Inspection Poem Analysis

This poem, Inspection, was written by Wilfred Owen in 1918 the year before he died when he was in the First World War. The poem is a !stan"a poem, abo#t an inspection by a commandin$ officer, probably Owen himself, and the reactions of an ordinary soldier. Inspections were %ery important to the &ritish army, reinforcin$ the need for certain standards and discipline. Owen is pointin$ o#t that inspections are #nnecessary, and that this partic#lar inspection was #nfair on the indi%id#al soldier.

As the poem mo%es forward the officer e'periences a dimin#tion of stat#s from first, bein$ in command to second, bein$ on more or less e(#al terms to with the soldier, finally, bein$ $i%en a lesson. )eanwhile, the soldier, after bein$ at the recei%in$ end, finishes #p in char$e. In inspection Owen places himself at the centre of the action. *e can be reco$nised as the officer in stan"a 1, conscio#s of his ran+ and of the importance of maintainin$ discipline. We see him also in the second stan"a, perhaps sli$htly #nhappy on reflection abo#t the man,s p#nishment.
The first stan"a is made #p of fo#r lines. It has three people in%ol%ed, a colonel ta+in$ an inspection, an officer and a soldier. The officer after spottin$ what he tho#$ht was dirt on the soldier,s shirt is tellin$ him off for ha%in$ dirt on his clothin$, The soldier tries to point o#t that it,s blood b#t $ets c#t off by the ser$eant and is -confined to camp-. The second stan"a is made #p of . lines. In it the officer is loo+in$ bac+ on the p#nishment he $a%e to the soldier after findin$ o#t that the dirt was act#ally blood. *e comes to the concl#sion that blood was dirt, this is one of the many ways that Owen connects his poems to the bible. In the bible it says that man is made from d#st and when the poem says / blood is dirt 0, it is correct accordin$ to the bible. This part of the poem is also connected to )acbeth, It says - the dammed spot- which is the same words 1ady )acbeth #sed when she was tryin$ to $et the blood off her hands, e%en tho#$h she is ima$inin$ that it is on her hands. I thin+ that this ties with the war beca#se the blood of war cannot be washed from men,s minds. The third stan"a is twice as bi$ as the other two with ei$ht lines in total. In it the soldier is loo+in$ bac+ on the harsh p#nishment he $ot, he la#$hs, probably with dis$#st, at the fact he is bein$ p#nished for bein$ wo#nded in battle. Wilfred Owen #ses another reference to the bible in this stan"a also. *e says -and almost mer$ed for e%er in clay.- This is $oin$ aro#nd the same meanin$ as the other biblical reference that man is made from dirt, and will ret#rn to dirt at the end, as Owen p#ts it -mer$ed for e%er with clay-. The soldier in the .th line says, -The world is washin$ o#t its stains.- I belie%e this means that the world is $ettin$ rid of the thin$s it doesn,t want anymore li+e war. The soldier then $oes on to say - it doesn,t li+e o#r chee+s so red, yo#n$ bloods its $reat ob2ection.- This $i%es a whole new meanin$ to it. It so#nds as if the world is tryin$ to $et rid of the happy people, the people with -red chee+s- as it says and the yo#n$ people -yo#n$ bloods its $reat ob2ection.-

Owen then ends the poem by sayin$ -b#t when were d#ly white washed, bein$ dead the race will bear field marshal 3od,s inspection- This means that when we are all dead it will be 3od who inspects #s all and we will all be 2#d$ed e(#ally. This is showin$ that the soldier and the Officer will both be on the same le%el and they will be 2#d$ed e(#ally.