Sunday, 29 January 2023

Research paper - Psychological essence in Wilfred Owen's war poem



Name: Emisha Ravani

Affiliation: Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

University in Bhavnagar, Gujarat

Title:

Psychological essence in Wilfred Owen's war poem

 

Abstract:

When we look at bygone ages or its literature, we find that all literature has shown war literature.  Such poetries, of the English literature reader's DNA, were injected during school days like a vaccine. This paper is attempting the study of Wilfred Owen’s war poems which promotes the genre of war poems or war literature. Though Owen’s poems are having the theme of anti-war genre. World War I has influenced Many lives horrifically. Not only physically but mentally, and psychologically. The Poet of World War I, Wilfred Owen, after participating in the army during the First World War, witnessed the destructive results of the war and produced his poetry regarding the terrible outcomes of war when he was a soldier. This is the study of unconsciousness and repression of feelings in the poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est’. 

 

Key words: war, patriotism, poetry, impact on humans.

War Literature:

Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened,"-Carlos Ruiz Zafón. (Maiti and Naskar). Many poets who write about wars have also participated in them, as can be shown when we examine the war poets. We find it more intriguing and less speculative when literary characters recount their experiences from recollection. A writer who has firsthand knowledge of battle typically writes works in the genre of literature known as "war literature," which deals with themes and subjects related to conflict. Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs are all possible formats. The physical and mental effects of war on troops and civilians, as well as the political and societal effects of war, are frequently explored in war literature. It can take the form of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs. War literature often explores the physical and emotional toll of war on soldiers and civilians, as well as the political and social issues surrounding war. Examples of war literature include works such as "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque and "The Iliad" by Homer.


World War I and World War II poetry differ in several ways. During WWI, poetry often focused on the horrors and futility of war, and the loss of innocence of soldiers. Poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon wrote about the physical and mental toll of trench warfare. In contrast, poetry during WWII often had a more patriotic and motivational tone, emphasising the importance of fighting for one's country and the defeat of fascism. Poets such as W.H. Auden and Dylan Thomas wrote about the political and social implications of the war, rather than solely its physical toll on soldiers.

There are two ways that some poets had put this literature as glorified one and some had put it in the very reality of war as deaths and hopelessness. War poets were influenced by Georgian poetry. There was the idea of ‘the happy warrior’ that the person should be proud to give his life to his country. During the great war people were in euphoria to this idea. Who were the war poets from the great war? Let us see Edmund Blunden, Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves, Ivor Gurney, David Jones,Francis Ledwidge, Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon. 


The futility and aftermath of war through the lens of Owen:

In a provisional preface, written for a collection of his verse he would never see published, he set down his belief in what poetry could do – or could not do – to appropriately remember the atrocity of war: This book is not about heroes. English poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds, or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, might, majesty, dominion, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry.

My subject is War, and the pity of War.

Poetry is in the pity.

Yet these elegies are to this generation in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All a poet can do today is warn.

Famous World War I poet Wilfred Owen wrote a great deal about the pointlessness and terrible effects of war. He was a soldier who was profoundly affected by the atrocities he saw firsthand. His poetry is distinguished by its vivid and harsh depictions of the psychological and physical toll that war takes on both troops and civilians. He discussed the futility and senselessness of war as well as the destruction it brings about for both people and society. Numerous of his poems, like "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Anthem for Doomed Youth," are regarded as some of the most potent and moving works of anti-war literature ever produced.

In his poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," Wilfred Owen uses powerful imagery and language to convey the futility and aftermath of war. The poem is a stark depiction of the horrors of trench warfare during World War I, where soldiers were exposed to constant danger and death.

The poem begins with the soldiers trudging through mud, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks," showing the physical and emotional toll that war has taken on them. They are described as "drunk with fatigue," and "coughing like hags" which highlights the physical exhaustion and sickness that soldiers experience.

As the poem progresses, Owen describes a gas attack that takes place, where the soldiers are caught off guard and unable to put on their gas masks in time. The graphic imagery of "As under a green sea, I saw him drowning" highlights the horror of the moment, and the fact that the soldiers are not just fighting against the enemy but also against the elements.

The aftermath of war is also depicted in the poem, as Owen describes the soldier who is suffering from the effects of the gas attack. He is described as "guttering, choking, drowning" and "white eyes writhing in his face." This imagery highlights the physical and emotional trauma that soldiers experience after a war, and the fact that the effects of war can last a lifetime.

Overall, Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a powerful and moving depiction of the futility and aftermath of war. Through his use of imagery and language, Owen conveys the physical and emotional toll that war takes on soldiers, and the fact that the effects of war can last a lifetime.

