Niloofar Shamsi T.

Nugyen ENGL103F 10th October 2011

Society & Masculinity in Disabled Soldier In Disabled, Wilfred Owen writes about a disabled soldier; the soldier remembers his time in Town before he applied to the army and after he became disabled during war. Before the war, the soldier had much freedom and fun. When he decided to go for war, he was sent with much appreciation and celebration. However, when he came back disabled he wasnt welcomed by as much of a parade that had sent him off. The society he had returned to largely viewed him as he had become - a disabled person. Despite the similarities between the soldier and the society he lived in, the soldier was betrayed by the society because his disabilities had made him unlike his society. In this paper, we will work towards understanding the similarities between the soldier and the society through the poems analysis. Before the soldier headed off to war, the soldier lived a relatively peaceful life, was quite popular and aspired to be heroic. The soldier was particularly popular with the ladies. In lines 1112 (Now he will never feel again how slim / Girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands), Owen uses plurals, such as Girls waists and their, to indicate that the soldier might have touched more than one woman before he headed to the war. We are later introduced to the fact that the soldier is also interested in a young girl by the name of Meg. Later in the poem, we are shown that the soldier was quite athletic before he became disabled. This is emphasized

specifically in the lines 21-23 (One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg / after the matches carried shoulder-high.); wherein it is illustrated that the soldier used to play football and often used to get hurt. The plurality of hurt is illustrated by the use of matches in line 22. An interesting point to note is that the soldier used to prefer this form of hurt and bleeding in football matches. It should also be noted that bleeding in football matches meant being a hero in the preWorld War I era (Pigg 92). In other words, it can be said that the soldier had a penchant for heroism. Noticeably, it was this penchant for heroism that led the young man to actually enlist as the soldier; although Own states that the soldier joined the army to impress a young girl. But this was not the only reason. His preference for being popular and heroic was elevated by someones suggestion that he would look better in a kilt, i.e. a military uniform. Moreover, the thoughts of money, authority, power and prestige, which came with being in the army, lured the soldier to enlisting himself. This is further outlined in lines 32-35. As such, primarily, the soldier joined the army to impress a woman, gain authority and become heroic. Particularly, the most important manner in which society back then could be aligned to the soldiers character is that it placed special emphasis on masculinity (Jessica 64). In the era of World War I, in which the poem is set, genders had specifically assigned roles. Men were largely supposed to be in charge of masculine tasks and as such were supposed to be mentally and physically strong. The soldiers desire to become heroic precisely reflects this notion of masculinity. In addition to having a specific focus on male masculinity, the society is also quite jolly, liberal and inclined towards heroism. This is particularly illustrated in lines 7-10: About this time Town used to swing so gay / When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees / And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim. It should be realized that this was a time when women did not possess their constitutional rights, and as such for women to roam freely at night

meant that the society of the Town was quite liberal. Moreover, the society itself valued heroism as much as the soldier desired for it. To this extent, when the soldier was to leave for war, the society of the Town bid him farewell with drums and cheers. As such, the society of the Town was a peaceful one which encouraged heroism and masculinity. Although the soldier was sent to war triumphantly, he wasnt welcomed back in a similar manner. There were no drums and cheers that welcomed him back but rather only one person came to inquire about his health and thank him for his effort. Even the ladies touched him like he was some form of a queer disease. Physically, the soldier had lost both his legs (as mentioned in line 3) and moved through the help of wheelchair. Yet his situation was such that if he had to get on or off the wheelchair he was entirely dependent on someones help. This is illustrated by the end of the poem as the soldier is not go to sleep as someone has to come and get him off his wheelchair. He had lost all athleticism and freedom of movement that he had previously possessed. Of course this created frustration, which caused the soldier grief and sadness as illustrated in line 3-4; Through the park / Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn. However, not being able to move independently was not the only thing that frustrated the soldier. He was also frustrated about not being able to acquire female attention. Owen, time and again, outlines how the soldier does not gain as much attention from women, particularly in lines 11-13 and 43-44. In addition to this, soldiers who are disabled from war are often subject to emotional turmoil and weaknesses (Bracken, Giller, and Summerfield 1073-82). Mainly, soldiers are introduced to an environment of constant death and injury, where the value of life is meaningless. This makes them liable to being victims of depression and self-doubt. Moreover, this emotional condition is only exacerbated by social treatment of most disabled soldiers. This simultaneously makes a person even more emotionally unstable, and which leads to even more

harmful societal attitudes and treatment. These changes in societal attitudes are highlighted in Disabled. This sudden change towards the soldier who was sent off to war with drums and cheers might seem confusing, but the underlying reason is rather simple. We have earlier discussed that the society in which the soldier lived was one which strived on the principles of masculinity. However, we have seen above that effect of war on soldiers often leave them emotionally vulnerable, if not physically weak. In cases, where physical disability is caused by war, the effects of emotionally vulnerability are only much more intense. This is what happened with the soldier in Disabled. He underwent severe physical and emotional disability, and as such the society deemed him physically and emotionally weak. These weaknesses took away from his masculinity and as such made him redundant to the society. The issue with the British societys treatment of returning soldiers in WW1 era was that it expected soldiers to be paradigms of masculinity. As these men were supposed to be battlehardened, they were generally assumed to have an excess of masculinity within them. When this seemed to be largely amiss, society seemed to lose interest in soldiers and focused on other aspects where masculinity was more prominent. More often, when soldiers, facing first-hand experiences of war, tried to dissuade people from it, they were viewed as weak or sissies. In Disabled, Wilfred Owen tried to explain the uselessness of war through its negative effect on the soldier. To this extent, Disabled illustrated the societys varying treatment of the soldier before he joins the army and after he returns from the war. For the returning soldier, the society had very much become his anti-thesis. Whereas the disabled soldier was restricted and unable to be masculine, the society still very much practiced freedom and pursued masculinity amongst men. Indeed this is the irony of war; those who protect the society through war are often the ones who are left redundant by war.

References Bracken, Patrick, Joan Giller, and Derrick Summerfield. "Psychological responses to war and atrocity: The limitations of current concepts." Social Science & Medicine. 40.8 (1995): 107382. Print. Meyer, Jessica. British popular culture and the First World War. Brill Publishing, 2008. Print. Pigg, Daniel. "Owen's Disabled." Explicator. 55.2 (1997): 91-95. Print.