Comparing the Theme of Emotional Consequences in Wilfred Owen and Pat Barker Poems

‘The worst injuries of war are emotional not physical.’ Compare and contrast Wilfred Owen’s poetry and Pat Barker’s ‘Regeneration’ in light of this quotation.

Firstly, Barker and Owen focus on the visceral imagery of eyes emphasizing the physical brutality of war. In ‘Regeneration’ Barker introduces the reader to ‘second lieutenant [Billy] Prior’. Prior witnesses the ‘flesh and splinters of blackened bone’ as the ‘whoop of a shell’ alerts him to the attack on his ‘trench’. As he ‘shovels soil, flesh… into the bag’ he finds ‘himself staring into an eye.’ Prior’s initial mutism and breakdown originates in his attempts to suppress the hideous image of the ‘solitary eyeball’. The subsequent emotional suffering can be seen when Prior ‘delicately, like somebody selecting a particularly choice morsel from a plate…. touched the smooth surface.’ The juxtaposition between this brutal injury and the normal notion of a meal not only disgusts the reader, but suggests Prior is emotionally disconnecting from this event. There seems to be an awareness that this event is so grotesque Prior can no longer effectively deal with these memories. Barker seems to suggest physical injuries and the ensuing emotional injuries are inextricably linked.

This emotional disconnection can also be seen in ‘The Sentry’ which focuses on the fate of one private soldier, the eponymous ‘sentry’ who is blinded and maimed. The poem is set in ‘an old Boche dug-out’’ which comes under enemy fire. The injured ‘sentry’ has ‘Eyeballs, huge-bulged like squids’. The ‘shocking intensity of descriptive detail’ elicits a disgusted response from the reader and presents the surrealism of this situation; this physical suffering is so severe that the language must reflect the ‘topsy turvy world which echoes the absurdity of war’. It’s the lurid details of the liquefied whites of the sentry’ eyes which haunt this officer in his dreams. Similar to Prior, this officer witnesses a physical injury but still suffers from emotional and physical injuries.

Furthermore, in ‘Regeneration’, Prior uses the euphemism of a gobstopper to represent the ‘detached eye of a dead comrade he found.’ Prior uses a euphemism as his disbelief and shock are so intense that the reality is too hard for him to fathom. Moreover, the interrogative: “What am I supposed to do with this gob-stopper?” suggests Prior’s confusion and helplessness. Just witnessing this physical event causes Prior to ‘force down bile’ causing an emotional and physical response. Prior seems to consciously reject his emotional injury as a coping mechanism. When he finally confronts it again, he angrily remarks ‘Is that all... It was nothing.” Prior’s emotional injury did not fit with society’s image of war as ‘all imagined that it would be an affair of great marches and great battles.’ His own father remarks ‘[Prior] would get a damn sight more sympathy from me if he had a bullet up his arse.’ Billy’s father seems to reflect society’s scepticism of mental illness. Men who broke down were seen as ‘cowards’; Prior does not see himself ‘as the kind of person who breaks down but yet he’s ‘brought up hard against the fact that I did.’ His emotional and physical breakdown forces Prior to confront the physical event he has witnessed. The repression of these emotions are only momentary and will eventually re-surface, again emphasizing the idea that emotional and physical injuries are intimately linked

Although Owen’s poetry may seem to emphasize the physical injuries, analysing the text further allows similarities to be drawn to the repression of emotion seen in Barker’s ‘Regeneration’. In ‘The Sentry’ Owen writes: ‘Watch my dreams still- yet I forgot him there.’ Part of the speaker’s guilt stems from having forgotten the sentry’s suffering in turning to other responsibilities- finding a new sentry. Prior and the officer in ‘The Sentry’ need to repress all emotional injuries in order to care for their men. There were ‘huge demands placed on officer training.’ ‘It was the job of the officer to lead night patrols, to organize the men and to relay orders from High Command.’ Although he seems to forget the ‘blind’ sentry unconsciously, he will keep the memory and connection alive through feelings of guilt manifested as nightmarish imagery of eyes. These eyes ‘watch [his] dreams still.’ The officer declares it’s an effort to forget the physical experience he has witnessed; it still continues to surface in his dreams. Moreover, he is unsuccessful in his attempts to forget- these events are so easy to recall that one word is all that is required. Even the act of trying so hard to forget forces him to remember. As he remarks: “I try not to remember these things now.” The simple present tense verb ‘try’ suggests the futility of this action. Whilst physical injuries may heal, emotional injuries are harder to control and allow the suffering to continue. Likewise, in response to River’s attempts to treat Prior, he simply responds ‘I DON’T REMEMBER’. The simple declarative much like the one used in ‘The Sentry’ shows how these memories must not re-surface as they would lead to breakdown. It was a common belief that ‘everyone who broke down was inferior.’ However, for both protagonists’ acceptance is futile whilst respite is momentary. For both of these men the emotional injuries have a longer lasting scar.

An example of this is Owen’s Exposure where the men are described as ‘ghosts’. Their bodies have become ‘worthless’ (Richard Adlington). Their physical injuries have not only left them vulnerable and emaciated but have rendered him spirit like. They seem to merely exist as vessels as shown when Billy ‘moved among the [civilians] like a ghost. Only Sarah connected him to the jostling crowd.’ From this we can infer that although physical injuries are harrowing, they’re easier to treat; but the emotional injuries that stem from this cause an increased sense of isolation. The ‘doors are closed’ so there’s a physical barrier between the soldiers and civilians. Consequently, it was harder for them to reintegrate back into society. In combat men were told to shut down emotions which did not directly serve survival. But, they eventually re-surface. Moreover, re-introduction into society meant men could no longer have ‘eyes of ice’. Their emotional injuries were cyclical as they were so closely linked the torment never ended and meant these soldiers merely became cases for a tortured soul.