Dream and Reality

In his 1918 sonnet Dreamers the war poet Siegfried Sassoon conveys the inhumanity of war. He metaphorically describes the soldiers as dreamers who can only dream about the things they used to do at home things they miss but can no longer enjoy, such as playing with balls and bats(11). In the sonnet, Sassoon also repeatedly alludes to the soldiers probable deaths. This repeated allusion to death along with his use of voice, morbid imagery, contrast between hope and reality, and the sonnets viewpoint appeals to pathos to support Sassoons ethical argument against war as well as his characterisation of war as dehumanising. Sassoon was born into a wealthy family. He lived an easy life and was not exposed to many of the worlds harsh realities. According to BBC News, in 1915 Sassoon went to fight in World War I, and his brother Hamo was killed in Gallipoli the same year. According to PoemHunter, Sassoon was very hostile towards the Germans at first, thinking they caused the war, but later on he saw that the British government was really more to blame than the Germans. He was brave in voicing his opinions and spoke against his government publicly. With his brother killed and his innocent outlook on life lost in war, Sassoon felt strongly that war is a dehumanising event that should not happen. His candidness in speaking against war is evident throughout Dreamers. In this sonnet, Sassoon voices his opposition to war. Using pathos to strengthen his ethos, Sassoon attempts to draw sympathy from readers in order to convince them that war is dehumanising. A soldier in war himself, Sassoon describes war with great detail because he knows intimately the experience of a soldier. His identity as a soldier helps him establish a trustworthy ethos as he speaks about his feelings. He states that soldiers must win / Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives. (5-6). The juxtaposition of fatality and a climax earned by

sacrificing ones own life implies that soldiers, including himself, feel trapped in a situation where death is almost inescapable. They must risk their lives to win. In fact, Sassoon explicitly conveys soldiers vulnerability to death in the beginning of the sonnet when he writes that soldiers are citizens of death's gray land (1). The notion of death is a motif in this sonnet. This demonstrates Sassoons desensitisation towards death from war experience, which makes readers feel that Sassoon is cold-hearted and makes the poem very chilling to read. Furthermore, he uses a matter-of-fact voice when talking about death, which reinforces his ethos of being desensitised. Soldiers are is a sentence structure used repeatedly in three lines. He uses words that reinforce the firmness of his voice, such as must (5). By his use of a matter-of-fact voice when talking about death, Sassoon further highlights the theme of desensitisation. He presents soldiers as people who are prepared for their imminent deaths. Since Sassoon is a soldier himself, his presentation of soldiers can translate into his self-presentation. In the sestet, Sassoon presents himself as someone whose heart has grown cold in the war and no longer feels fearful about death. The ethos of being insensitive to death makes the readers feel sympathetic towards him and the other soldiers. This pathetic appeal to make readers feel sorrowful makes readers sway towards his ethos and his ethical stance against war. Sassoons moral position against war is most distinguishable in his depiction of unpleasant imagery and his use of melancholic mood. Sassoon writes, I see [soldiers] in foul dugouts, gnawed by rats / And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain (9-10). Not only are the soldiers nearing death, but also they are fighting in very harsh conditions. Humans are considered superior to rats, but here Sassoons image of soldiers being eaten by rats contrasts with normality. This imagery is especially powerful because it arouses anger in the readers as they imagine their fellow human beings being killed by inferior rats. By using pathos, Sassoon is able to establish an ethos of the soldiers being vulnerable. In other words, the pathos is used to

create an ethos here. In addition, this vulnerable image of soldiers further appeals to pathos as the readers become more sympathetic towards the soldiers. The imagery of soldiers dying is so horrifying that the readers almost want to save the soldiers. However, readers cannot realistically save the soldiers, so they grow instead to dislike warfare. By constructing unpleasant imagery, Sassoon attempts to convince readers of moral opposition to war. Moreover, Sassoon contrasts soldiers hopes and reality to appeal to pathos and reinforce his ethos of soldiers feeling trapped and hopeless in war (12). He writes that when the gun begins / [The soldiers] think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives (7). The soldiers can only dream about these mundane things that they have been able to enjoy before but are now merely distant hopes. Without explicitly stating it, Sassoon conveys to his audience the bleakness and darkness of the lives of soldiers. It is worth noting that at the time of World War, the image of soldiers to the general public was one of bravery and heroism. Soldiers were honoured because they fought for their country. According to Spartacus Educational, when the recruiting campaign began in Britain, an average of 33,000 young men joined the British Army each day. These young men were brainwashed by the propagandistic recruiters who aroused patriotism and assured them that the war was going to be over within six weeks. The young volunteers hardly thought that they were going die when they joined the force. The heroic dreams of these young soldiers when they first join the army are drastically contrasted with Sassoons description of their dreams of mundane things like warmth and clean bed. This contrast reinforces the hopelessness and the feeling of entrapment of soldiers. Knowing that Sassoon was himself a soldier, the readers can infer that Sassoon also feels helpless and trapped. The pitiable conditions of Sassoon and his peers, indeed, draw pity from the readers as the soldiers hardships highlight how these brave young men are turning into despondent individuals fighting in war. The pathetic

appeal to make readers feel commiserative makes the readers more inclined to agree with Sassoons anti-war argument. Sassoons depiction of soldiers evokes sympathy and empathy from the readers. Although Sassoon speaks from his own experience as one of the soldiers, he only uses I once (9). As Sassoon [sees] the soldiers dying in bizarre ways, he separates himself from other soldiers (9). He refers to the soldiers as they and almost takes on the same position as the readers who look at the scene as observers. By presenting his argument in such a viewpoint, Sassoon is able to tell the story of the soldiers as readers might witness it. This technique enhances the vividness and impact of the imagery on the readers. In turn, readers are able to empathise with the situation and are open to be persuaded to agree with Sassoons stance that war is making soldiers callous and helpless and that war is dehumanising. Sassoons use of pathos through his choice of viewpoint complements and strengthens his ethos. As readers empathise with Sassoon, they personally connect to the reasons for which Sassoon thinks war is unethical, such as the desensitisation of soldiers, the harsh war conditions, the lack of freedom for soldiers and the probable deaths. The readers can share the feelings of Sassoon. In turn, Sassoons ethos is magnified. Throughout the sonnet, Sassoon attempts to convey to his audience his ethical stance against war through the use of rhetorical techniques such as voice, imagery and the contrast between soldiers dreams and reality. He earns trust from his audience by speaking from his first-hand experience fighting in war and seeing those around him die. He uses ethos to present soldiers (himself included) as people who have been desensitised by war. Sassoons selfpresentation backed up by his own experiences justifies his conclusion that war is bad. Furthermore, the detached viewpoint Sassoon uses makes the sonnet easily relatable and, in turn,

the readers empathise with his argument. By employing these techniques, Sassoon presents a compelling argument to his audience about the inhumanity of war.

Works Cited Biography of Siegfried Sassoon. PoemHunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. "Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon." The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. Recruitment in the First World War. Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013 Siegfried Sassoon (1886 - 1967). BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.