Deception

“Half the work done in the world is to make things appear what they are not,” says E.R. Beadle. This quote holds true even today. Life for many people has turned into an illusion, unless we look very closely we will not realize what we see is not real. Perception of life is very important, how we see things tells us what is going on around us. Perception for one person is different from anyone else. Although, poem 1 and poem 2, both express the perceptions of outsiders each poem uses different areas of perception to express the specific aspects of their belief. Dunbar and Owen write their poem’s about different aspects of a person’s life. Dunbar believes that a person’s inner trouble is oblivious to other people. On the other hand, Dunbar writes about the mental struggles of life. “We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries/ to thee from tortured souls arise.”(10-11) Where-as, Owen’s perspective covers more of the physical struggles of war. “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/ of tired, outstripped Five-nines that dropped behind.”(5-8) “Why should the world be over-wise, / in counting all our tears and sighs? / Nay, let them only see us, while/ we wear the mask,” Dunbar states (6-9).
At the same time, each author uses different writing styles in their poems. Owen write’s using many different similes. “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,” (1-2). Dunbar writes using symbolism with the mask. “We wear the mask that grins and lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes- / This debt we pay to human guile; / with torn and bleeding hearts we smile,” (1-4). Contrary to this, Owen stresses his perceptions with negative connotations in his poem. Owen uses these to give a better image to his reader of what war is really like instead of the glorified image conveyed by governments. All of these aspects he uses to help his reader see the parts of war that he sees. Even though there are differences there are a few similarities also. Both authors have used a dark feel for the mood of the poems. Owen uses war to set the mood of his poem; Dunbar uses the internal struggles that people experience but hide to set a dark mood of his poem. Simultaneously, both authors challenge the appearance that other people see. The authors make it a point to express that their beliefs of appearances are deceiving. This is also called situational irony. Both authors have expressly used this in their poems. In Dunbar’s poem the speaker knows the whole situation, while the bystanders only know what they see. In Owen’s poem the situational irony refers to the use of such a lovely name for the poem in contrast to the graphic content of the poem. These poems both show the reader some good points. Mainly that what the reader see’s is not always accurate. There are many areas that people can hide truths behind illusions in order to show only the aspects wanted. These two poems show a few ways this is possible. The situations in these two poems occur every day in our world. Most people do not even notice that what they are seeing is indeed an illusion presented to them by someone else. All in all, these two poems are very well written and include perceptions unique to the writer to give the reader a different perspective on life. These poems are very informative and educational for young people. The quote by E. R. Beadle, “Half the work done in the world is to make things appear what they are not,” is saying that there is more effort put into making something appear friendlier than just letting the people see the complete truth of things.