An essay that I wrote for my English 10 honors class. I had to use examples from the story, the movie and poems by Wilfred Owen do support this quote: “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, honor, might, majesty, domination, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity…”.
What does the word war bring to mind? Massive chaos, loss of lives, destruction of land, war veterans with shinning medals, or freedom? “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, honor, might, majesty, domination, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity…” This quote simply means that his writing is not for money, fame or glory. It is to tell what war actually is from the point of view of the people that are actually in the action on the battle field. In addition, his writing is for the pity that is felt or should be felt by all for the soldiers who fight in war. Wilfred Owen's position can be agreed with in several examples. Many examples to support Owen's position are shown in All Quiet on the Western Front a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, in some of Wilfred Owen's poetry, and in a Milestone's production All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).
Remarque provides several examples supporting Owen's position in All Quiet on the Western Front . “ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT made him rich and world-famous at thirty-three, but these consequences did not still his intense determination to concentrate in his fiction upon the worst horrors of the age, war and inhumanity with which nearly all of his nine subsequent novels have been concerned.” (About the Author Remarque). Even though he was made rich by his stories, Remarque was still in it for war and to tell of wars horrors and the inhumanity of the people in the war needed to survive. Another example is where Paul is in a shell-hole where he had his first hand to hand combat and he finally has to see the devastation he is causing. Also, here he realizes that the Frenchmen fighting on the opposite side of the war are no different than he is, and Paul feels pity for injuring him and tries to save his life even though there was no chance for him. This shows that Remarque did not only feel pity for one side, but all who were involved and had their lives destroyed. “Kat looks around and whispers: One statement Remarque makes is “Shouldn't we just take a revolver and put an end to it?”…I nod. “Yes, Kat, we ought to put him out of his misery.” where he shows pity for a young recruit and wants to have him suffer no more pain (72 Remarque). Last of all, Remarque uses flashback in his novel to show that war has caused major mental and physical effects on Paul. The flashbacks were of Paul in his younger ages playing through the fields all innocent, and now he is an inhumane animal that can't fit back into society, and it is all because of experiencing war. Thus, Remarque states several examples in his novel All Quiet on the Western Front that support Owen's position that their writing is for war and the pity of war.
Another source of evidence are Wilfred Owen's poems. In his poems he speaks of death and provides us with the mood of sorrow and pity. “Save the undone years, / The hopelessness.” Owen forewarns a young soldier to not join into the war because Owen feels pity for all the soldiers who have gone into war and wasted their years of living and even lost their lives (Lines 14-15 Owen). Another example is his poem “Mental Cases” where it seems he is blaming us for the cause of the war and thus the cause of the damage mentally and physically, and he believes it should not be them who has to pay the price but us. In addition, he has the poem “Disabled” where he has a boy who is younger than 19 who chose to go to war and ended up destroying his life. It can be seen by all that all Owen wants is pity for the soldiers. Pity for their ever destroyed lives. Owen uses imagery to intensify the mood of pity. “Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, / As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.” (Lines 13-14 Owen). Finally, Owen speaks of destroyed lives and tries to prevent young soldiers from going to war so they have time to think about what they want to do with their lives first. Therefore, Owen's poems agree fully with the position that the subject is war and the pity of war.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) produced by Milestone also has supporting thoughts on being for the pity of war. In the motion picture All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)Milestone focused on the journey of Paul as a young schoolboy who turns into an inhumane man that can't fit back into common life. An example showing that the movie is for the pity is the movie focused on the loss of his comrades and how he was closer to his comrades than his own family. The black and white of the movie also contributed to the pity since it produced a feeling of being in a gloomy dark place where all suffers. Another example is of the same event from the book where Paul kills a man by stabbing him. The soul of the Frenchman can almost be seen leaving his tortured body, and the movie portrays it is as if it is a gift to leave the war by dying. Last of all, in the film Paul holds back from telling everyone the horrors of war in pity to keep them from becoming like himself and to keep them innocent. Thus, a Milestone motion picture All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is very supportive to Owen's position that their subject is war and the reason why the write about it is in the pity.
Wars only cause destruction and devastation. Then comes sorrow and pity for those who are lost and injured. “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, honor, might, majesty, domination, or power, except War. Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity…” It's only the true soldiers like Remarque and Owen who have experienced war who can actually express it in words that are comprehendible to a non soldier. As one can see, Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front , Wilfred Owen's poetry and Milestone's video All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) all argue the support of Owen's position that what is done is not done for money and fame, but for the war and the pity of war.
