The central idea of the poem “Futility” by Wilfred Owen is war. Owen’s choice of title ‘Futility” highlights his views on the subject. That being - war is pointless and bears no honour or glory. Owen stresses that war only causes destruction and death.
The poem is about a soldier who has recently died on the front line of the war. Although we as readers do not know who the dead soldier is; it appears that the speaker knows him and his background well. The speaker wants to move the soldier’s body into the sun in hopes that the sun will resurrect his dead body. Throughout the poem the speaker ponders nature’s power to create life; personifying the sun as godlike or as an omniscient and all-knowing being.
The poem begins with the command “move”; …show more content…
A despondent and nihilistic tone is present in this stanza. This emphasises the speaker’s bitter attitude towards the war and life. The word “clay” in line 2 has a biblical reference. It relates to the creation story in Genesis which tells of Adam being created from clay. This again highlights the idea that the sun is godlike and has powerful creative ability. The words “cold star” refer to the earth before there was light - implying that the sun has life giving power. This shows that the speaker wonders why the sun wouldn't be able to restore life to his friend as this would be an easy task in comparison to giving life to the earth. The line “was it for this the clay grew tall?” emphasise the tone of nihilism. This line conveys the speaker’s disgust and bitterness towards the early death of his friend at the hands of a pointless war. The speaker is filled with bitterness that his friend’s potential has been wasted. The use of the word “O” again portrays the speaker’s frustration towards the situation and towards the fact that the sun cannot resurrect his friend. He now contrasts his first description of the sun - describing it as “fatuous”. This implies that the sun, in the speaker’s eyes, is not powerful. By the end of this stanza, it is almost as if the speaker has given
The poem is about a soldier who has recently died on the front line of the war. Although we as readers do not know who the dead soldier is; it appears that the speaker knows him and his background well. The speaker wants to move the soldier’s body into the sun in hopes that the sun will resurrect his dead body. Throughout the poem the speaker ponders nature’s power to create life; personifying the sun as godlike or as an omniscient and all-knowing being.
The poem begins with the command “move”; …show more content…
A despondent and nihilistic tone is present in this stanza. This emphasises the speaker’s bitter attitude towards the war and life. The word “clay” in line 2 has a biblical reference. It relates to the creation story in Genesis which tells of Adam being created from clay. This again highlights the idea that the sun is godlike and has powerful creative ability. The words “cold star” refer to the earth before there was light - implying that the sun has life giving power. This shows that the speaker wonders why the sun wouldn't be able to restore life to his friend as this would be an easy task in comparison to giving life to the earth. The line “was it for this the clay grew tall?” emphasise the tone of nihilism. This line conveys the speaker’s disgust and bitterness towards the early death of his friend at the hands of a pointless war. The speaker is filled with bitterness that his friend’s potential has been wasted. The use of the word “O” again portrays the speaker’s frustration towards the situation and towards the fact that the sun cannot resurrect his friend. He now contrasts his first description of the sun - describing it as “fatuous”. This implies that the sun, in the speaker’s eyes, is not powerful. By the end of this stanza, it is almost as if the speaker has given