Camaraderie in Birdsong and Apologia Essay

Discuss the presentation of camaraderie in Birdsong and Apologia. Which is more effective and why?

Camaraderie, in both Birdsong and Apologia pro Poemate Meo, is an important theme because it concentrates on some of the most essential aspects of the war; the idea of togetherness and commitment to the brotherhood for soldiers. Furthermore, its seems that the presentation of camaraderie was more effective in Birdsong, as Faulks employs a way of reaching out to the readers simply because he talks directly about the impact of war in relation to the idea friendship. He, therefore, allows the reader to become further engaged with the text. In this essay I will hope to examine how structure, language and form assist in either making Apologia pro Poemate Meo more or less effective as a poem compared to that of Birdsong. In Apologia pro Poemate Meo, by Wilfred Owen, Owen is apologising to the soldiers who he did not realise he needed till the end. Yet, at the same time he is thanking them for their bravery. Alternatively he tries to portray to readers the feeling of lost emotions, which the soldiers sense at the war front with other soldiers (or brothers). This suggests the soldiers were now isolated from the people on the home front and more connected with the soldiers on the war front, as if they were brothers.

In Apologia pro Poemate Meo, Owen continually makes the reader feel associated to his message of comradeship. This is clearly interpreted through his language, where he repeatedly mentions the use of I at the beginning of four of his stanzas. The repetition of I may demonstrate that camaraderie was not forever and that soldiers eventually became individuals. Alternatively, one could argue that Owen in fact was trying to portray how soldiers went into war alone and became close to other soldiers soon enough forming a brotherhood. Yet, it can not clearly be examined whether Owens use of I was actually him speaking as a poet or whether he was employing the collective conscious of the soldiers and in effect as an elegist lamenting the dead. Similarly, we find Sebastian Faulks in Birdsong trying to reveal his interpretation of companionship as he says, Stephen held the body in his arms, out of respect for him, then moved it back (...) He felt bitterly alone... This could reinforce Owens presumption of how soldiers had to leave war as individuals; yet Faulks adding how they continually felt a sense of connection and commitment to one another, even as the soldiers died away in their arms. The imagery created through this sentence, presented in Birdsong, generates a feeling of sympathy for Stephen who has not yet felt the freedom from war as he views his friends dead body around him and fails to hold on.

Owen again exploits his use of language to expose the unreceptive position soldiers stood in at war with one another. He says, the hoarse oaths () kept our courage straight, demonstrating that the war acted as a promise that the soldiers will go to heaven and he therefore exploits this oath to keep the soldiers united, strong and ready to fight. In addition the use of the pronoun our is used in representation of the men that stuck together to defy whether they would die or not, compared to those that made excuses in order to return home. However, Faulks presents the reader with a more detailed and intricate relationship which develops among soldiers. This is evident when Faulks begins to describe how soldiers had, embraced again and clung onto each other, allowing the soldiers to become liberated by the end of war and to reveal their true emotions towards one another. This shows the unity among soldiers who understand each other intimately. Alternatively, it could be argued that the soldiers embraced again as a form of respect for one anothers bravery and pride as compared to their feelings of camaraderie.

Apologia pro Poemate Meo is a well structured poem could easily be analysed in context to the war. For instance, the separate lines at the beginning of the stanzas reflect how soldiers stood out alone in the war as individualists rather than brothers or friends. Birdsong, on the other hand, on page 295, reflects the inconsistency of friendship as every few lines are split by an interruption of speech by a character. The poem acts a story for the readers by adding important details and emotions of soldiers; the poem is presented in a nursery rhythm form of ABAB which reflects either the stability of comradeship or in contrast the listing of the dead. The six hyphens at the beginning could mirror the halt of ruthless emotions that were made to be stepped aside as bodies of former friends died where soldiers fought, with every alternate line speaking in third speaking and thus representing Owens view point as an elegist. The repetition of four lines in every stanza again imitates the continuity comradeship as soldiers needed one another. This is similarly shown in Birdsong where Faulks presents the death of soldiers as an offering to one another in their grave. He says, they made it a joint grave, because the war was over. This quote could either emulate the need for friends till the end, even to the grave, or the gratitude of friendship that allowed soldiers to stay strong and fight until the war was over. In terms of structure, it seems as though the structure of Apologia pro Poemate Meo was better in assisting one to understand how much comradeship meant to soldiers and to what extent it played a part in their lives. This is because the poem acts as a story which has a continuous effect of the message in relation to Birdsong which is generally seen to be packed with emotive language rather than an effective structure.

Ultimately Faulks presents the most unexpected camaraderie between the soldiers in Britain to those in Germany, who in the end had bonded together to form an understanding and grieve the loss of former allies together. Faulks therefore aims to break the illusion of success through war. He says, the two men fell upon each others shoulders, weeping at the bitter strangeness of their human lives. The use of the comma displays the separation between the emotions soldiers felt towards one another at the beginning of the war in contrast to the end. Faulks therefore presents the full stop at the end of the sentence as a finer detail to illustrate the real brotherhood and friendship which is accomplished and in the end breaks the enmity between, not only the countries at war with one another, but the soldiers also. On the contrary Owens poem exhibits a variety of different forms to generate the typicality of war and literature in its context. Owen continually uses full stops throughout his poem to show the effect of how comradeship was coming to an end as a soldier continued to fight for his country. The full stops could however have been exploited by Owen to show the effect of how comradeship was never real and was merely used by the soldiers to solidify their belief of their existence and victory of the war. However, I feel Owens poem is not typical of war literature as it fails to clearly present the relationship between soldiers and camaraderie in particular. One could argue this point and say that the hidden messages of comradeship which is expressed through the structure and form, rather than language, is more effective when deeply examined. This consequently allows the reader to obtain the finer details of war, something which is not always possible in poems.

Furthermore, in reference to the form of both texts, the use of short sentences in both Birdsong and Apologia pro Poemate Meo assists in sending out the message of camaraderie more effectively. In Birdsong Ellis looks from his bed and says, We are fighting for our country, while Owen says, you shall not hear their mirth: The use of the short sentences quickens the pace of the reader who starts to feel closer to the poet or novelists who is trying to express his anger which is building up against wars atrocities. The application of the two colons at the end of Owens last stanza shows how even at the end of the poem, just like the war, the list of soldiers or friends will continue to be published. He explores how so many friends of soldiers and heroes died and how their appreciation will continue just as a list does. The use of the punctuation discovered in Owens poem (the colons, full stops and commas) makes his message of comradeship more effective by adding detail and focus which allows the reader to become engaged with the message more easily. Similarly in Birdsong Faulks uses different forms of writing (for instance commas) to slow down the readers thoughts and allow him/her to imagine Faulks description of the friendship between soldiers which develops throughout the novel.

The question as to whether Faulks Birdsong or Owens Apologia pro Poemate Meo is more effective in context to war literature is far too broad and unreasonable to be answered. Although Faulks focus his novel partially expressing the theme of camaraderie one could always argue that Owens poem was one that also aimed to present this theme to his readers. Both Faulks and Owen have placed great thought into presenting the theme of camaraderie, yet I feel that Faulks was able to convey the message more effectively because he was able to touch the emotional cord of readers.