Wirers

There is a saying often attributed to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin: “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic” (although there is no evidence that he actually said that). In this poem, the single death is emphasized, probably for exactly that reason as it is certainly not the only death, and Sassoon wants to create an emotional impact on the reader. Sassoon creates the individualized figure of Hughes and his unfortunate fate as a symbol of the stupidity and futility of the war. Hughes is a representative figure of all the soldiers who have or will die as the war drags on seemingly without end. Thus, Hughes is produced in a few economical touches: He is young; he is helpless as he lies on a stretcher; he is in pain and moaning; he will die soon. He is just one of many--a tragic symbol--as both narrator and reader know.

Danger is not so much a motif as an ever-present underlying reality. It cannot be escaped. The wiring party goes out and does its hard physical work in the knowledge that just a few hundred yards away (or much less), another group of men--probably very like them in most respects, other than speaking a different language, saluting a different flag, and wearing a different uniform--is going to blow them to bits if given the chance.