How do the poets portray the central character in ‘Disabled’ By Wilfred Owen and ‘Still I Rise’ By Maya Angelou.

The poet portrays the central character in ’Disabled’ as a sad and lonely veteran who is isolated from society, painting a picture of a tragic figure swept up in the war effort. The title ‘Disabled’ in Owen’s poem is one of the key ways in which the central character is portrayed. The adjective tells us that this man may be disabled in one or more ways, creating an image of man who is only a shadow of his former self, and setting the tone for this poem, while also telling the reader what the poem is about. The title also begins to introduce some of the major themes within the poem such as; loss, loneliness and helplessness, all of which the main character is feeling because of his disability. Within the first stanza the poet wrote that ‘He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark. ’ The use of the pronoun ‘he’ shows that the man is anonymous, but this may also be symbolic to all of the other young men who came out of the war with less than they started with, and this character may be acting as a representative for the many who lost something. The adjective ‘wheeled’ tells the reader that the man cannot walk and this brings a sense of dependency, providing a tragic image of a man who used to be independent and is now bound to a chair for the rest of his life. The phrase ‘waiting for dark’ provides another depressing image of a man who has lost so much that he can only feel better in the dark, when he is asleep, when he doesn’t have to think about his problems or acknowledge them. The adjective ‘dark’ can also mean an end to something, in the poem it is the end of the day that is approaching, but maybe he also wants his life to end. In the second line the author uses the alliteration and plosives 'ghastly suit of grey’ to present a ghostly image of the man in a suit that matches his appearance. The adjective ‘ghastly’ signifies death and wearing a ‘ghastly suit of grey’ may also be his plea for death. The adjective ‘grey’ illustrates a dull and lifeless suit which, again, could reflect how the man is seen, dull and lifeless. After that, the poet provides more of an image of the man who the poem is about, ‘Legless, sewn short at elbow. ’ The adjective ‘legless’ depicts how the man looks and the comma afterwards adds emphasis onto the adjective beforehand, letting the reader digest that image and feel sympathy for the man and what he has lost. The phrase ‘sewn short at elbow’ highlights another part of the man’s disability and the full stop at the end is in the middle of the line, causing a caesura which, again, adds emphasis onto the man’s disabilities, evoking feelings of sympathy from the reader. The caesura also shows how his life has been stopped partway through, just like the line. Then, the poet writes that ‘Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn, ’ which really underlines how sad, lonely and depressed the man is. ‘Voices of boys’ are supposed to be joyful and uplifting, about the youth having fun, but in this line they are part of the simile ‘Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn’ which shows contrast between the ‘Voices of boys’ and the verb ‘saddening’. This may suggest that the man is sad hearing the voices of the youth playing as it reminds him of his past, what he no longer has and what he can no longer do. In the final parts of the stanza it says that ‘Voices of play and pleasures after day, till gathering sleep mothered them from him’. The alliteration of ‘play and pleasures’ adds an emphasis on these two words, reminding the reader and the man of what he can no longer do or have. The phrase ‘till gathering sleep mothered them from him’ suggests that the children had to go home, but the final part of the phrase ‘from him’ shows that they must have had some significance to him as he considers them something that he had, as if they were his own memories about his past and his youth before his life changed. In the second stanza it says ‘When the glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees, ’. The verb ‘budded’ refers to the youth, and the central character's youth and the phrase ‘light-blue trees’ uses a calm and bright colour to show how his life was and how he was happy. Later in the stanza it says ‘In the old times, before he threw away his knees. ’ The time phrase ‘In the old times’ contrasts what the central character was able to do with what he can’t now. In the second part of the line the poet uses the verb ‘threw’. This is making it seem like the narrator deliberately threw away his knees and provides the reader with a sense of wastefulness but also a large sense of regret, as if the soldier was pressured into the situation, which the reader finds out later in the poem. To end the stanza it says that ‘All of them touch him like a queer disease. ’ The predeterminer ‘all’ is referring to everyone, not just the girls, and shows how the central character is a pariah of society, where everyone avoids him and tries to interact with him as little as possible. The phrase ‘touch him like a queer disease’ shows how he is treated, with the adjective ‘queer’ meaning abnormal in this context and provokes a sense of pathos towards the central character. The noun ‘disease’ suggests that what he has is infectious and can be spread, which could be why he is isolated as people don’t want to become what he has become. Within the third stanza it is written that ‘He’s lost his colour very far from here’. The verb ‘lost’ brings a grim image and shows the horrors of war as one can lose lots on the battlefield and afterwards when it says ‘his colour’ the noun ‘colour’ is a reference back to the dull grey suit in the first stanza. It can also be referring to his personality, to his emotions, to himself, all lost in war. The central part of the poem depicts the youthful naivety of the character when in the fourth stanza the narrator says that ‘Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts’. The narrator is showing us that the central character was impressionable and swept up in the war effort and army. The ‘giddy jilts’ are referring to girls and it could be interpreted that he is easily pressured into things. The verse size within the fifth stanza is smaller than the rest. This could be referring to how many people thanked him or appreciated his service. At the very end of the poem there are some rhetorical questions ‘How cold and late it is! … Why don’t they come? ’ This could be the voice of Owen, and it is like he is talking to the nurses. It shows how the central character is marginalised and outcast, with no one wanting to help him. The phrase ‘Why don’t they come and put him to bed? ’ links back to the first line, as both are suggesting death and how he is waiting for it so that his suffering can end. Throughout the poem, the use of colour is structured around the poem, telling us about the atmosphere in the stanzas where it is mentioned. For example, ‘grey’ is used within the first stanza to provide imagery for a deathly