Comparison of Futility (Owen) and Suicide in the trenches (Sassoon)(By Danni Watts and the crew)

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  • Created by: Danni W
  • Created on: 29-05-13 20:09

Comparison on speaker, themes, language, structure, stanzas and effect

Similarities

  • Both Sassoon and Owen served in WW1 and this was evident in their poems as both reflect the views of many serving soldiers. It is thought (although not properly diagnosed) both fought some kind of PTSD (shell shock)
  • In some ways the idea of point of view and speaker are similar because it is left to the audience to decide who is speaking.
  • The thought that war is pointless. Owen labels this at the very start of by calling his poem futility and Sassoon creates the prefect idea of innocence when talking about the soldier boy which combined with the title 'Suicide' gives the impression of giving up and no reason.
  • Both poems have some irony, with the way Owen refers to the sun and Sassoon to the lark. Both things we associate with life but they are portrayed (with context) in such a way which makes the reader feel that nothing can escape the scars of war.

Differences

  • Sassoon has a more direct approach to addressing the audience and it seems as if the direction of this anguish is directed to the people who encourage war in Sassoon's poem, compared to Owen's where the tone of remorse and odd (slightly spooky) serenity is shown through his realization that not even the sun can heal the wounds of war.
  • The structure and rhyming scheme is very different in these two poems. Sassoon's rhyming couplets remain consistent whereas Owen loses all sense of structure (referring to the lack of structure in war)
  • Sassoon describes the physical death of the soldier boy whereas Owen describes everything that implies death.
  • Futility is a two stanza sonnet and Suicide in the trenches is not.
  • Owen talks about life and death more generally in the second paragraph

Overall comparison

It is interesting to compare these two poets considering Sassoon was partly Owen's inspiration. Although common themes of despair, anguish and the style of the speaker are similar it becomes obvious Owen is despairing whereas Sassoon feels that people need to be blamed and there naivity  needs to be recognized. The main differences between the two poems are structural and relate to Sassoon structured meter compared to Owen's sonnet which starts out strong but loses sense of rhythm as his sense of despair becomes more prominent.

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