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Essay / "Home and Away" and Auden's Poetry: Examining Wartime Art
WH Auden's poetry investigates a decent society as it is oppressed by political ideology and then by war. The dominant political motivation of a difficult times and the destructive impact of war are also illustrated in the Australian picture book Home and Away (2008, both John Marsden and Marsden represent their ideas on political governance and manipulation by regimes in). purposes of control. For both men, “politics” refers to political governance activities associated with the governance of a country or region reflecting judicious power. language and graphics influence an individual's understanding of the world itself.Say no to plagiarism.Get a custom essay on “Why should games be banned?Get original essayAuden”. represents the dominant political motivations of his era, a period where the destructive impact of totalitarianism distorted the societal norms of his time; his personal experience of social instability informed in his poetry. Auden's captivating ballad, "O What Sound Is That So Thrills the Ear" (1932), reflects the growing tension as tyrannical leaders (Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini) exercised their power. In 1953, his “Achilles Shield” reflected the authoritarian aggression of the Cold War that manipulated the very population of the Western world. In this vein, Auden's "Oh, What's That Sound" explores the destructive reality of military power. The rich description provided by the speaker is juxtaposed with the harsh reality of the situation as the soldiers climb the hill to take her husband away. The first line of the poem (“O, what is this sound that so thrills the ear”) creates sudden tension, evoking a rich cacophony. Through the use of rhyming couplets such as “drum, drum/coming” juxtaposed in the first line, Auden depicts the build-up of terror that comes to fruition in the final stanza. As the soldiers pass through the "pastor's door", the allusion to the loss of religious values indicates the ruthless and inhumane nature of the soldiers. This characterization is further illustrated when the wife questions “the vows” that her husband had taken during their marriage. The lost “wishes” demonstrate the power of political affiliation, military oppression, and fascism; conformism, religious values and the law are powerless. In the last stanza, the soldiers' “eyes burn,” a description that illustrates the dehumanizing aspect of the soldiers, symbolizing them as a tool of repression. Thus, Auden's “Oh, What's That Sound” shows the destructive rather than glorious effects when politics, the governance of the population, is done at the expense of the beliefs of the individual. Marsden's Home and Away also explores the intrusion of power into people's lives; politics breeds war and readers experience the plight of the Australian family turned refugees. The context of the book reflects 21st century concepts of refugee movement and treatment. Marsden graphically and textually depicts the transition from order to disorder, from safety to danger, from optimism to despair, captured in the diary of an 11-year-old child. The picture book's title page creates immediate tension, juxtaposing the titles "Home" and "Away," where "Home" is scrawled. The title refers to the popular Australian soap opera of the same name, so the reader is able to feel a sense of familiarity which is then disrupted by the family's exclusion from Australia and their desperate search for safety elsewhere...