Personal Trauma in Haunted by Siegfried Sassoon and Elegy for the Dead by Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu

“Haunted” by Siegfried Sassoon and “Elegy for the Dead” by Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu introduces two different perspectives of war and how war can affect an individual’s mental state. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), personal trauma is a mental issue many war veterans are/have experienced in modern and historical times. Collective trauma refers to events that physiologically affect a group of people, as those who live under oppression. Both of these examples of trauma are the aftermath of what war leaves on an individual(s) who has been through this experience. Tambimuttu’s “Elegy for the Dead” and Sassoon’s “Haunted” both use ghostly imagery to illustrate the individual and collective trauma of war.  

Sassoon’s poem shows the distressing and traumas that PTSD has on war veterans.  A brief summation of his poem is that everyone has/had a past that ‘haunts’ them. For our narrator, this past is the PTSD of war, personal trauma about how war still lingers in his day-to-day life. War is a horrific act, whether it be an in-person encounter or those who battled from home. “He thought: ‘Somewhere there’s thunder’ as he strove To shake off dread; he dared not look behind him, But stood, the sweat of horror on his face.” (Sassoon, ll 13-15).  Sassoon captures the personal trauma in the aftermath of war. Thunder is a trigger for our narrator’s PTSD. A loud dramatic sound triggers the remembrance of cannon fire or gunshots, as this alludes to the shift between reality and war life. Word choices such as ‘thunder’, ‘dread’, ‘horror’ all convey the idea of the past looming over our narrator. Sassoon presents the audience with two different realities. One is our narrator reliving war and recreating scenes that he had experienced. The other perspective is within reality. This is the impact of the war on our narrator, tackling the personal trauma he is experiencing. “He blunder[ed] down a path, trampling on thistles'' (Sassoon, l 16). Our narrator is running through the woods. But throughout this run, he is shifting between reality and his memories being lost in which is the truth. “his throat was choking” (Sassoon, l 24), “clawed around his legs' “ (Sassoon, l 25),  “‘I will get out! I must get out’” (Sassoon, l 27). Sassoon brings forth personal trauma in war veterans and illustrates how it has such a strong presence. A typical walk through the woods, which for most people would be a normal task. Represents and brings out war scenes in those with personal traumas hidden memories. Sassoon’s poem brings light on those with mental trauma, and who have no other choice to but live on with it. In this specific case, it was PTSD, and how war caused our narrator to be stuck in a never-ending traumatic loop. Through the use of imagery, Sassoon brings light on this and how it can be haunting, terrorizing, and undesirable.

Individual trauma is one of two ways war can leave an impression on people. The collective trauma of experiencing war firsthand can be gruesome and heartbreaking.  “Elegy For The Dead” by Tambimuttu focuses on the reality of living through war. Tambimuttu writes on the British oppression of Indians from the Indian’s perspectives. Through imagery, Tambimuttu brings forth gruesome and horrific firsthand experiences.  “Down, soundlessly you went innocent brother” (Tambimuttu 20). Death is inevitable in war. Tambimuttu is bringing forth the image of watching those around you die. 'Soundlessly' introduces the idea of silent death. People are dying under this horrific oppression without 'sound', or being noticed. Sassoon's poem brings forth violent imagery, with words such as "thunder", or being trapped in the past you can’t escape. Tambimuttu does the same throughout his poem illustrating imagery such as,  “Shot like a dog, the boy lies bleeding” (Tambimuttu 22).  “Come now my ghost, my brother, to my side” (Tambimuttu 23). Tambimuttu illustrates violent imagery in a natural way to portray the horrors of war. Death is a sensitive topic, but nonetheless a part of human life. As the audience, you can question the morality of this scene. But, Tambimuttu focuses on collective trauma and violent imagery of the war. Portraying British oppression on Indians and what life was like. Tambimuttu focuses on violence in war, using ghostly imagery to illustrate a cause for the reader of what life in war was truly like.

Individual and Collective trauma presented in Tambimuttu’s “Elegy For The Dead” and Sassoon’s “Haunted” take advantage of the war through imagery, These poems introduce horrifying and ghostly factors that push forth the narrative of what war is truly like.  In Sassoon’s poem, we are presented with PTSD and trauma as those who have experienced war, and how their lives are affected by this. But in Tambimuttu’s poem, we read about what the life of the oppressed in war is like. What it is like to have limited choices and seeing those around you fall without being able to help. Both of these perspectives on war, aftermath, and living it, create such imagery that we as readers conclude that war is horrible for people. War will always be seen everywhere, including mental issues and in our day-to-day lives. When we look at the media today, war is something that has a lingering presence when you look at two nations in conflict. The Afghanistan war started in 2001 and is still a very prevalent presence in our military, social media, and high representatives of our government. We as a nation have more to fear from war than ever. Now people have more access to the media than ever before and have grown stronger as a nation due to recent events within the last year. Tambimuttu and Sassoon’s poems use a strong sense of imagery that presents scenarios, situations, and descriptive writing to let the audience wonder and imagine what war is truly like for those who experienced it first hand.