Stephanie Calleja Horvath

How does Owen convey, in Disabled, what the

young man has lost in war?
Wilfred Owens 1917 poem named Disabled, tells the story of a handsome young
man enlisting to join the army, and the traumatic effects the war took on this man. It
shows the contrast between his life pre war, which involved him being physically
attractive, popular with females and a football amongst his peers, and his post war
life, where he is physically and psychologically scarred to a great extent. He not only
loses both his arms and legs, and his physical attractiveness, but he also falls into a
state of depression, and loses the will to live, due to all the things being in the war did
to him.
The first stanza describes the present to us, the post war period in this mans life. The
overall tone is very sorrowful and remorseful of the life he had before, as his physical
and mental state are described through the use of symbolism in waiting for dark,
which shows his longing for death, and blunt phrases such as Legless, sewn short at
elbow, which uses heavy imagery to show that he no longer has his arms and legs.
The fact that he is described as sitting in a wheelchair gives a certain sense of
dependency and indicates how the young man will never really recover from his war
wounds. He is psychologically tormented further, when he hears young boys in the
park outside. The sound of their happiness makes him sad, because he is in such a
state of depression that he has lost the things in life that used to make him happy. His
only comfort is in sleep, or as stated in the first line, death, which shows his loss of
will to live.
The second stanza is quite comparative, as it tells of how joyful he used to be, and
describes how carefree life was for him. When glow-lamps budded in the light blue
trees, uses imagery to paint the picture of a nice hometown, where everything was
rather peaceful. It is clear that this stanza is about the past, the pre war life, as it
makes a clear reference to the old times, before he threw away his knees, a line that
shows he takes some responsibility for the fate he has suffered. It also indicates that
he made a rather hasty decision, one without much thought. The last three lines are
explaining how in the present, women only touch him because they feel sorry for him,
not because they feel any attraction to him, like they once would have. Therefore, he
has lost his attractive, physical appearance.
The third and fourth stanzas go into more detail and depth about how he enlisted and
why. For it was younger than his youth, last year shows just how quickly he lost all
hope, how the traumatic experiences of the war have aged him severely and quickly.
That line also illustrates his loss of ignorance about the war, because its as though he
didnt know what to expect one he was in the war, and once he did, the experience
permanently damaged him. And leap of purple spurted from his thigh uses
descriptive language to illustrate one of the injuries he suffered while fighting,
although the use of the colour purple could also be a symbol of the depression he is
about to go through, as purple can be used by artists as quite a sad, remorseful colour.
The fourth stanza goes even further into his past, before and while he enlisted. The

first line of this stanza contrasts with the last line of the third stanza, conveying how
he used to like when there was blood smeared on his leg, during football games,
because it showed his strength and skill at the game, after which he was carried on the
shoulders of his team mates. It is then revealed that he decided to join the army when
he was under the influence of alcohol, and was only thinking of the positive outcomes
such as impressing his peers and girls. The rest of the stanza paints the authorities in
quite bad light, as its insinuated that he was kept ignorant about the war, and was
only told of the glory as opposed to the harsh reality. The stanza ends by saying how
people cheered and supported him upon his departure.
Post war, in stanza five, shows the contrast between his departure to the war and his
return. It is explained that less people cheered for him when he came back from war,
than they would if he had won a football game. This shows his loss of respect,
perhaps his loss of dignity. The sixth and final stanza is once again talking about the
present and the desolate future the ex-soldier now faces. Where woman used to look
to him for romance, they now glance past him to look at stronger men. He will now be
an object of pity, as opposed to the hero he was before he went to the war.
The poem Disabled, by Wilfred Owen, tells the simple but tragic story of a man who
used to have it all; women, admiration, a good physical appearance, and someone who
was mentally healthy. It shows comparisons between his past, and his present which
leaves him disabled, mentally and physically, and dependant on other people. This is
all a result of one careless decision to enlist in a war, and vividly explains all the
things he has lost, such as his legs, arms, ignorance, hope and motivation to live. He
used to have an amazing life, which was changed due to experiences at war, and he
now faces a future of dependency, depression and loneliness.
Stephanie Calleja Horvath