Disabled
Background
- Wilfred Owen wrote ‘Disabled’ in 1917 while he was recovering from shell
shock in Craig Lockhart War Hospital. When he was recovering in the
hospital, he saw many other disabled soldiers, and this could have spurred
him to write this poem.
- Similar to poems like ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Strange Meeting’, Owen
writes about the horrors of war and the contradiction to the glorified concept of
patriotism.
- Emphasizes the loss of hope and the large changes that war brings to the
lives of the young soldiers who enlist into the war
- Unlike other poems, focuses on a war survivor rather than the many deaths
on the battlefield.
- Use of a flashback technique creates a contrast between the past and present
of the soldier mentioned in the poem, from before the war to after the war
Significance of Title
- Literal level:
o Soldier is physically disabled as he has lost both an arm and leg
o Is emotionally disabled as he is now detached from the world due to his
physical disability and the prejudice of the society
- Figurative level: society is disabled in its views and treatment of soldiers.
- Sets the bleak mood and tone of the poem
Features (Style)
1. Motif: body parts
- Dehumanizing effect war has on the soldiers
- How soldiers have sacrificed their physical wholeness in the war, reiterating
the title of the poem.
- How the speaker indeed loses everything in the war, describing how every
single part of him is lost, in some respects literally and in some figuratively
o his arms, legs, thigh, hands, waist, elbow, veins, face, back, veins,
shoulder, knees, eyes, soul, and espirit de corps.
2. Contrasting colours
- In general, the colour contrasts show the difference between his vibrant past
and hopeless present life
o The mood of the poem changes from very somber in the first few lines
to one of cheerfulness and vibrancy in the middle and ends on a
somber tone.
o The somber mood in the beginning is seen in the words “dark” and
“grey” which signify a lack of colour and brightness.
, o Colour is brought in in the second stanza with colours like “light blue”
and continues with the colour “purple” in line 20.
- The difference is also highlighted in the descriptions of past events
- he knew “how slim/ Girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands”,
- “there was “an artist silly for his face” and
- “after football”, he was “carried shoulder high”, probably in victory.
3. Tone: hopeless, resigned, dejected, bitter
- Highlights the theme of hopelessness, despair and needless sacrifice
- Hopelessness and despair
o Title: “disabled”
o “waiting for dark” purposeless, darkness gives a sense of loneliness
o “why don’t they come?” repeated in the last two lines of the poem
women don’t come to him and prefer “strong men that were whole”
o “dark”, “saddening” and “fears” (negative connotation)
- His life seemed to have a bright future with him being handsome and being a
popular guy who played “football”. However, the chances he could have had
were taken away by war
- Message: war only brings needless sacrifice and causes the loss of potential
in the soldiers who have died.
Section by Section
(Section One)
- Opens with a dreary and drab backdrop, setting the tone for the rest of the
poem, one of hopelessness and isolation (colour “dark”, “grey”)
- “He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark”
o Picks up on the literal meaning of the title
o Signifying the lack of action due to his current physical state
o Signify the end of the day or his life – a lack of meaning in his
existence, simply waiting for death to come and claim him (“put him to
bed” in last stanza)
- “And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey”
o “shivering” physically weak, cold surroundings, pathos
o Cold thermal imagery can be taken figuratively too how society
treats him coldly; isolated from society.
o “ghastly suit of grey” no longer cares about his appearance, women
no longer like him anyways (“touch him like some queer disease”)
o ghostly, death-like as good as dead emotionally etc.
“ghastly”; “grey”
Repetition of “voices” later on also create an echoing effect that
suggests his detachment from the world, and his death-like
state.
Background
- Wilfred Owen wrote ‘Disabled’ in 1917 while he was recovering from shell
shock in Craig Lockhart War Hospital. When he was recovering in the
hospital, he saw many other disabled soldiers, and this could have spurred
him to write this poem.
- Similar to poems like ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Strange Meeting’, Owen
writes about the horrors of war and the contradiction to the glorified concept of
patriotism.
- Emphasizes the loss of hope and the large changes that war brings to the
lives of the young soldiers who enlist into the war
- Unlike other poems, focuses on a war survivor rather than the many deaths
on the battlefield.
- Use of a flashback technique creates a contrast between the past and present
of the soldier mentioned in the poem, from before the war to after the war
Significance of Title
- Literal level:
o Soldier is physically disabled as he has lost both an arm and leg
o Is emotionally disabled as he is now detached from the world due to his
physical disability and the prejudice of the society
- Figurative level: society is disabled in its views and treatment of soldiers.
- Sets the bleak mood and tone of the poem
Features (Style)
1. Motif: body parts
- Dehumanizing effect war has on the soldiers
- How soldiers have sacrificed their physical wholeness in the war, reiterating
the title of the poem.
- How the speaker indeed loses everything in the war, describing how every
single part of him is lost, in some respects literally and in some figuratively
o his arms, legs, thigh, hands, waist, elbow, veins, face, back, veins,
shoulder, knees, eyes, soul, and espirit de corps.
2. Contrasting colours
- In general, the colour contrasts show the difference between his vibrant past
and hopeless present life
o The mood of the poem changes from very somber in the first few lines
to one of cheerfulness and vibrancy in the middle and ends on a
somber tone.
o The somber mood in the beginning is seen in the words “dark” and
“grey” which signify a lack of colour and brightness.
, o Colour is brought in in the second stanza with colours like “light blue”
and continues with the colour “purple” in line 20.
- The difference is also highlighted in the descriptions of past events
- he knew “how slim/ Girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands”,
- “there was “an artist silly for his face” and
- “after football”, he was “carried shoulder high”, probably in victory.
3. Tone: hopeless, resigned, dejected, bitter
- Highlights the theme of hopelessness, despair and needless sacrifice
- Hopelessness and despair
o Title: “disabled”
o “waiting for dark” purposeless, darkness gives a sense of loneliness
o “why don’t they come?” repeated in the last two lines of the poem
women don’t come to him and prefer “strong men that were whole”
o “dark”, “saddening” and “fears” (negative connotation)
- His life seemed to have a bright future with him being handsome and being a
popular guy who played “football”. However, the chances he could have had
were taken away by war
- Message: war only brings needless sacrifice and causes the loss of potential
in the soldiers who have died.
Section by Section
(Section One)
- Opens with a dreary and drab backdrop, setting the tone for the rest of the
poem, one of hopelessness and isolation (colour “dark”, “grey”)
- “He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark”
o Picks up on the literal meaning of the title
o Signifying the lack of action due to his current physical state
o Signify the end of the day or his life – a lack of meaning in his
existence, simply waiting for death to come and claim him (“put him to
bed” in last stanza)
- “And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey”
o “shivering” physically weak, cold surroundings, pathos
o Cold thermal imagery can be taken figuratively too how society
treats him coldly; isolated from society.
o “ghastly suit of grey” no longer cares about his appearance, women
no longer like him anyways (“touch him like some queer disease”)
o ghostly, death-like as good as dead emotionally etc.
“ghastly”; “grey”
Repetition of “voices” later on also create an echoing effect that
suggests his detachment from the world, and his death-like
state.
