One of the poems that initiated a big train of thought in me is the Poem “They” by Siegfried Sassoon. The immediate thought I got when reading this poem was, “Everybody knew what was going to happen to those men, but they still sold them the big idea”
What I mean with “the big idea” is, They all got sold the story that war was just this amazing experience where you got to honor being a man while going on an a quick adventure that will lead to the quick victory of your country. A quote that backs up my claim is:
“When the boys come back they will not be the same; for they have fought in a just a cause…” verses 2-3
This line shows how the Church already knew the harsh reality of war and what it would do to the men, yet they still encouraged it by selling “the big idea.” The phrase “a just cause” makes it seem like the war was something noble and necessary, even though the Church must have known the pain and loss it would bring. Sassoon’s ironic tone reveals this hypocrisy, especially when the soldiers later describe how they’ve been physically and emotionally destroyed. The contrast between the Church’s confident words and the soldiers’ grim reality exposes how those in power promoted an idealized version of war, despite knowing the truth about its devastation.
Overall, I believe that this poem evidently shows that the people in power had the complete knowledge on what would’ve been the effects on having young and older men experience such a gruesome environment like war. And how they had this vicious idea to sell this amaizing image to the point that young. boys were dying to go to war(no pun intended).
-Luciana Torres