Not About Heroes - page 65-66 (David's Death)

Page 65-66

From "When I first went out to France..." to "the same madness" 

In this extract Sassoon describes his close friend David's death,

He describes David as a "young officer" this emphasizes the innocence and lack of experience most of the soldiers has and just how young they were, which the case was for many soldiers.

The audience is made to have an emotional attachment with the character david as Sassoon lists various facts about his life such as “He was 19. He came from Wales. Straight from school to officer training.” This gives the audience a context to the character and makes them be able to relate to him.

“He had all those thing that we should be born with: truth, integrity, gentleness, patience.” This suggests that he thinks everyone is born with only good qualities as all of these are positive things. It implies that all babies and young children are completely innocent and void of any negative aspects. This emphasises David’s innocence as he is “young”.

“He shouldn’t have died, you see. He’d had no life.” This makes his death seem unjust and not needed which also implies the war is unjust and unneeded as he died for the war.

He shows the harsh realities of war when he describes David’s death “ He was shot in the throat and choked on his own blood” this creates a gruesome image and also shows how quickly it could happen as there is very little build up to his death just a sentence saying they went on a wiring party”.

“The words of the service were drowned out by mortar and machine gun fire.” This shows the common rushed funeral that was given to the dead soldiers, it seems unfair and makes his death seem unimportant to anyone else.

“I tried to die. I made up my mind to die.” This shows how devastated he was that he wanted to end his own life. It also seems unfair that him, who wanted to die, managed to survive while others that wanted to live died.

“I’m sure I was mad… and it doesn’t just go away.” This suggests he was suffering from depression after David’s death. This relates to many soldiers who got mental illness’ because of the horrors they saw in the war, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In this time ‘shell shock’ was not recognised at an illness’ so many men went untreated.

As the team's head brass- Edward Thomas

As The Team’s Head Brass - Edward Thomas

As the team’s head-brass flashed out on the turn
The lovers disappeared `.
I sat among the boughs of the fallen elm
That strewed the angle of the fallow, and
Watched the plough narrowing a yellow square
Of charlock. Every time the horses turned
Instead of treading me down, the ploughman leaned
Upon the handles to say or ask a word,
About the weather, next about the war.
Scraping the share he faced towards the wood,
And screwed along the furrow till the brass flashed
Once more.
The blizzard felled the elm whose crest
I sat in, by a woodpecker’s round hole,
The ploughman said. ‘When will they take it away? ‘
‘When the war’s over.’ So the talk began –
One minute and an interval of ten,
A minute more and the same interval.
‘Have you been out? ‘ ‘No.’ ‘And don’t want to, perhaps? ‘
‘If I could only come back again, I should.
I could spare an arm, I shouldn’t want to lose
A leg. If I should lose my head, why, so,
I should want nothing more…Have many gone
From here? ‘ ‘Yes.’ ‘Many lost? ‘ ‘Yes, a good few.
Only two teams work on the farm this year.
One of my mates is dead. The second day
In France they killed him. It was back in March,
The very night of the blizzard, too. Now if
He had stayed here we should have moved the tree.’
‘And I should not have sat here. Everything
Would have been different. For it would have been
Another world.’ ‘Ay, and a better, though
If we could see all all might seem good.’ Then
The lovers came out of the wood again:
The horses started and for the last time
I watched the clods crumble and topple over
After the ploughshare and the stumbling team.

Structure- narrative poem, using Iambic pentameter which could be mimicking the sound of the horses hooves.

Pastoral imagery is used throughout to create a serene country setting. The “fallen elm” suggests something sad as the tree has died and “fallen”, this also reminds the reader of a fallen soldier that has died in battle. “Strewed” also suggests that it has fallen awkwardly and uncomfortably across the land emphasising the feeling of something sad. This juxtaposes the calm pastoral setting which also juxtaposes the war.

“The lovers disappear” this could be showing the loss of love and life in the war as so many loved ones dies. It could also be representing hope of new love and life and that even the war is going on there is still love in the world.

“Watched the plough narrowing a yellow square / Of charlock.” Charlock is a yellow weed, this could represent the bad unwanted aspects of their lives such as the war.

“So the talk began – / One minute and an interval of ten, / A minute more and the same interval.” the rhythm of the encounter is slow, punctuated by work. The repetition emphasises this. The slow rhythm gives the poem a relaxed unrushed feel to it.

“The blizzard felled the elm whose crest” from this line he stats using Iambic pentameter, possibly to mimic the 10 minutes between each section of the conversation.

“‘If I could only come back again” this shows the understanding that the possibility of dying in the war is very high. This is emphasised by the farmer talking about his friend dying “Only two teams work on the farm this year. / One of my mates is dead. The second day / In France they killed him.” As it was a personal friend it shows most people knew someone that died, also the emphasis on how quickly he was killed shows how common It was for soldiers to get killed straight away due to their lack of experience.

“If we could see all all might seem good.’” This suggests people are ignorant towards the world, perhaps the government in particular who keep the war continuing. It suggests that if they “see all” and become less ‘blind’ to the world it would be a better place as the fighting would stop.

The lovers reappear at the end of the poem, this again brings hope that there is still love in the world but it also seems sad as they have left the protection and life of the woods, and the man will probably go off to war.  

“I watched the clods crumble and topple over” this could represent the soldiers in war toppling over and dying.