The Great War in British Memory and Understanding Memory is tasked with performing two acts: remembering, and forgetting. Of those two, the latter is often the more difficult. The Great War is remembered in Britain as a period of wasteful futility where men threw their lives away in pointless sacrifice. This view is due in no small part to the works of soldier poets and other writers who served on the front lines during the war. The Great War is the object of memorial, but seldom is an effort made to truly understand it in the full context of its causes and implications. Revisionist historians seek to correct certain assumptions regarding the Great War, such as the idea that the British commanders were incompetents. The difficulty facing such individuals is that since the current view of the war has been shaped by war poets, any alteration to the accepted stance can be interpreted as an attack on the writers, and since the weight given to these writers is due to their frontline experience, any attempt to revise their account of events is liable to be taken as belittling or dishonouring their sacrifice. …show more content…
The advantages of war poetry as an historical source are relatively apparent; to begin with, they are first-hand accounts that were written by not only eye-witnesses, but also participants of the war as it
Rhetorical Analysis of “Losing the War” by Lee Sandlin War is an incredibly ambiguous phenomenon. In today’s world it feels easy to forget anything but life in relative peace. World War II shook the globe. Now, it has has dwindled to mere ripples in between pages of history textbooks and behind the screens of blockbuster films. In Lee Sandlin’s spectacular essay, “Losing the War,” he explains that in the context of World War II, the “amnesia effect” of time has lead to a bizarre situation; “the next generation starts to wonder whether the whole thing [war] ever actually happened,” (361).
All is Lost in War Before World War I, war was glorified and many a young boy hoped of becoming a soldier. After World War I, war had been given a new darkness of scarring memories from veterans of the debacle. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, and In the Field, by Tim O’Brien, help shed the light on this shade that looms over war now. In All Quiet on the Western Front and In the Field, common themes of lost generation and horrors of war are present in a bold fashion.
This disheartening conceit, that eternally battles time for relevance, illuminates lack of importance people place on living beings, and on life in general. Humankind has lost sight of the original divinity of existence a Randall Jarrell, in his chilling anti-war poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” emphasizes the stark contrast between the warm comfort of the speaker’s previous life and his cold, painful sufferings as a gunner at the warfront, in order to condemn the government’s impassivity towards fallen soldiers, treated as replaceable parts in war’s perpetual assembly line. In the first sentence of the poem, Jarrell displays the speaker’s transition into an emotionless soldier at the manipulative hand of the government. At the beginning
The poems Remains, by Simon Armitage and War Photographer, by Carol Anne Duffy both discuss the topic of war. In both poems, you can see how war affects people and how memories of what they have seen haunt them forever. In War Photographer, attempts are made to put order to the chaos created by war, unlike Remains, which shows how chaos is created. The theme of war is present in both poems as something to be remembered. However the memories are unwanted and the reader sees them turn into nightmares.
Today, many Civil War veterans have PTSD. According to Mayo Clinic, “Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that 's triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event” ("Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”). “The Artilleryman’s Vision” by Walt Whitman and the movie “Glory” both portrayed disturbing experiences of war; however, Whitman’s poem is more personal, vivid, and relatable; therefore, the reader gains a better understanding of how PTSD affects an individual.
We can all agree that war is dreadful. The impact to citizens and soldiers during times of war is significant and widespread. The fictional works: The Shawl, The Red Convertible and The Things They Carried, allow insight into the impact that war has on individuals. Although these stories are works of fiction, they all resonate real struggle and unbearable circumstances. Throughout these stories, the characters are continually impacted by their surrounding circumstances.
Remarque ties this specific theme of World War I to deliver the problem of bringing soldiers with no experience in the world, representing an entire country and consequently dying in the Front because they were not mature enough to fully comprehend their surroundings to light. Bringing young people away from their lives and to war takes away any chance they have at a normal life, sooner or later putting them in an exceptionally weak mental
We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight. John Lennon. Based on his own reading and reflection, Bruce Dawe constructs his attitudes towards war in his poems, Homecoming and Weapons Training, believing it to be lacking sense historically and ultimately futile. By specifically addressing an Australian cultural context, the poet exposes a universal appeal in that the insensitivity and anonymity are common attitudes towards soldiers during war. Dawe clearly expresses his ‘anti-war sentiment’ through his use of language and imagery as he examines the dehumanising aspects of war and its brutal reality.
Undoubtedly , WW1 was the first utmost military conflict in the modern times that has evoked variety of literary responses which reflect the sociopolitical and psychological background of that time and are considered as vital part of the historical and cultural memory of WW1 . War poetry has provided us with variety of images of the war and the battlefield by men who have experienced the reality of war face-to-face. On the other hand, women knew from the beginning that the war was going to be a great tragedy not only for men who were enlisted in the army , but also for women on the homefront who battled against the fear and horror aroused by WW1 . Women 's voices of agony, anger and anguish have emerged from the shadows of marginalization during WW1 to express their anti-war attitude. Women 's poetry of WW1 mirrors the 'new ' roles that women took during WW1 and shows the connection between men in the battlefield and
Literary Analysis The War Prayer was written by Mark Twain in the nineteenth century Imperialism. Twain uses satire to exploit the stupidity of war. In his prose, Twain explains the ghastliness of war and how people are praying to God for safety of their troops but they do not care if the opposing sides troops die. Twain uses satire in The War Prayer to make fun of the people praying for their side to win the war and the glorification of war. “It was a time of great and exalting excitement (Twain).”
.Most poetry of this genre is based around the topic of World War One and World War Two. But also around other famous wars in history such as the American Civil War and Troubles in Northern Ireland. This poetry contains messages of hatred towards war and towards the idea of war. This section includes poetry of very famous poets who not only were alive during the war but some of whom also
Comparative Essay How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I. The diction and tone in Borden and Owen’s poems is so much different than the diction and tone in Lovelace and Tennyson’s poems due to different perspectives and point of views. In all four poems the main idea is war, but each set conveys a perspective of war, a positive perspective
When the six major powers of Europe get in war, it is not like any other war. Early in 1914, France, Britain and Russia formed the Triple Entente, and declared war against the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), which was later known as the World War I. The Cultural Impact of World War 1 during the war and immediately after it, was more significant than any other war. The Horrific and senseless World War I reported around 37,468,904 casualties (Encyclopedia Britannica), this seriously influenced talented artists, writers and musicians around the world who had answered their nations' call to join the Army, or suffered directly from war terrors at their hometowns. The Wave of Patriotism in Poetry
In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.
Many poems about the civil war convey universal themes of the time. Stephen Crane’s poem “War is Kind” is no different. The poem,“War is kind” written by Stephen Crane(1871-1900) has three themes common to civil war literature: Warfare, Home, and Patriotism. This poem’s overall theme is about how war destroys families conversely to the title of “War is Kind” or the many times which Crane says “War is Kind”.