I was initially planning on having each question focus on a different one of Owen’s poems, but somehow I ended up with a ton of different questions all for “Exposure,” so I decided to focus exclusively on that piece. I hope you find this deep dive into this one poem thought-provoking!
1. In Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen” and Robert Service’s “Tipperary Days”, the authors reflect on the sacrifice of children for the sake of freedom and patriotism. How do the authors feel toward the service of the younger generation and parents mourning their children? Can you see this theme in other texts from the course, and how so?
2. Charlotte Mew’s poem “The Cenotaph” mentions the grief of mothers and lovers, focusing on women and their response to the death of soldiers. Does this language have a significant affect on the reader as opposed to omitting gendered terms such as “mother” and “women”? What effects may these terms bring to this poem and how do they relate to ideas of “femininity” in the war as a whole?
3. Wilfrid Gibson’s poem “Between the Lines” mentions the influence of luck on the battlefield. We have seen the same concepts of luck and chance depicted in other works such as All Quiet and Not So Quiet. Do you see any similarities in the way luck/chance are described in these different works? How does the description of luck/chance affect the reader and their interpretation of the brutality soldiers face?
READING QUESTIONS:
BONUS QUESTION: Throughout this section we have a bit of a “love triangle” and see both masculine characters, Bob and Montie’s, encroaching desire for Miriam. On page 26, Mariam has internal thoughts about the perception and reality of the interracial dynamic; “Southern white men, she thought, could only seek friendship with comely colored girls for one purpose—a social equality that existed after dark.” What do you make of this internal conflict and reflection of interracial relationships that lend to this objectification of Black womanhood that complicates the dynamic she may have with Bob? ALSO, how do you read Montie’s detest for the relationships with Black women and the white soldiers?
Thank you all for reading and engaging with my questions. This is a very rich text, and I am excited to read your thoughts!
The narrator of Women and Wives is clearly operating in a specific time and place in the war, hence the reference to the Flanders plains and the couple of characters (Simon, Fouquet) who actually get names. Despite this, the narrator is able to maintain a certain distance from the circumstance they are describing, and aside from the occasional “I don’t understand,” we, as readers, do not get much from the narrator personally–they are mostly telling the situation as it is. What do you feel are the possible strengths (or weaknesses) of this approach with voice? Does it enhance your understanding of woman’s role in the war? or does it feel too distant? Is there significance to the level of distance achieved in this story?
In Women and Wives, our narrator describes how the (hypothetical) wives “who mean responsibility” are not allowed to come to the front, and that only women are allowed because they will raise morale and provide a distraction for the soldiers (162). I find the narrator’s choice to use the word responsibility rather interesting. Does this imply that the men of the war are irresponsible? that they find the war irresponsible? Must they rid themselves of responsibility and construct a fantasy world to exist in (mentally or physically–the women do bring them food and wine) in order to survive the war?
All too often, we see femininity being constructed in (direct) opposition to masculinity. Traditionally, and especially in this time period, wives are usually seen as distinctly feminine and to some degree, ‘belonging’ to their husbands (for example, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith). In the case of Women and Wives, wives are seen as a danger to the war effort, in turn marking their distinct femininity as dangerous. We have seen in many other stories nurses and other women in the war no longer feeling like women (or even people). What does the lack of femininity (and possible masculinization) of women in war time say about woman’s role as constructed by the men in the war? the people (governments, leaders) driving the war?
Spoilers ahead, consider yourself warned
The story within ‘The Priest and the Rabbi’ tells a parable-like tale of a Rabbi taking the place of a felled Catholic priest to give prayers to a dying Catholic man. He holds the crucifix that he picked up from the priest in front of the man’s face, so he remained unaware that a priest was not with him when he died. With parables, each character or object is symbolic for something else. The Catholics and Jews could represent both sides of the war, or the characterized Pain and Life from Moonlight. What was the purpose of the man telling this story? What does it represent? And lastly, why did he consider the dying Catholic lucky?
In ‘Blind’, the narrator talks about the courtesy in her blind patient’s speech, remarking that it is a common reluctance of the wounded “to cause [her] any trouble by dying or suffering,” (p. 94). At the end of the story, she breaks down because she had forgotten about him and left him waiting, an ill-mannered act. What role does courtesy play in this story? What themes of this book are compiled under these simple social practices?
Courtesy is revisited later as a major theme in ‘The Two Gunners’. This time, the focus is on two British soldiers who do not display the courtesy that the other patients have shown. What do these outsiders represent? Why does this story get to be the final one in the book? Is there something ironic about this story and the book itself ending its prose with a British man’s words?