Research Paper On Siegfried Sassoon

The Inner War of Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Sassoon always stood out in his own way, due to his parents coming from two very diverse backgrounds. Sassoon, someone who never finished his formal education, and devoted much of his childhood to other activities, traveled the hard road to greatness . As war broke out in 1914, Sassoon, happily marched to war like many other young enlisted British men (Wilson). As the war continued Sassoon grew to hate it more and more. Through the sharing of his memories in poetry, Siegfried Sassoon brings to life the vivid realities of war. Siegfried Sassoon, born to a Jewish merchant father from Baghdad and a English farming mother, became the second of three sons. Sassoon’s father left the family with

Firstly, he fought on the Western Front, seeing first hand the horrors of war. Then in November of that same year, Sassoon’s younger brother died in battle, getting killed during the Gallipoli Campaign. Lastly he met fellow poet Robert Graves in France, who shared many of Sassoon’s changing views of the war, and influenced many of Sassoon’s works later on(Wilson). This sudden change of heart shocked many people, as Sassoon won a Military Cross for carrying a wounded soldier back to Allied lines. After this incident occurred he wrote a letter stating, “I believe this war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it” (Poetry Foundation). This letter, read aloud in the House of Commons in England, stunned many and Sassoon expected a court martial for it. Robert Graves then stepped in, claiming Sassoon suffered from shell shock and needed treatment, resulting in Sassoon’s hospitalization in 1917 (Poetry Foundation). During his time in the hospital, Sassoon met fellow war poet Wilfred Owen. Owen, a fellow war poet, also became a major influence on the works of Sassoon. In 1918 Sassoon shockingly decided to return to the Front in France to fight. Newly promoted to the rank of Captain, Sassoon commanded a company in combat until he received a head wound, in July of that same year (Wilson). Afterwards, he spent the remainder of the war in another hospital in England. Sassoon´s friend, Wilfred Owen, returned to

As it appears to change multiple times through the course of his life, it causes many to wonder what he actually considered his own worldview as. Yes, he converted to Catholicism in the final years of his life, but the seventy years prior he shows very few signs of a Christian worldview (Poetry Foundation). Based on his poetry and his works he appears to be more agnostic and possibly even atheist. Even this possible explanation shows holes in it as Sassoon came from an Anglo Catholic mother and a Jewish father. So despite arguments about Sassoon’s anti religious poetry, this argument lacks standing (Biography Online). Sassoon’s worldview also used Christian themes but Sassoon never truly held a Christian worldview until the final years of his life (Poetry