Arms and the Boy is easily one of the defining masterpieces of war poetry. Unlike the works of other wartime poets, it is set away from the battlefield, and in keeping with Owen’s poetic style, casts a reproving glance over the manipulation of youth to further a purely political cause. Owen himself brings to light a theory that has been somewhat disputed through the ages across various different works of literature: that humans are innocent by nature, and it is the world that makes us evil.
The boy in the poem is enticed into war through the beauty of weaponry and the excitement of battle, yet the speaker notes that the boy has no natural weapons of his own; no sharp teeth, no claws, no horns, etc. Owen deliberately underlines that God hasn’t made this boy a killer. Instead, it is a man, putting a gun into his hands and telling him tales of glory and heroism.
Whilst Arms and the Boy is not the only poem to discuss the effects of wartime propaganda, it is completely unique in its approach to exposing the realities of conflict and society’s manipulation of the natural desire for glory and honour, especially for those too young or ignorant to know any better. As usual, Owen is harsh in his criticism of the war effort, but what gives Arms and the Boy the edge over similar works is the proficiency with which he mingles resentment towards society and sorrow for those lost as he delivers his final, powerful message: nobody is born a monster, but the world possesses an innate skill for turning even the best of us into one.
Abbie Roberts 