Horrifying Truth of War in Dulce et Decorum Est
Furthermore, the poem’s very short third stanza suddenly plunges into the speaker’s own present mindset. In doing so the poem reveals yet another terrifying consequence of war: that even if one survives, they will face ceaseless torment by their memories. Owen, being a survivor himself, describes seeing “in all my dreams before my helpless sight/ He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning”. He can’t seem to escape this vision of his comrade dying from the gas attack, which means he can't achieve the 'rest' that he so desired and the only positive aspect of life he mentioned in the first stanza. Owen was just one of millions who returned from the war suffering from 'shell-shock', now commonly referred to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. However, treatment for shell shock was purely experimental in the early 1900’s no one at the time fully understood what might cause such intense trauma. After years of extensive research and case studies, it has been argued that they simply were not properly prepared. Once they reached the battlefield, their innocent minds did not know how to cope with the bleak realism they faced, and they were induced into “shock”.
Lastly, the fourth and final stanza marks a shift. While Owen focuses the first stanza on the “we” of the regiment, the second is focused on the “he” of the dying soldier, and the third on the “I” as he speaks of his personal trauma, the final is directed on the “you” of the reader. In this stanza, Owen directly addresses the readers stating, “If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace/ Behind the wagon that we flung him in”. He is attempting to make them understand the brutal reality of war by claiming that if they were in battle and privy to the same horrors, they might comprehend the problem with more ease. Owen continues with this hypothetical idea as he writes the following lines:
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— (19-24).
By including such gory details of his taunting dreams, Owen is showing his deep frustration. He wants to exemplify just how absolutely degrading, humiliating, and surreal the destruction of the human body can be from war. Within just minutes, the body of a strong young soldier turns into a mass of aging sores like a version of cancer has moved through his body at warp speed. Owen continues to utilize bitter and ceaseless realism to the end of this stanza. He further contradicts society’s views by stating,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori (25-28).
Owen refers back to the title in his last few lines to leave his audience pondering over the public’s common misbelief. The line communicated in Latin from the poet Horace translates directly to “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country” clarifying that they think war, and dying in war, is meaningful and full of glory.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” is not, then, simply trying to reveal the horror of war to the unknowing public though it certainly is trying to do that. Owen is also condemning the historical institutions and political/social structures that have, for as long as time goes, sent young and innocent-minded men to their deaths based on tales of glory. He demands that the reader face the truth and no longer abide by the old lie. This is portrayed through exposed realism, indignation, and compassion along with developed technical skill. These features highlight the juxtaposition between a clean and simple image of honorable death against the disgusting, horrifying truth of actual war. In spite of this, Owen does not assume that his audience will change their attitude towards war just yet or refrain from cheerfully sending their young men, practically still 'children' to die in agony.
