To what extent did Siegfried Sassoon influence Wilfred Owen's role as a war poet?

Siegfried Sassoon, a contemporary of Wilfred Owen, was one of his associates whilst Owen recovered in Craiglockhart, and is often seen as a figure of worship to Owen, and perhaps even an object of his affection. Sassoon was sent back to England after suffering an injury, a supposed friendly-fire wound, which drove Owen to return to the front. This was likely in order to raise further awareness, something that Sassoon could obviously not manage whilst recovering from his injury. Owen was obsessed with the idea of ensuring that, as a poet on the front lines, he could expose the truth of the war to those at home, and fight the other propagandist poets. Sassoon was an inspiration to Owen, someone he viewed as a kindred spirit and a beacon in a world otherwise filled with those who would turn a blind eye to the sufferance of war. Owen's self-imposed role as a war poet saw him trying to crystallise the experience of the war; whether it be through his faintly homoerotic depiction of camaraderie, or his absolute viscerality in examining the violence of war, the level of honesty and earnestness can be seen to stem from his relationship with Sassoon.

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Answered by Alfie G. English Literature tutor

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