During World War I, mustard gas killed more than 120,000 people in just under four years. Wilfred Owen, a British poet, wrote about war and was one of the most famous poets of the First World War. In Dulce et Decorum Est, certain types of images are used to convey the emotion of war. By showing the digression from men to children to bodily harm, Owen shows how it is neither proper nor honorable to die for one's country. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayOne of the most important ideas in the poem is the digression from men to children as the poem progresses. At first, Owen describes the soldiers as "walking sleepily" and "limping." The soldiers begin to feel the change from men to boys and become more and more pitiful as they advance. By depicting the marching soldiers in this weakened and near-mortal state, Owen shows that the soldiers are not really men and are simply heading toward "their distant rest." Owen also shows this when a fellow soldier shouts "Gas!" Gas! Quickly, boys.” Even the soldier who shouts to warn does not believe that he or his comrades are men, but only confused and fragile boys. When Owen describes the boy who was caught in the gas, he recounts how the soldier died "before his helpless sight." This contradicts the belief that soldiers are strong and virile and are unaffected by the deaths of their comrades. By describing himself as "helpless" when his comrade lunged at him for the last time, Owen shows how he essentially lost his innocence then and there. That's when he went from being a hard man to an innocent boy living a nightmare. Finally, when the soldier died and his body was in "the cart they threw him into", Owen describes his comrade in his final moments and describes the soldiers as "incurable wounds" on his "innocent tongue". showing that the deceased soldier was essentially reduced to a child in his final moments. He was as innocent as a child, and the only reason he died was probably too tired to put on his gas mask. By showing how the soldier's death was so mentally disturbing, Owen once again proves that the soldier's death was neither fitting nor gentle, but a long agony before he choked on his own blood. The soldier should have been buried in a coffin, instead of being loaded onto a cart with other dead people, and thrown into a mass grave. In the events that Owen describes in the poem, he shows the progression from the men to the children using imagery depicting the men as they walk, Owen's personal experiences, and the fallen soldier. Owen also uses images to prove his point. of bodily harm to show how unbecoming it is to die for one's country. As Owen describes the soldier's death from gas, he describes the blood that "gargles from his foam-corrupted lungs." By showing the bodily injuries caused by the gas that just struck, Owen shows the darker side of war, the side that would never be shared when speaking to "children eager for desperate glory." Owen shows the true nature of war and warns the reader that joining the war is not an honor, but essentially a lottery to see if the soldier will be lucky enough to survive the various ways invented to kill him. Another example of Owen using personal injury to prove his point is.