Oh What Is That Sound Essay

Composers represent political ideas, events or situations and attitudes on compassion, conformity and extremism within texts and can therefore have an influential impact on social and political transformation. These critical observations on unsettling political developments can be seen in WH Auden's anthology of poems. Through the form of a ballad, Auden condemns the shameful impacts of persecution, leading to the dehumanisation and destruction of individuality through his poem ‘O What is That sound’, comparing this to the bureaucratic indifference of totalitarian regimes though his poem ‘Spain’, which similarly expresses notions of dehumanisation. Auden's Concerns are for the manipulation and subjugation of the common man, so he exhorts a

Auden, in his poem ‘Oh What is that sound’ demonstrates the weakness of even love through the line ‘I promised to love you dear, but I must be leaving’ demonstrating how the soldiers, armed with ambiguous weaponry and dressed in scarlet, can break down and destroy the core morals and instigate pure fear in the individual. Political influence is demonstrated through the soldiers, who initially ‘step lightly’ and drum in a matter which ‘thrills the ear’, but as they approach the house, they are stripped of their humanity through ‘It’s broken the lock’ and ‘their eyes are burning‘, providing an allegory for satanic or hellish imagery. Auden intentionally leaves the time period obscure to represent the universality of human nature, however, at the time of writing it can be assumed Auden was referring to the persecution of the Jewish people in the early 1930’s. The cumulative effect of the individual’s abandonment and the dehumanisation of the collective effectively propagates the notion that political events can reveal the worst in

The psychohistorical analysis of post 9/11 in America is utilized through the characterisation of Changez Khan and Bobby Lincoln, each representative of the hivemind of their respective countries; Pakistan and America. The ‘Suited and Booted’ westernised Changez was insinuated to be a Janissarie, by a Turkish Publisher, Nazmi, who describes janissaries as ‘...soldiers taught to forget their own culture and, as fanatical muslims, return to set loose on the christian countries they were taken from”. Changez is given a rare opportunity; the option to ‘break down to the fundamentals’ of American consumerism, or relinquish back to Lahore, Pakistan where he could openly critique the ‘American Dream’ and return to his fundamental beliefs. After Changez’ return to teach in Pakistan, he vehemently condemns the United States, saying ‘We Will wipe the blood of the invaders from our swords!’ which juxtaposes his initial opinion of “God bless the level playing field. God bless winning” Changez says to Bobby in reference to 9/11 “You Chose a side…. I had mine chosen for me”. The characterisation of Bobby is crucial as well, being a journalist who ‘had condemned interference in Pakistan by the [United States]” was now an undercover agent who had shot and killed an innocent man due to his own calamitous, selfish actions. Under the questioning of his actions Bobby