Pluck free essay sample

I brought a new era of wars of attrition wounding and killing millions. These horrific battles were fought by mere teenagers, who had to grow up in a matter of months, and went from being children to desensitized men. This desensitization was necessary for the boys to stay sane through all the death and destruction around them. These men needed to seem tough, so they acted stronger then they were. The poem â€Å"Pluck† by Eva Dobell portrays the horrifying loss of innocence that many young soldiers endured during The Great War by her use of comparative stanzas, contrasting imagery, and alliteration. Eva Dobell uses the progression of stanzas to emphasize the boy’s loss of innocence through his childlike qualities and hardened adult qualities. The first stanza gives the context of the boy’s life by describing how the war made him â€Å"Crippled for life at seventeen† (1). The second stanza portrays the soldier as, â€Å"A child- so wasted and so white† (6). We will write a custom essay sample on Pluck or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His life was wasted by this war because he could have had a productive life but instead he was just a crippled boy who would never be able to work. The third stanza portrays him with the fear and pain that are Child-like qualities. He â€Å"winds the clothes about his head† to hide from the inevitable pain that changing his bandages brings (13). The fourth stanza shows that he has to mask his feelings and act like a man, how â€Å"he’ll face us a soldier yet† because he is raised on the romanticism of tough, manly soldiers who do not even flinch through pain (17). One of the masks the soldier uses to prove his manliness is a cigarette, a clear symbol of adulthood. This progression of stanzas that emphasize both the boy’s childlike qualities and hardened adult qualities underscore the tragedy of his premature loss of innocence. The idea of boy like qualities being overcome by adult ones is also present in Dobell’s use of contrasting images. The soldier lies about his age to get drafted which is a symbol of being a man. Because he was only 17, â€Å"He told a lie to get his way,† to join the army (7). Braving the terrors of war as a 17 year old appears to be a very manly thing to take on, but he is using it as a mask for his youthful feelings. With the coming of the bandage changer, he masks his pain â€Å"(Though tell-tale lashes still are wet)/ And smoke his woodbine cigarette† (19-20) With the cigarette in his mouth he prepares to take the pain as he thinks a man would. The symbols mask his child-like fears. In â€Å"Pluck,† alliteration is used to draw the reader’s attention to the soldier’s underlying childhood through his masculine front. â€Å"His Shaking, strangled sobs you hear† because of his fear of the coming pain (15). This fear symbolizes a childhood fear because he is, â€Å"A child- so wasted and so white† (6). He left his home, his childhood, his whole life, â€Å"To march, a man with men† (8). He set off to be a man, but came back a child. He never became â€Å"a man with men,† he was injured to quickly (8). All of these alliterative phrases further the emphasis on the boy’s loss of innocence. Eva Dobell portrays the horrifying loss of innocence that many young soldiers endured during The Great War in her poem â€Å"Pluck. † This poor boy was caught up in the romanticism of war, and enlisted early. He ends up being crippled, needing assistance like a child for the rest of his life, a sad result of his too-soon initiation into adulthood. Dobell makes this soldiers loss of innocence apparent through her comparative stanzas, contrasting imagery, and alliteration.