The concept of guilt is very strong in Owen's poetry. He uses guilt in his poetry to highlight the indifference of those left behind as well as the authorities. They should feel guilty for sending their young to die, but that is not the case. On the other hand, Owen also expresses his own guilt as well as that of the soldiers. In doing so, Owen intends to highlight the mental torment that soldiers suffer due to this guilt. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In Inspection, the theme of indifference is very evident. Here, the authorities are aware of the suffering endured by the soldiers, but they claim that "blood is dirt", meaning that the sacrifice is not worth recognizing. Here the use of blood imagery signifies the sacrifice of the soldiers. At various points in the poem, this sacrifice is meant to be eradicated and unknown; the “spots” should be washed and the “cheeks” should be less “red”. The authorities continue to hide both the sacrifice of the soldiers and their own guilt in the name of national pride, since they themselves caused the premature and untimely deaths of these young soldiers. This idea ties in with the “Ram of Pride” mentioned in The Parable of the Old Man and the Young. The deviation from the original script of the Bible shows that the authorities prefer to kill "half the seeds of Europe, one by one" rather than abandon their pride. They will therefore refuse to feel guilty for this reason, despite what they do to soldiers during the war. This notion of national pride coupled with false patriotism is also significant in Owen's other works. These notions fuel more propaganda and therefore lead to more soldiers being brainwashed into going to war. Propaganda also simultaneously leaves the public in a state of ignorance and therefore indifference to real reality. War propaganda based on false patriotism is particularly evident in Disabled and Dulce et Decorum Est. Owen gives us clear examples of how young people were brainwashed into thinking that war was glorification. In this last work, the poet harshly criticizes the war poets who promoted "the old lie" through their poetry. They too should feel guilty as they played a major role in manipulating Britain's youth into dying in war. Through his poetry, Owen wanted to move away from the poetry of the time which promoted war and spoke of truth in his poetry. But propaganda was also carried out by the authorities, as we see in Disabled. Owen presents us with a list of false ideals that glorify war, such as "bejeweled kilts / For daggers in plaid socks." This propaganda is one of the factors that pushed young people to recruit. Aside from that, Owen also blames the general public for encouraging them to go to war. He sought to please the “dizzy” but the very ones who now encouraged him “affect him like a strange illness”. The absence of guilt is strongly felt here since we also find the notion of betrayal and betrayal. This also causes Owen to develop another reason why the audience should feel guilty since there is no affection or any type of connection between the audience and those sent to war. This is seen not only in Disabled but also in The Dead-Beat, The Send-Off and SIW. In Disabled, the lack of connection is clearly visible, as already stated,between women and young men. While the former encourage them to go to war, they are rejected by the soldiers on their return; disfigured. In this work by Owen, the lack of affection is also visible when the authorities suffer anything and even accept minor recruits to go to war. This also shows how the authorities do not appreciate the beauty and value of youth at all. The guilt that should be felt therefore continues to be emphasized here where readers realize the great loss of youth. This is also seen, along with the lack of connection, in The Send-Off. Here we have authorities who completely abandon and cut any connection they may have had with the soldiers; “They weren’t ours.” The pinnacle where lack of affection is truly expressed is in The Dead-Beat. There is no sense of camaraderie here. The already exhausted soldier continues to be beaten because of the state he finds himself in. Even soldiers fighting a common enemy have no connection with each other. Instead, they hit vulnerable people because they are seen as nothing more than dead weight and are therefore eliminated. They should feel guilty for the way they mistreated one of their own, to the point of making it seem like he was left to die or killed. The absence of affection is also visible when, in this work of Owen's and in Disabled, the soldiers are "enrolled with drums and cheers", happy to be rid of them, but return in silence. In The Send-Off, the lack of affection is visible when the women encourage them and give them crowns and sprays, unknowingly and ironically foreshadowing their impending deaths. Even these should be guilty of celebrating their departure since they are only celebrating their death. However, these celebrations are fueled by the propaganda the public is exposed to. In SIW we also see the guilt supposedly felt by the general public, which prompts society to wage war on young men. This is also fueled by the propaganda that has not only subjected young men's brains to war, but also public opinion to continue to encourage young men to recruit. “Death rather than dishonor, that’s the style!” here we see the highly oppressive social expectations that push the soldier to recruit no matter what. The public, especially the families of his loved ones, should also feel guilty for what he is doing to Britain's youth. They knew they were sending them to war and they probably wouldn't come back; Nevertheless, they remained in a state of denial that anyone they sent to war died for the glory of Britain – but this was obviously not the reality. This immense pressure on soldiers sent to war only made them feel guilty for not being able to meet expectations. This ultimately led them to want to die. This guilt of soldiers at war was not only visible in SIW, but was also depicted more clearly in Mental Cases. In Mental Cases we get a clear depiction of guilt as it is felt by the soldiers themselves, for two main reasons. We have survivor's guilt and murder guilt. The soldiers feel violated by what they have seen, such that “the memory of the murders is hidden in their hair”. The fact that they walk on "lungs that loved to laugh" reminds them of the indignities these dead people had to suffer because they killed them. These body parts and corpses were once people, as living soldiers are, but they suffered a fate different from their own. This guilt is continually.