Blog Post 5: Media Portayal of Soliders and the Nature of War Response

In the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" the author portrays war exactly how it is. The author is trying to get a point across about the reality of being a soldier, and says basically the exact opposite of what the media says. The media portrays war as a good thing; basically you get to travel the world, become a hero, and get a good pension. This poem should be read to every person on the earth who thinks that is true. There are so many kids out there who want to join the army and become heroes, and that's why a lot of men were soldiers in World War II. They were told that they could see the world for free and come home a hero. This is even in the poem when it says "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori". This is saying that if you had to experience war, you would not tell those glory-hungry teenagers that "It is sweet and right to die for your country" because that is a lie, and war is not what it has been portrayed to be by the media. The poem describes some of the horrible things you must go through as a solider, such as "Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots." This line describes what kind of condition the soldiers are in. It says that many men limped on without boots, just trying to survive. Blood had been shed, many men were injured (lame) or blind. Drunk with fatigue describes how tired the men are, and they are even deaf to the sounds of shells flying through the air (hoots). The way the media portrays soldiers and the nature of war and the way war is portrayed in this poem is strongly related to the following song.