in most cases, we might think, for the men who fought were not the only ones who suffered; wives, girl friends, mothers in countless numbers had cause to weep." (Wilfred Owen Association). The real enemy to this man was not the other nation or state, but ones standing right beside him. The fighter was blindsided by his own men even though every single soldier in combat had the same objective and purpose which was to protect and serve for our