This scene serves to disassemble the general consensus that all soldiers die an honorable death or are wounded by respectable means. This injured warrior was too clumsy to fit his helmet on in time to avoid breathing in the deadly gases. Although he is suffering for his country, he does not fit the typical description of a wounded veteran who bravely risked life and limb to save his comrades. The brutal truth is that sometimes soldiers become injured due to negligence or even friendly fire, yet this is not depicted in the conventional half truths fed to the public. Overall, Owen is attempting to divulge the reality of troops every day, unglamorous life.
To further provoke the idea that the majority of the population and the media are unmindful to the realistic situations soldiers face, Owen utilizes redolent figurative language when exposing a more sensible account of war. The speaker is reminiscing of the moment when he helplessly looked on as one of his comrades fell victim to a suffocating gas. He illustrates the tragic event metaphorically by comparing the man choking on the gases to someone "drowning " in a "green sea. " This comparison serves to emphasize the explicit hazard troops face during war which in turn brings to the fore front the misconception that there is minimal danger involved while deployed. Many are oblivious to the horrors of combat and may view those that are negatively affected by it as weak. To disprove this belief, Owen is demonstrating the extent of how psychologically tormenting some experiences can be. Owen also expresses this notion through the use of simile. One example of this is when the wounded soldier is described as thrashing around "like a man in fire or lime. " The association of choking and being consumed by fire evokes a sense of excessive panic in that once a fire has started and has consumed someone wholly, it is almost nearly impossible to avoid grave life threatening damage.