Compare the presentation of changing and contrasting attitudes throughout the First World War through Sebastian Faulk's Birdsong and Poems of the Great War. At the eve of the First World War in 1914

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        ENGLISH COURSEWORK         UNIT 5

Question: Compare the presentation of changing and contrasting attitudes throughout the First World War through Sebastian Faulk’s Birdsong and Poems of the Great War.

At the eve of the First World War in 1914, the world was a different place compared to the one we live in today. Great Britain was at the height of its colonial power when the war first began and many men joined the military services in a hope to be a part of this patriotic war of good and evil. This is illustrated by the early literature such as the propaganda poems Flanders Fields and The Soldier. The war was expected to be a short one with a quick victory expected by both sides. However, as the war dragged on many people became disillusioned by it and the pieces of works that were being produced were a negative reaction to fighting for a cause most people had forgotten. “This is not a war this is an exploration of how far man can be degraded.”

Birdsong is a novel that brings out some of the horrific aspects of soldiery and war. Although Sebastian Faulks uses fictional characters he is able to construct a realistic view of trench warfare and life within the First World War. The novel is based around a central character called Stephen Wraysford and concentrates on his journey through the war. Birdsong is also populated with characters that represent different parts of society during the war period.

Poems of the Great War is an anthology of poems written from 1914 to 1918. It contains a variety of different poems and poets that cover the changing attitudes towards war. From the positive reaction to war at the start to the disenchant felt by the soldiers at the end of the war. The major difference between the novel and the poems are that the poems are a primary source, most of them were written during the war.

Due to the fact that one is prose and the other is poetry, diverse literacy devices are used. Birdsong is structured so that, it takes the reader trough various stages from before the war started, to the end of the war and finally many years after the war finished. The novel has a mixed time period and does not flow sequentially. Sebastian Faulks may have been trying to emphasise the fact that the novel is written with the perception after the event actually occurred. Poems of the Great War has no introduction or sub-categories and the poems have not been arranged by the poets who wrote them. In the poems the soldiers were allowed to express their feeling without being censored. There are many implications of writing poetry – poems are shorter than prose and often more metaphorical than descriptive. Despite the apparent diversity of the poems by placing them together the reader is able to see them as a single article portraying the views and attitudes of soldiers and civilians as the war went on.  

“When the war came Stephen was relieved. He returned to London with a renewed feeling for England. The suppressed frustrations and unexpressed violence of his life was turned into hatred of the Germans”. Stephen reasoning behind joining the armed forces in the struggle against the Germans was different to most men who joined. Stephen’s attitude was one of escaping from the harsh reality of his life. In some strange way he felt cheated by life and Isabelle and when she had left he lived his life in a limbo not existing for any particular purpose. The war allowed him to expel all the hatred towards a common enemy thus bringing him closer to England, a place he could never really call home and away from his destructive past. “His desire to defeat and kill them was something he cherished; he nurtured and fed the feeling carefully: the enemy was in sight”. Faulks uses language that would often be associated in describing a caring emotion towards something or someone. It is as if Stephen is nurturing his pent up aggression and hatred as if it was a child, instead of trying to displace it.

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The time period Birdsong was written is significant. It is important to be aware that although Birdsong was written about the war and details the different stages and progress of many characters through it, it was however written with hind sight. Thus the subject matter dealt by Faulks in his book may not be entirely accurate as it is one writer’s interpretation of a war seen through sources and not actually experienced. At the beginning of the First World War many newly requited soldiers were attracted by the romantic image of what it meant to be a soldier. These ideals of ...

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