A Back Turned on Those in Need
ERH 206
10/6/20
Word Count: 1588
Help Received:
Sources
Instructor Reference Document
Urie N. Conis
The early 20th century was a hard time for all countries in Europe. The continent was ravaged by war, and the horrors of battle were unlike anything the world had ever seen. The war was originally anticipated to be a short conflict, but instead lasted for many years. Britain, having been in the war since the start, was straining to find soldiers to fill the ranks. In order to convince the youth of their country to risk their lives in the fight, they promised them glory and honor, yet when the time came to fulfill their promises, there was no such festivity. Rather than honoring the valiant and brave, Britain cast aside and abandoned its men, and this cruel mistreatment is reflected in the literature of the time.
In the beginning, the morale and spirit of the British people was high, still untainted by the war. The men who joined the army were cheery and brave, ready to die on the field of honor for their country. This can be seen in the poem 1914: The Soldier, in which a young and naïve soldier writes of how England will be with him even after he has passed, and even seems prepared to meet this fate.
If I should die think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England…
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; (Rupert Lines1-3, 8-9).
He is taking England with him into the next life, and this sentiment comes from his experience with England thus far. But the sentiment of the British people at the beginning of the war did not match the sentiment at the end of war. Britain did not take in and care for its veterans, rather it brushed their issues aside an ignored them. A more accurate reflection of the transition between prewar support and postwar disgust is found in the poem Recruiting. Within the poem itself, there is a shift from a patriotic and propagandic style of recruiting, to a realistic and blunt form. “Lads, you’re wanted, go and help” switches gradually to “Lads, you’re wanted. Come and die” (Mackintosh 22-23). The veterans of the war outlived the patriotism of those at home, and as a result they endured hardships even beyond the fighting.
For many, the war stole more than their youth, the war took from them pieces of themselves. Countless men were mutilated, blinded, or dismembered. Even if one managed to keep their life, the person who they once were would never return to England. In the poem Disabled, the veteran has lost both his legs, and as a result he cannot return to the way his life was before the war.
He thought he’d better join. He wonders why . . .
Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts.
That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg…
Tonight he noticed how the women’s eyes
passed from him to the strong men that were whole
How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come” (Owen Lines 24-26, 42-44).
The women brush him aside for more desirable men, men who are whole. He was lulled into signing up for the war with the promise of looking good in uniform, yet when the war has taken this away from him, his country offers no substitute. He is left to wallow in his own tragedy, left to wallow in the cold. In another poem titled They, a Bishop speaks of the honor and glory that their soldiers shall bring home. “They lead the last attack on Anti-Christ; their comrades’ blood has bought new right to breed an honorable race” (Sassoon 205). But there is no glory to be found upon their return, only a variety of problems that shall continue to torment them till the end.
’We’re none of us the same!’ the boys reply.
‘For George lost both his legs; and Bill’s stone blind;
Poor Jim’s shot through the lungs and like to die;
and Bert’s gone syphilitic” (Sassoon Lines 7-10).
They each bare a different ailment, and though they are speaking in a spiteful way towards the Bishop, they are still in need of help. To this, the Bishop simply replies, “The ways of God are strange” in a dismissive manner (Sassoon 205). The Bishop is making talk and doing nothing more. He cares not for the actual well being of those men, but for the victory their loss has brought England. Those who lost so much were treated as mere dust in the wind, and left to fend for themselves.
But the torments of the war were not just physical, for some wounds the veterans carried within. The mental fatigue one felt after surviving such an ordeal was unprecedented and the available treatments were minimal. The sheer agony and feeling of the some of the men is perfectly described in the poem Mental Cases.
These are the men whose minds the Dead have ravished.
Memory fingers in their hair of murders,
Multitudinous murders they once witnessed.
Wading sloughs of flesh the helpless wander,
Treading blood from lungs that had loved laughter.
