It can be said that Leighton is very much disgusted by the sheer extinction of such brilliant minds that could have amounted to so much. He is against the British government for claiming that the death of even one person is worth victory in the war. His view on contemporary society is pessimistic, as he insinuates that the ‘sweet wine of youth’ is being drained out of England, leaving a world of death and destruction for future generations to grow up in. Leighton’s masculine point of view plays a part in his observations as he does not mention the comradeship involved in the war effort, however, he does speak of glory and honour as if they were positive aspects of war. This is possibly due to the British propaganda still fresh in Leighton’s mind.
The time of composition of the two letters has also played a major role in the style and content of the writing. Leighton’s letter was written in 1915, relatively early in the war in and not soon after he had joined up in the army. This meant that Leighton would not have been exposed to as much fighting and violence as Owen had when he wrote his letter, Extract E, in early 1917. Leighton’s letter is typical of literature written by soldiers before they had been to the front line in that he is shocked by his first encounter of human death and bodily remains and is frustrated at the reason for such a waste. In addition, Leighton sympathises with the dead person he is describing, and feels emotion for him, which is also trademark of soldiers who have not yet been to the front. Leighton’s writing is reminiscent of that of David Barton in the novel ‘Strange Meeting’ written by Susan Hill. Both writers are previously untouched by the war and have difficulty in coping with their experiences and articulating them in their writing.
Owen, having fought at the front line, and even in front of it, writes in a very different manner to Leighton. Owen details most of his experiences, revealing his emotions and mental state, ‘I nearly broke down and let myself drown in the water that was now slowly rising above my knees’. The self-esteem and pride that Owen once carried, as Leighton does in his letter, has now been replaced by an almost indifferent attitude towards life. It is as if he has come to terms with the fact that he could be killed at any moment like the thousands of people slaughtered before his own eyes, and he no longer allows it to consume his thoughts and feelings. Another aspect of his writing is that he tries not to fraternise with other soldiers as they could die at any moment, and he would not be able to cope with such a loss every day. He uses this technique to distance himself from others, making the loss of life seem less important, and helping him to focus on staying alive.
Owen’s writing is typical of soldiers who have been to and fought in the front line trenches in that he talks at length about daily activities such as raids and how long he spent in a dug out, but only briefly mentions the deaths of soldiers around him, not displaying any emotion or sorrow for his fellow man. This style is the opposite to that of Leighton, who spends most of his letter in Extract D talking about the dead soldiers and how unjust it is for them to have died for another mans greed for power. Owen can be compared to John Hilliard, the companion of David Barton in ‘Strange Meeting’. This can be said because both Hilliard and Owen had fought in the front line before and knew that the way to deal with the unsightly horrors of the continuous bombardment was to detach oneself from others so that the death of a fellow soldier would not be such an unbearable loss. Hilliard attempts to block Barton’s friendly advances by talking little with him and not thinking about him, so that in the event that something should happen to Barton, he would not feel so devastated. Owen uses this same technique, as many other experienced soldiers would do so that he would be able to carry on fighting without having his mind clouded by thoughts of soldiers and their family’s’ sorrow.
Extracts B and C were letters sent by Vera Brittain to her then fiancé Roland Leighton who was serving in the army at the time. The first of these, Extract B, was written to Leighton from Brittain in 1914 on October the 1st. This was quite early on in the war, and the effects of fighting were not being felt in England, or by the soldiers fighting in France, as they had had little opportunity to experience war in the front line. In her letter, Brittain says ‘Women get all the dreariness of war & none of its exhilaration’, an example of the common misconception at the time that war was more of an adventure than a constant struggle to stay alive. Having said that, her letter is typical of those sent to soldiers at the time because people at home would not have been equipped with the imagination to envision such horrors as were encountered daily by soldiers, therefore they would only be familiar with the glamorous side of war as advertised by British propaganda. Brittain’s excitement at the prospect of war however was not very much typical of women who had seen a loved one off to war, and the expression of this excitement in a letter was unconventional. Nevertheless, her excitement was mirrored by many young inexperienced soldiers, and her sorrow for not being able to be a part of it was the consensus among many people, especially boys who were too young to go and fight. Brittain's view of contemporary society is resentful in that women were not allowed to fight in the war, but were instead given jobs as nurses in war hospitals. She feels that the war is an exciting opportunity, her mind moulded by the exquisitely effective propaganda of the time; she thinks that society should change in order to allow women to fight alongside men. Brittain's feminine point of view emerges when she says ‘You find beauty in it too; certainly war seems to bring out all that is noble in human nature’. Here, Brittain has outlined what the male writers failed to see and that is the beauty of the human spirit in times of hardship and death. Her letter is not exactly archetypal of literature of the time, but it does convey certain feelings that were shared by many around the country
Extract C is a second letter from Brittain to Leighton, dated 10 September 1915, almost a year after Extract B. The letter is Brittain's opinion of an article she spotted in the Times newspaper about a woman who was willing to marry a wounded or blind soldier, having lost her own fiancé in the war. She is unsure of the idea at first, but explains to her Fiancé how the woman is offering to make a ‘business arrangement’ in order to fulfil her duty as a woman by marrying and devoting her life to a man who would not have otherwise received any love. ‘It is purely a business arrangement with an element of self sacrifice that redeems it from utter sordidness.’ Brittain's female point of view shows the reader the beauty of the self-sacrifice in an act that might otherwise have been frowned upon, especially by soldiers with wives and fiancées at home. This brings up the issue of her insensitivity towards Leighton, who may have been worried by the letter that should something happen to him his fiancée would simply fill the void with a complete stranger mutilated by the war. Her feelings were also influenced at the time by the war and soldiers dying leaving their widows with nothing left to do but grieve. Seeing grown men made helpless as babies by their injuries made her feel that to devote one’s life to nursing one of these men and marrying him would be a worthwhile sacrifice. This view would have been typical among many women who had a loved one fighting in the front line, as it would be some consolation to be able to marry even if they lost that person.
In her letter, war is portrayed as an ironic mixed blessing, heartbreaking in that it causes death of those we love most, but oddly enough, creating an opportunity for these heartbroken women to fulfil their marriage wish and feel good that they are taking care of someone who would otherwise lead a joyless life. Her letter is atypical in the sense that it does not follow the normal structure of a letter sent to a soldier at war. She shows no interest in his well-being, and she does not comment on how things are at home. This is odd as most letters sent from home to soldiers at this point in the war express concern for their welfare and often reassure soldiers that everyone at home is well. However, Brittain's letter begins with ‘What so you think of this for an ‘agony’ in the ‘Times’?’ and ends with ‘Quite an idea isn’t it’, which makes it hard to tell from the letter alone that it is being sent from a woman to her fiancé in the war. The letter is a light-hearted one, rather uncharacteristic of what a soldier would expect from their loved one at home for whom they are fighting.
