Declaration Against The War Analysis Siegfried Sassoon (7/11/14)

Siegfried Sassoon
Declaration Against The War

I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this War, on which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation. I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust. I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed. On behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practised on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacency with which the majority of those at home regard the contrivance of agonies which they do not, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realize.


The whole letter is Sassoon's opinion, not actual solid facts but he makes his opinions sound like facts by saying "I have seen" for example. So people are persuaded to believe that they are facts even though he starts sentences with words like "I believe" on numerous times.
There is also the repetition of personal pronouns "I"  even though he is speaking on behalf of all of the soldiers because they don't feel like they can stand up for their opinions. "I am a soldier" he is the voice of the collective soldiers.
The word "suffering" is repeated a lot throughout the letter to show that the soldiers suffering was continuous and on-going.
Sassoon uses emotive language, for example "I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops." This is to persuade the readers that war was a terrible thing, and Sassoon's opinions were believable and honest because he actually experienced the war.
An example of alliteration in the letter is "callous complacency." The words sound very harsh together which represents the war.
Even though Sassoon was an atheist he uses phrases like "unjust" which can be seen as being quite religious.