man, while in the second stanza ‘light blue’ is used to provide a happy and bright image. Within the title, ‘Still I Rise’ the reader can see that this poem will be written in the first person from the pronoun ‘I’. The entire phrase is a declaration and shows an image of a powerful narrator who is strong and resilient. The phrase also sets the theme for the poem, where the narrator will rise against the problems that she faces and overcome them. This is also a declaration against prejudice which Angelou experienced throughout her life. The main character, portrayed by the first person, is the poet, Angelou, and is shown as a strong, powerful and proud woman who wants to overcome the inequalities and prejudices in the world to make it a better and more equal place. At the end of the first stanza the narrator says ‘You may trod me in the dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise’. The active verb ‘trod’ brings the image of the poet being stepped on metaphorically and provides an understanding of suppression and repression but the simile afterwards ‘still, like dust, I’ll rise. ’ opposes this statement and shows that Angelou is determined to not be held back and wants to reach to the skies. The full stop at the end of the stanza also creates a pause on the verb ‘rise’ which emphasises the hopeful and successful meaning of the word and the word used with the pronoun ‘I’ reflects the positive meaning onto the author. After this Angelou uses a simile, ‘‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room. ’ ‘Oil wells’ are a symbol of wealth, and at that time, white wealth. This goes against the stereotypes and shows how she is opening up new possibilities that may have been restricted for people like her. It also refers to richness, such as her richness of confidence and her richness of personality. Angelou uses references to nature in describing how she will overcome the prejudice, “Just like moons and like suns with the certainty of tides. ” Nature is seen as something that happens, and cannot be stopped, and she is calling herself like ‘nature’ and cannot be stopped. This can also be seen through the similes “Just like moons and like suns” as ‘moons’ and ‘suns’ cannot be stopped. Angelou is also saying that she is ‘certain’ she will rise when she says “With the certainty of tides, ” which again refers to nature and how nature will rise, just like nature will act. This whole stanza portrays her confidence as strong, powerful and simple, just like nature. Within the fourth stanza more serious and disturbing themes are spoken of with Angelou using rhetorical questions which reference to slavery. “Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? ” These rhetorical questions seem sassy and mocking as if Angelou is telling the audience that those things will never happen to her. These rhetorical questions are also criticising white people, and all that they have done to black people and slaves, by providing an image of submission in the question, which is predominantly aimed at white people who thought they were superior. She then uses violent verbs and anaphora to talk about what people may do to her. “You may shoot me with your words, ” which reference the attitudes towards black people in her time and how they were belittled and trodden on. These first three lines are also portraying the vulnerabilities of everybody and how this violence has been used to make black people suffer. Angelou finishes off the stanza with the simile “But still, like air, I’ll rise. ” This shows how strong she is and how confident she is that she will overcome that prejudice. The structure of the stanza shows the resilience of Angelou and others like her who have suffered, and how, no matter what bad things happen, they will always rise back up and confront it, no matter how hard it is. Within the structure of the poem there are rhetorical questions which present features of herself, “Does my sassiness upset you? ” There are another two with “haughtiness” and “sexiness”. These nouns show that Angelou is confident in herself and when she asks if they “upset you? ” She is showing that she can be whatever she wants and doesn’t have to listen to anybody else. Within the final two stanzas she uses an AABB rhyme scheme to create a strong tempo to bring the piece to a climax while also reflecting herself as a strong and steady woman, in reference to the tempo and rhythm of the piece. Angelou has changed the structure of the Stanzas from an ABCB, to the stronger and more rhythmic AABB rhyme scheme to show how she is breaking through suppression and becoming an unstoppable force that will break through prejudice, coming out as free and equal. At the end of the penultimate stanza she references nature again in the metaphor “I’m a black ocean, leading and wide, welling and swelling I bear in the tide. ” The “black ocean” is a way of saying that she cannot be stopped as she is an immense force and anything in her way will not affect her path towards her goal. Also the active words “leading”, “wide”, “welling” and “swelling” show all that she is doing to achieve her goal, and also how much effort she has put into this. She ends the final stanza and the poem with anaphora of the phrase “I rise”. This emphasises what she is going to do and achieve and the repetition of the phrase reinforces the idea that she will rise above the prejudice and inequality, making her more confident about achieving her goal. I chose these two texts because of the way they conveyed strong messages and comments about society. I chose the pieces ‘Disabled’ and ‘Still I Rise’ as they explore how extreme we, as a society, can be towards those who are different, but also how we can rise up and stop this. ‘Disabled’ evoked a feeling of sorrow within, for all of the people affected by war, while ‘Still I Rise’ showed me a fiery intent to make the world a better place. Although there were other pieces of work such as ‘The Bright Lights of Sarajevo’ which showed the positivity of society and how we can overcome hardship, ‘Out, Out -’ which showed how we have become almost numb to violence and death in the media and ‘The Necklace’ which shows how materialistic desires have taken over society. ‘Disabled’ shows how we treat those who have given their life for us and that society will only accept those deemed acceptable, otherwise they shall be cast out. It is written in the third person in the perspective of an unknown soldier who served in World War One and lost his limbs and “colour” there. It talks about after the war when he is outcast for his condition and about how he gave up his life for his country. In contrast ‘Still I Rise’ has a message of hope and confidence in the future that everybody will be equal. It is about the writer, Maya Angelou, and is set in a time of great racism and inequality in America. The poem talks about Angelou, her qualities which she is proud of, and how she will overcome societal norms and become a free and equal black woman who can stand up for herself to form a better place for people suffering from prejudice.