A study of unconsciousness and repression of feelings 

War poetry was all about patriotism, indicating nobleness of war, written mostly by civilians, who had no or little experience of war. But the poetry written by the soldiers painted a totally different picture of war. Sassoon and Owen wrote about the horrific experience they witnessed during the war. Through their writing these poets countered and argued against all the noble ideologies related to war; instead, by expressing their true emotions, they depict war as inhumane, war weapons destructive and the lives of soldiers as uncertain. 

Can we study the term ‘Repression Barrier’ in Wilfred Owen’s case? In his time the genre was getting existence as a literary genre in literature. In those days the mainly focused area was a glorification of the war. People started to look at war in this way only.
The title of the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" has a historical element in it.
The title of this poem means 'It is sweet and fitting'. The title and the Latin exhortation of the final two lines are drawn from the phrase "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" written by the Roman poet Horace:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidoque tergo.
—Ode |||
How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country:
Death pursues the man who flees,
spares not the hamstrings or cowardly backs
Of battle-shy youths.
These words were well known and often quoted by supporters of the war near its inception and were, therefore, of particular relevance to soldiers of the era. In 1913, the line Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori was inscribed on the wall of the chapel of the Royal Military College Sandhurst In the final stanza of his poem, Owen refers to this as "The old Lie".
Owen became the trend breaker in this trend which is coming from the very ancient time of Horace. People make others forcefully believe in such events or phenomena from their own perspective. And as the result we can get is that all repressed perspectives or the thoughts must come as an outlet somehow like in written or vocal form which is based on unconsciousness of one’s own. The very idea that it is so overwhelming to die for your own country is an uncertain feeling for Owen himself.

Let us look at his life. Owen joined the Army in 1915, and first entered the trenches in January, 1917, when he was twenty three years old. He was appalled at once by the horror of stalemated warfare. In a letter of January 19th he calls No-man’s-land “an abode of madness” ; on February 4th he is calling the dead “the most execrable sights on earth,” and adds, “In poetry we call them glorious”; on April 25th he writes, “The terribly long time we stayed unrelieved . . . makes us feel bitterly towards those in England who might relieve us and will not”; and in June, as he lies wounded in a hospital in France, it dawns upon him that “Christ’s essential command was: Passivity at any price! Suffer dishonour and disgrace, but never resort to arms. Be bullied, be outraged, be killed; but do not kill.”

Having recovered from his wound, he was back in the fighting the next year, was awarded the Military Cross, and was killed in action November 4, 1918, a week before the Armistice. 

The mockery of religion in war. “These men are worth your tears,” he says of the soldiers. “You are not worth their merriment.”

By his life we can come to know that Owen, who had suffered from the physical as well as mental traumas. Mainly he wrote about shell shock and other disorders which he had seen in the soldiars who fought in the war and had experienced it by themselves. 


Conclusion: 

Poets do write war poems but when the witnessed poets write war poems it gives us the realistic and pertinent portrayal through their own eyes or perspective. Sigmund Fread has given the term of unconscious feelings and mind. In that he talks about Freudian Slips. A Freudian slip, or sometimes known as a parapraxis, is a verbal or memory mistake (a "slip of the tongue") that is considered to be linked to the unconscious mind. A combination of diverse kinds and examples of his coined "Freudian slips" in his book, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life published back in 1901. 


So, basically it talks about everyday life of humans and it is common to get very often times in our routine life. When Owen got situation of war in his routine life it get into his unconscious or in memory which reflected in the description of the war through the poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. 


Work cited:

“9 Poets of the First World War.” Imperial War Museums, https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/9-poets-of-the-first-world-war.

Frothingham, Mia Belle. “What's the Deal with Freudian Slips?” Freudian Slip: Meaning, Examples, Other Explanations, https://www.simplypsychology.org/freudian-slip.html.

Introduction to Sigmund Freud, Module on Repression, https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud3.html.

Kumar, Ms. Twinkle. “The Shift in World War I Poetry from Patriotic Theme to the Depiction of the Dark Realities of the War.” International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 30 Oct. 2020, https://ijels.com/detail/the-shift-in-world-war-i-poetry-from-patriotic-theme-to-the-depiction-of-the-dark-realities-of-the-war/.

“The Literature of World War I and the Interwar Period.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature/The-literature-of-World-War-I-and-the-interwar-period.

Maiti, Abhik, and Deep Naskar. “The Dark Renaissance of the War Poetry: A Comparative Analysis between ...” Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK, Apr. 2017, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329308978_THE_DARK_RENAISSANCE_OF_THE_WAR_POETRY_A_COMPARATIVE_ANALYSIS_BETWEEN_THE_POETRY_OF_THE_TWO_WORLD_WARS.

Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est.

“Voices of the First World War: Shell Shock.” Imperial War Museums, https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock.

“Wilfred Owen.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilfred-Owen.

Wim Van Mierlo, The Conversation. “How Wilfred Owen Became a Chronicler of the Futility of War through His Poems.” Scroll.in, Scroll.in, 9 Nov. 2018, https://scroll.in/article/901370/how-wilfred-owen-became-a-chronicler-of-the-futility-of-war-through-his-poems. 


 



Sunday, 15 January 2023

Book Review of Revolution Twenty20

Book Review 

Hello, I am Emisha Ravani, Writing this blog as a thinking activity Which is given by Megha ma'am for the paper of Research Methodology. 


A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review. 

A book review is a critical examination of a book that includes a plot summary, details about the main characters and main themes, and a positive or negative review of the author’s writing style. Book reviews bring new books to a potential reader's attention and provide readers with opinions on the book’s strengths and weaknesses. This content helps readers form their own thoughts about whether to read the book or skip it. Professional writers working for periodicals, review sites, academic journals, and literature review publications write book reviews.

Main Elements of a Book Review

The primary elements of a book review include:

1. Analysis: This is where readers find out if you think this is a good book or a great book. Your analysis examines the quality of the author’s prose and the construction of the plot. This assessment of the key parts of the book helps potential readers decide if they should read the book. Some book reviews include a rating, such as a letter grade or star rating.
2. Basic bibliographic information: Include the essential information about the book, like the title (and any subtitles), author’s name, publisher, and date of publication. In addition, reviews often include the number of pages and feature an image of the book cover.
3. Summary of the book’s subject and themes: Summarizing the book’s subject and primary themes, or the author’s argument in the case of a nonfiction book, are essential elements of a book review. Include details about the main points, characters, and the book’s genre.

Revolution Twenty20 


Who is Chetan Bhagat?

Chetan Bhagat is the author of blockbuster novels – Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes Of My Life (2008) , 2 States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), Half Girlfriend (2014), One Indian Girl (2016) The Girl In Room 105 (2018), One Arranged Murder (2020). All nine books have remained bestsellers since their release. He now brings you his latest novel, 400 Days, a thriller that will keep you hooked until the end.

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, in small-town India, there lived two intelligent boys.
One wanted to use his intelligence to make money.
One wanted to use his intelligence to create a revolution.
The problem was, they both loved the same girl.

Welcome to Revolution 2020. A story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success and love in Varanasi. However, it isn’t easy to achieve this in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?

From the bestselling author of Five Point Someone, one night @ the call center, The Three Mistakes of My Life and 2 States, comes another gripping tale from the heartland of India. Are you ready for the revolution?

Here are some question answer from author :

What is ‘Revolution 2020’ about?
Revolution 2020 is about Gopal, Raghav and Aarti, who struggle to find love and success in Varanasi.

The tagline says ‘Love. Corruption. Ambition.’ What is going on?
The tagline refers to the key themes of the book. Revolution 2020 is foremost a love story, in fact a love triangle, as both Gopal and Raghav love the same girl. Corruption, particularly in the education sector, is the backdrop of the story. All three characters have strong ambitions, and how they go about achieving them also forms a big part of the story.

What made you write this book, after your last book “2 States: The Story of my marriage”?
2 States was a fun story inspired from my own life. I wanted to take a lighter look at intercultural marriages. I had fun doing it, and people had fun reading it, as it became my highest selling book.
Revolution 2020 comes from my travels across India in the past two years. As a motivational speaker, I have visited more than 50 cities in the heartland of India. The youth in these smaller cities, their dreams and aspirations inspired me to do a story on them.
I also saw disturbing levels of corruption in the education sector, which can have profound effects on the quality of education we are giving to our new generation, and wanted to bring that to people’s attention.

Why Varanasi?
I wanted to pick a city from the Indian heartland, especially a place with a lot of character.
Something about Varanasi connected with me, every time I went there. I felt compelled to write about it. After all, Varanasi is a place where people go to cleanse their sins. Has anyone ever thought about the people who live there, and deal with all the sins people have left behind?

What is the message?
There are several messages in Revolution 2020, and I want the reader to get them upon reading the book, rather than me spelling it out. However, I want to emphasize that when even the education system becomes corrupt, it can have far reaching negative consequences on society. I hope Revolution 2020 provokes some thought in that direction.

This story is having three main character and that’s, Aarti, Gopal and Raghav. Whole novel revolves around these characters. Many other characters are there as minor characters. The story is based on the theme of love, corruption, ambition. Also it took stand of youth of India.



