Khasanah, Zahrotul (2026) SHELL SHOCK IN WILFRED OWEN’S “EXPOSURE”. Undergraduate thesis, Faculty Of Humanities.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the depiction of shell shock in Wilfred Owen’s poem “Exposure” through a psychological approach to literature. It aims to show the causes and symptoms of shell shock and their relationship to nostalgia. This study analyzes the poem’s formal elements and links them to shell shock, drawing on Daniel Hipp’s (2005) theory of shell shock and Anthony Babington’s (1997) theory of nostalgia. The data analysis shows that shell shock in “Exposure” occurs from the soldiers’ exposure to shell explosions and the mental burden of war. The shell shock manifests as physical disabilities and mental instability, which drive them into a state of nostalgia. These melancholy thoughts of home are heightened when the soldiers have to fight in an unfamiliar environment where everything is uncertain. The thesis concludes that Wilfred Owen’s “Exposure” depicts the intertwining of shell shock and nostalgia resulting from soldiers’ traumatic experiences of direct engagement with the inhumanity of war, particularly their exposure to extreme weather.
Keywords: shell shock, nostalgia, exposure, wilfred owen, world war i, explication

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