In the past, war was mainly portrayed as glorious and prestigious. Although both poets served in different wars, Wilfred Owen in his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” and Brain Turner in “The Hurt Locker” both show how horrid warfare really is, not sugarcoating the experience unlike military recruitment posters; though their imagery differs, due to the time gap and backgrounds of each author, both show the gruesome sights of war and how the only major difference between wars is the level of technology used. Before World War I, service in the military could give the soldier medals for battlefield accomplishments, honor from their hometown or country, sexual appeal to attract women, and a sense of manliness and importance. WWI was the major game-changer…show more content… Both Owen in “Dulce et Decorum Est” and Turner in “The Hurt Locker” depict the horrific sights of war, but their imagery differs in order to depict how war tactics and weapons change as the years pass.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” depicted how WWI brought major changes in technology while “The Hurt Locker” shows how advancements in the Iraqi War were in terms of battle tactics. The First World War changed battle tactics drastically, catching everyone off guard, especially those on the front lines. This is not to say that weapons did not improve in the years between WWI and the Iraqi War, but WWI caught everyone off guard with its brutal machinery and other weapons; in simple terms, “mankind became more efficient. . .[being] the first war in which technology was implemented in order to achieve military objectives” (“Dulce et Decorum Est” 114). In “Dulce et Decorum Est,” two weapons are referenced: “Five-Nines” (8) and gas. The gas is the central weapon here, since chlorine gas was introduced in WWI and caused lots of causalities. The speaker in this poem recalls a particular moment in his military