THE FALLACY OF WAR - DOES IT MATTER?

World wars have been one of the most catastrophic, violent and aggressive
events in history. Within these armed conflicts, not only humans suffered
but also animals, plants and all those beings that inhabit the earth together
with us.Ironically, official history and even histography have focused on
understanding this conflict more from the heroic aspect than from the
fatality itself that frames these historical events. Although many of the men
and women who participated in the wars stood out for performing acts of
profound courage, it is necessary to remember that within this conflict
there were only humans involved in inhuman actions.

Alternatively, one of the aspects that is worth rescuing from this war
period, are the multiple artistic and literary manifestations that arose in
response to these violent events. In particular, this essay seeks to recognize
the perspective of Siegfried Sassoon, a man who not only participated in
the First World War but also wanted to portray it through poetry. A clear
example of this is his poem 'Does it matter?' which is an angry and very
ironic war poem that expresses Sassoon's unconformity as to what happens
to war veterans, when recognitions and condecorations are not enough to
mitigate their physical and psychological wounds.

The poem that alludes to the first world war, consists of 3 stanzas with 5
lines each and is written in an anapestic trimeter with an "ABBCA rhyme
pattern". The poem It begins with a rhetorical interrogation that serves as
the basis for the formulation of three other questions that appear
throughout the poem. They raise the importance of three different aspects,
necessary for the welfare state of the participants in the war, as they are:
the legs, the sight and the dreams of each one of them.
According to this, the first line of the poem opens with a particularly
uncomfortable question that in itself is never answered. Apparently, this
question is asked for a soldier who has lost his legs and for people in
general, who do not understand the complexity of being disabled. Continue
to support these questions (lines 2 to 5), from a seemingly naive and
optimistic point of view, to the extent that highlights the "positive" aspects
of living pretending that it does not matter to use these extremities,
since, "For people will always be kind . " Basically what Sassoon does is
highlight the superficial kindness that surrounds the life of a physically
disabled person, which does not help in any way in the feeling of exclusion
and frustration at not being able to perform certain activities such as:"When
the others come in after hunting ".

The physical disability is further emphasized through the representation of

the soldier's blindness, which is introduced with the rhetorical question:
"Does it matter? -Losing your sight?" Followed by the statement: "There's
such a splendid work for the blind", which assumes that people returning
from war should continue their normal lives, even if they return without
their sense of vision. This is how soldiers are expected not only to suppress
the horrible memories that they lived in the armed conflict, but also to
learn to live with their disabilities as if nothing had happened.

According to this, in line number ten (10) of the poem, appears the
affirmation: "And turning your face to the light.", Which is an absolute
paradox due to although the "light" still exists, the hope of seeing it is
reduced to the darkness of blindness. He or she can obviously turn his face
towards the light, but only and exclusively to perceive the sensation of heat
in their skins.
In addition, in the last line the question "Does it matter?" Is repeated but
this time referred to the reverie. It is well known that many of the traumas
of the past usually reappear in dreams, disturbing the tranquility of
people. Basically, they are memories materialized in dreams that transgress
reality. Thus, people who return from the war, do not have the possibility
of sleeping peacefully, because it is impossible to erase the emotional
memory that they was lived. Although people "drink", "forget" and "be
glad", their memories will be present, no matter how much they try to
ignore them or that they get so drunk to forget and even, no matter how
much they pretend to be psychologically stable, the “most important” is not
to be judged for other people.

Finally, the author highlights in the last two lines of this poem, how people
do not care about the feelings and problems of individuals but about the
way their actions benefit them. In this sense, a highly functional
perspective of the life of the subjects is evidenced, because it does not
matter their affectation, but the practical nature of their results.

In conclusion, Siegfried Sassoon wanted to challenge, through an ironic

tone, the perceptions of society about the glorious nature of war, since in
this, there are no heroes or sublime stories, only victims and dead. "Does it
Matter?" describes a less literal kind of death—the death of dreams, and
the loss of a normal life. War is about more than snuffing out life on the
battlefield because according with Seassoon, it follows you home.

Gina Marcela Correa Muñoz