Practical Criticism of the Poem Futility by Wilfred Owen
The poem begins with an order “move him into the sun”. The persona seems to be desperate to move someone under the sun. The second line talks about the beginning of life when the rays of the sun must have touched the delicate body of the person as a baby. The following words “field unsown” refers to immaturity, incomplete life or a half grown state. It acts as a metaphor on the cycle of life. The persona continues to speak about the regular behavior of the person. He seemed to have been acquainted with the sun and life as well “until this morning”
The words act as symbols of contrasts. Whereas the morning and the sun act as symbols of life, snow refers to death and gloom. The last two lines of the first stanza refer to sun as an elderly figure. It is significant through the words “pld sun”. In the second stanza, the persona talks about the strength of sun. While the sun once brought life to the cold barren earth, it appears unacceptable to the persona that the same sun cannot bring life in the lifeless young soldier. The persona directs the reader towards war and its consequences. He tells the reader that the soldier is still warm. He feels helpless to see the wrecked state of a human being who bears no significance after his death. He is sad at his condition. The reference made to the Genesis and the creation of man from the clay can be seen in the fifth line of the second stanza. He complains that was it for this day that the human being grew up having been created by the Lord himself.
The poem is an epitaph considering its style of construction. A melancholic and bitter tone is being carried out. a person , most probably a soldier is a young lad lies in battle field in a half dead condition. The themes such as the brutality of life and the pitiable consequences of war can be observed through the lines. In a nutshell the poem appears an intellectual criticism of war and its horrific
The words act as symbols of contrasts. Whereas the morning and the sun act as symbols of life, snow refers to death and gloom. The last two lines of the first stanza refer to sun as an elderly figure. It is significant through the words “pld sun”. In the second stanza, the persona talks about the strength of sun. While the sun once brought life to the cold barren earth, it appears unacceptable to the persona that the same sun cannot bring life in the lifeless young soldier. The persona directs the reader towards war and its consequences. He tells the reader that the soldier is still warm. He feels helpless to see the wrecked state of a human being who bears no significance after his death. He is sad at his condition. The reference made to the Genesis and the creation of man from the clay can be seen in the fifth line of the second stanza. He complains that was it for this day that the human being grew up having been created by the Lord himself.
The poem is an epitaph considering its style of construction. A melancholic and bitter tone is being carried out. a person , most probably a soldier is a young lad lies in battle field in a half dead condition. The themes such as the brutality of life and the pitiable consequences of war can be observed through the lines. In a nutshell the poem appears an intellectual criticism of war and its horrific