Opposing Blind Patriotism
In this poem, Sassoon challenges blind patriotism. He responds to typically romantic and idyllic portrayals of warfare in the media at the time, and offers his own realistic view of war. The simple soldier boy, an acquaintance of the speaker, is implied to have been indoctrinated by patriotic propaganda. Unable to cope with the harsh reality of war, the young soldier commits suicide. At the end of the poem, Sassoon directly criticizes patriots on the home front, calling them "smug-faced crowds" (Line 9).
Innocence
Sassoon emphasizes the innocence of the young soldier in this poem. He is described as being a "simple soldier boy," who "grinned at life in empty joy" (Lines 1-2). From this, we can assume that the soldier was probably a bit naive, but he was a happy and optimistic person. As a result of the war, his cheerful innocence was destroyed. This symbolizes a large-scale pattern: many of the young men who joined the war effort quickly became disillusioned after experiencing battle.
The Impact of War
Many of Sassoon's poems focus on the psychological impact that the war had on soldiers. Coined by soldiers during World War I, the term shell shock refers to a mental and behavioral disorder caused by exposure to intense bombardment and fighting. Symptoms included fear, flight, panic, the inability to function normally, and physical issues such as tinnitus, amnesia, headaches, dizziness, tremors, and hypersensitivity. Many soldiers became completely different men as a result of the war, or could not cope at all. This is demonstrated in the poem when the young soldier takes his own life.