It starts like Gopal and Raghav are friends in school time. Later on, Aarti and Gopal became friends. Then these two boys find themselves to clear such exams and in between they stood against to each other like Gopal got into corrupted system and Raghav who stood against it and fighting to it. The love element is like Aarti give preference to Raghav first and then as Gopal got success she turned herself to Gopal. So, the character of Aarti is swinging between both the male character.

The story is told by Gopal Mishra’s perspective. And how he fought to life to reach at the top and get success in life.

Here in this novel, we can find very well the life of the aspirants from various angles. As well as the corruption happenings, the misbalancing of social statuses, portrayal of youth, the meaning of life’s philosophy.

The narrative technique of Chetan Bhagat is so impressive I could find in the novel that he has used the prologue and epilogue and he made this novel worthy by one observation that is, By prologue is started to plotting the story and he became the character in that, he put one question that is by Gopal to Chetan Bhagat himself, “Do you think I am a good person, Chetan-ji?”

Then he put an answer by himself in epilogue that as very last dialogue, ‘You are a good person,’ I said.

Chetan Bhagat's writing style is very different from other authors. He is known for making books readable for the average Indian. He has constantly been an inspiration to aspiring writers.

He believes in keeping it simple which helps him engage with the audience, who don't really want to refer to a dictionary while reading books. The audience also find it easier to relate to his books as the context of his books are usually based on actual events from their lives.

Bhagat also invests a lot of time in creating the characters of his books so that his target audience can relate to them in a better way. His stories usually have an Indian touch in them which make them even more interesting. With his vivid and humorous way of depicting stories, he has inspired reading habits in many young Indians.
 
How varanasi is described :

Specialist one-stop shops provide you everything from firewood to priests and urns to ensure that the dead person departs with dignity. Touts on Manikarnika Ghat lure foreigners to come watch the funeral pyres and take pictures for a fee, thereby creating an additional source of revenue. Varanasi is probably the only city on earth where Death is a tourist attraction.

Kota:

We climbed up three floors. I panted due to the exertion. The extreme neat did not help, 'Kota is hot, get used to the weather,'


This video is all about the chapter from the original novel Revolution Twenty20. The speaker is reading the chapter which is significant that the title is Revolution Twenty20, the chapter has the remarks at various concerns. 

My rating:

Works Cited :

A, Gayathridevi, and . Deivasigamani T. “Social Imbalance in Chetan Bhagat’s Revolution 2020 and One Night @ the Call Center.” Language in India. Language in India, http://www.languageinindia.com/march2018/auseminar1/gayathrisocialimbalancechetanbhagat1.pdf. Accessed 21 1 2023.

Ali, Chand. “MODERN NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS OF LOVE IN CHETAN BHAGAT'S “REVOLUTION 2020.”” Research Scholar ISSN 2320 – 6101 An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations, vol. 3, no. 2, 2015. Research Scholar, http://researchscholar.co.in/downloads/3--md.-chand-ali.pdf. Accessed 21 1 2023.Research Scholar

Ali, Chand. “Rampant Corruption in Indian Education, Politics and Love in Chetan Bhagat’s Revolution 2020.” Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, vol. 4, no. 2, 2015, https://www.galaxyimrj.com/V4/n2/Ali.pdf. Accessed 21 1 2023.

Jhanji, Rajinder Singh. INDIAN WOMAN-THE ICON OF NEW INDIA IN THE NOVELS OF CHETAN BHAGAT. IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews, vol. 5, no. 4, 2018.

Sharma, Geeta. “A comparative evaluation of Election succeeding tactics in Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games and Chetan Bhagat’s Revolution 2020.” International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 5, 2021. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, https://ijels.com/upload_document/issue_files/13IJELS-109202122-Acomparative.pdf. Accessed 21 1 2023.

Saturday, 14 January 2023

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness- Arundhati Roy

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness- Arundhati Roy

Hello, I am Emisha Ravani, Writing this blog as a thinking activity which is given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir for the novel 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' by Arundhati Roy. In that we have to discuss certain points like :

1) The Reader’s Digest Book of English Grammar and Comprehension for Very Young Children By S. Tilottama - Give answers to the questions asked regarding any three stories. Questions are given at the end of each story.
2) Three points mentioned in the photo of board-work. (List of characters, Summary - plot - narrative structure, Fact & Fiction)
3) Write about any one theme or character of the novel with the help of Chat OpenAI GPT. Ask to Chat GPT and put screenshot as well as copy-paste the answer generated by this response generator.