Always they must see these things and hear them,
Battery of guns and shatter of flying muscles, Carnage incomparable and human squander,
Rucked too thick for these men’s extrication” (Owen 218-219).
The men returned from the war, but in a sense the war came with them. They continue to see horrors long past, but those at home do not share in their insight. They cannot understand what the men are going through, nor do they wish to understand. Britain as a whole took the easy way out when taking care of its veterans, and that was to simply do nothing at all. For this, many suffered long beyond the armistice, and for some even to the end.
In Mrs. Dalloway, the effects of the war couldn’t be clearer with Septimus. Septimus survived the entire duration of the war, yet still it is the war that takes him. He is so traumatized by his experiences that he sees visions and hallucinations of old compatriots. Eventually it gets bad enough where he must consult one of the best physicians in Britain, Sir William Bradshaw. “It was merely a question of rest, said Sir William; of rest, rest, rest; a long rest in bed. There was a delightful home down in the country where her husband would be perfectly looked after. Away from her” (Woolf 94). Bradshaw’s solution to Septimus’ agony is to simply hide him away in the country, out of view of the general public. Septimus has genuine issues that cannot simply be solved with simple self-meditation, yet the best his country has to offer would have him continue to suffer these torments to save the reputation of his county. Bradshaw, and the British people in general, didn’t want to help Septimus or any of the veterans of the war. They wanted to sweep the memories of the war under the rug, and that included those who survived. Pushed to his breaking point by the doctors, Septimus takes his own life. “’I’ll give it to you!’ he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer’s area railings” (Woolf 146). Septimus didn’t survive the war, because for him the war never ended, but for Britain, it did.
But the price of Britain’s societal practices was not just paid by veterans, those close to them suffered too. As is common in modern times, mental issues are not treated with the same respect as physical impairments. The result of this was that those who entertained the opposite notion, that trauma ought to be treated the same as an injury, were looked down upon or left to fend for themselves. Rezia in Mrs. Dalloway is one such individual. She is with Septimus all the way until his end, and his sufferings are her sufferings. When Bradshaw makes his suggestion that Septimus be sent away she is crestfallen, as it implies that Bradshaw does not believe Rezia is capable of helping her own husband. “Never, never had Rezia felt such agony in her life! She had asked for help and been deserted! He had failed them! Sir William Bradshaw was not a nice man” (Woolf 96). What can Rezia even do in such a situation, Bradshaw is a highly respected professional in his field, but she knows he is wrong. She is trapped, and there is no escape. Rezia’s situation is not a unique one, it happened to many people following the war. Britain in this regard, had not only abandoned those who fought to protect them, but also those who continued to stand by those men.
From the literature of the time, the sentiment is clear. Britain didn’t help the men of the war, it abandoned them. The youth were led to believe that they would be fighting for the glory of their county, but when the time came there was no glory to be found. In its place there was agony and torment, and they would find no comfort for such afflictions back home. The broken were neglected, and the traumatized hidden away. Thousands paid the ultimate price for the sake of their country, and when the time came to repay them in kind, Britain faltered. Britain turned its back on those who lost so much, and in doing so did more damage than any war could ever inflict.
Works Cited
Brooke, Rupert. “1914: The Soldier.” The Penguin Book of First World
War Poetry, edited by George Walter. Penguin Books, 2006, p. 108.
Mackintosh, Ewart. “Recruiting.” The Penguin Book of First World
War Poetry, edited by George Walter. Penguin Books, 2006, p. 22-23.
Owen, Wilfred. “Disabled.” The Penguin Book of First World
War Poetry, edited by George Walter. Penguin Books, 2006, p. 252-253.
Owen, Wilfred. “Mental Cases.” The Penguin Book of First World
War Poetry, edited by George Walter. Penguin Books, 2006, p. 218-219.
Sassoon, Siegfried. “They.” The Penguin Book of First World
War Poetry, edited by George Walter. Penguin Books, 2006, p. 205.
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Harcourt Inc, 1925.