Explore the presentation of death at war through two different styles of literature, ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks and ‘The Selected Poems of Wilfred Owen.’

The ways each writer presents the soldiers’ attitude towards the prospect of their own death are very similar. It can be argued that Faulks creates the concept that for most, death was not only a foregone conclusion but also a merciful release from the horrific experience of war. This is seen in the words he articulates though the character of Jack at the outset of the novel, “When there was a battle or a raid, they expected to die.” In using the word ‘expected’ Faulks seeks to emphasize the extraordinary indifference towards dying felt by soldiers after experiencing the slaughter of so many before them.

Similarly Owen plainly implies that soldiers had succumbed to the expectation that death awaited them. This is reflected in ‘Spring Offensive’, with the line “To face the stark, blank sky beyond the ridge, // Knowing their feet had come to the end of the world”. Owen uses the words ‘stark’ and ‘blank’ to symbolise the mind set of the soldiers, and the indif...