Henry V: The Role Of Heroism In Anthem For Doomed Youth

Question: The role of heroism has evolved over time.

What is the role of heroism? The definition of heroism has changed over the years. In early ages, a hero is defined as somebody that is willing to die for someone or something, but in modern times, it is thought unnecessary to do so.

In “Henry V”, a message of that a hero is someone who is willing to die his or her country. “Once more; or close up the wall with the English dead” Henry uses a metaphor to persuade them that it is better for his men to die fighting like heroes than like cowards filling up the chink. This infers that a hero sacrifices their life for others. “On, on you noblest English” Henry uses high modality to refer to his soldiers to reinforce that if they keep fighting, they will be respected

Even the title “Anthem For Doomed Youth” demonstrates this. The word “doomed” suggests that they are likely to have an unfortunate and inescapable outcome – death. To emphasize this, the assonance between “doomed” and “youth” elongate the word “doomed”. Additionally, the contrast between an anthem - a celebratory song and “doomed” highlights the word again. What passing-bells for those who die like cattle?” Owen uses of simile differentiate with Shakespeare’s depiction on heroic sacrifice. He depicts the soldiers in the war like cattle locked in a pen waiting to be slaughtered, implying that the scarification of the soldiers was pointless. During the poem Owen highlights that a role of a hero isn’t someone who sacrifices his or her self. The perception that Owen has was because mass destruction weapons like bombs, tanks, airplanes and machine guns allowed hundreds for men and families to die at a click of a button. Additionally, millions of men were involved in these wars and civilians were even under attack. The circumstances that Owen was under made it almost impossible to come out