critically evalute "Insensibility" of Wilfred Owen.

The poem "Insensibility" is a remarkable insight into the mentality of the common soldier within World War One. As the title so plainly suggests, the soldiers Owen depicts have had to purge themselves of all emotion in order to cope with the sheer scale of horror that they wittness on a daily basis. Lines such as, "their heats remain small-drawn" further emphasis this point. The language and overall tone of the poem reflect this loss of emotiona and humanity, as in the vast majority of cases the language is very simple, cautious even. The afore-mentioned ideas of the poem's seperation into sections giving it a far more mechanical feel and the view of the soldiers being automotons I think are equally important - further exhibiing the dehumanising effect of war on the soldiers.

The title of the poem itself is perhaps ambigiuous, as it can be taken to mean simply the present mentality of the soldier's or the ineptitude of the people that they have given their humanity up for.

The motif behind this poem is very similar to others in the collection, most notably "Exposure" and "Dulce Et Decorum Est," it being that war is not as the romatanticists had depicted it; war is truly despicable thing. Undoubtabely Owen includes the dehumanising effect of war to emphasise this, but also his subtle yet potent use of irony does too. As mentioned by several others, many comparisons can be made between the structure of this poem and the structure's of the romantic's poems i.e. Keats.

However, all is not so gloomy within this poem. In the latter two stanzas, Owen seems to convey a message to the soldier's that they must not give up their humanity to be saved from the horrors of war. Instead they must hold onto it through all of their experiences, as losing your humanity is perhaps worse than losing your life.

Ultimately, I believe that Owen's purpose in writing this poem is to dispel the glorification of war and the commonly used idea of war hardening men and turning them into heroes.

The language and overall tone of the poem reflect this loss of emotiona and humanity, as in the vast majority of cases the language is very simple, cautious even. The afore-mentioned ideas of the poem's seperation into sections giving it a far more mechanical feel and the view of the soldiers being automotons I think are equally important - further exhibiing the dehumanising effect of war on the soldiers.

The title of the poem itself is perhaps ambigiuous, as it can be taken to mean simply the present mentality of the soldier's or the ineptitude of the people that they have given their humanity up for.

The motif behind this poem is very similar to others in the collection, most notably "Exposure" and "Dulce Et Decorum Est," it being that war is not as the romatanticists had depicted it; war is truly despicable thing. Undoubtabely Owen includes the dehumanising effect of war to emphasise this, but also his subtle yet potent use of irony does too. As mentioned by several others, many comparisons can be made between the structure of this poem and the structure's of the romantic's poems i.e. Keats.

However, all is not so gloomy within this poem. In the latter two stanzas, Owen seems to convey a message to the soldier's that they must not give up their humanity to be saved from the horrors of war. Instead they must hold onto it through all of their experiences, as losing your humanity is perhaps worse than losing your life.

Ultimately, I believe that Owen's purpose in writing this poem is to dispel the glorification of war and the commonly used idea of war hardening men and turning them into heroes.