The Hero – Reviewed
Siegfried Sassoon
Jack fell as he’d have wished,’ the mother said,
And folded up the letter that she’d read.
‘The Colonel writes so nicely.’ Something broke
In the tired voice that quavered to a choke.
She half looked up. ‘We mothers are so proud
Of our dead soldiers.’ Then her face was bowed.
Quietly the Brother Officer went out.
He’d told the poor old dear some gallant lies
That she would nourish all her days, no doubt
For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes
Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy,
Because he’d been so brave, her glorious boy.
He thought how ‘Jack’, cold-footed, useless swine,
Had panicked down the trench that night the mine
Went up at Wicked Corner; how he’d tried
To get sent home, and how, at last, he died,
Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care
Except that lonely woman with white hair.
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Analysis
This poem looks at war in a way that strips away the usual ideas of heroism. It doesn’t glorify sacrifice or bravery. Instead, it shows how war distorts the truth, how people believe what they need to believe, and how the idea of a hero often doesn’t match reality. The mother in the poem believes her son, Jack, died courageously. She holds onto the letter she’s been given, carefully folding it, repeating the words she’s been told: “Jack fell as he’d have wished.” But her voice wavers. Something in her knows there’s more to the story, but she doesn’t let herself think about it. She’s been given a version of events that she can bear. The officer who delivered the news knows this. He feeds her the story she needs to hear, and she takes it in, letting it sustain her. She wants Jack’s death to mean something.
But the reality is different. The officer knows what really happened. Jack wasn’t a hero. He was afraid. He tried to run. And when the mine exploded, he died quickly, without glory, without meaning. The contrast between what the mother believes and what the officer knows makes the poem so stark. She’s proud, even comforted, because she thinks her son was brave. But the reader sees the truth, and that makes her belief feel tragic.
The poem lays out two versions of heroism—the one that exists for people back home and the one that exists for soldiers. The gap between them is huge. The mother sees her son’s death as something noble. She repeats what she’s been told, as if saying it enough will make it true. She even says, “We mothers are so proud of our dead soldiers.” It’s an unsettling line, but it shows how deeply this version of heroism has been pushed onto people. There’s no room for doubt. If a soldier dies, then their death must have mattered.
The officer knows better. He lies to her, but not out of cruelty. He knows she needs this story, that without it, she would be left with nothing but loss. She listens with “gentle triumph,” as if she’s found something to hold onto. The reader, though, knows it’s all built on a lie.
The final stanza rips that comfort away. Jack wasn’t fearless. He panicked. He tried to escape. He wasn’t the soldier his mother imagines. But does that make him any less of a hero? War expects soldiers to be brave, to follow orders, to die the right way. The officer in the poem sees Jack’s fear as weakness. He calls him “cold-footed, useless swine.” But in the end, Jack still died, just like every other soldier. Does it really matter that he was scared?
The poem doesn’t give an answer. It just lays out the contrast between the comforting lie and the harsh truth. Jack’s mother believes in heroism. Jack never had that choice.
Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash
