'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks is a story of love and war. Faulks expresses the horrors of war that the soldiers have to contend with frequently throughout the novel in several ways. Faulks presents the horrors of war through the lives of the soldiers and their experiences whilst fighting on the western front. The horrors themselves were something that the soldiers had to cope with whilst keeping focus on fighting the opposition, different characters responded to these horrors in a number of ways. Some soldiers found it difficult psychologically to comprehend with some of the horrors faced, in cases the deaths of close comrades, whilst other characters who had more experience at war, used these horrors to motivate themselves to kill more Germans. .
The battle of the Somme was the most devastating battle of the war, and throughout its part in the novel, Faulks presents the horrors of war through the gruesome experiences the soldiers had to deal with in the trenches - something Stephen describes as 'things no human eyes had looked on before'. 'Within two hours they had blown Byrne's head, bit by bit, off his body so that only a hole remained between his shoulders.' This description is used by Faulks to present to the reader, the horrifying reality of war. Stephen faces several horrific experiences at war, particularly during the battle of the Somme. 'On the other side of his face were the ragged edges of skull from which the remains of his brains were dropping out on to his scorched uniform.' This description is extremely gruesome, and Faulks has used the description to create imagery, trying to recreate the moment into the readers mind. .
Cases like this were frequent throughout the Battle of the Somme, 'Jack Firebrace saw a part of Turner's face and hair still attached to a piece of skull rolling to a halt.' Both of these examples show that the soldiers often faced highly grisly incidents.
