How Does Mark Twain Use Satire In The War Prayer

Satire is the use of irony, sarcasm or ridicule in exposing or denouncing the stupidity or vices of a person, group, or society. Twain's use of satire caused many misunderstandings throughout the novel, such as taking the jokes about society too seriously. Twain tried to use the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to point out the main problems in society such as racism, slavery, and the hypocrisy of civilians. The most common uses of satire were seen in the discussion of superstition, religious hypocrisy, and slavery.

War is tragic. War tends to make people sad and upset. Because of this, many writers often protest war. War is a terrible thing, and that devastation can be expressed through writing. Writers protest war using imagery, irony, and structure to protest war.

Satire is used by many famous writers to create humor and to criticize people’s unwise, and senseless actions. As George Orwell once said, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." (Orwell, 1945). People will always be greedy and think they are smarter than others but this is untrue. The one who thinks he is smarter or better than the other will always end up losing in life. In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, satire is incorporated in a perfect way. This story is about Tom Walker, who makes a pact with the devil, and ends up lending money at high interest rates. When Tom Walker thinks he is smarter than his customers and does not give more time to one of his customers to pay him back, Tom’s life ends in an instant. Through the use of satire Irving criticizes the institution of marriage and the folly of human nature.

Satire is used in literature to criticize and point out society’s flaws. The criticism is usually masked in humour. Irony is commonly used in satires to expose flaws, an effective example is John Smith’s A Modest Proposal, he effectively uses irony, to communicate his argument about the poverty in Ireland at the time. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale she criticizes the society that women live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament, Cultural Revolution, Salem Witch Trials, and the Taliban to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects.

The first sentence of The War Prayer causes one to think that there is great and exalting excitement because Mark Twain said, “This was a time of great and exalting excitement.” When we read the next line, Mark Twain says, “The country is up in arms.” In those first two sentences, your mind switches the perspective of what is happening from good to bad. In The War Prayer, there is also a lot of emphasis to exaggerate certain points like the soldiers swung by instead of marched. Other examples of this are cyclones of applause, and the deepest deeps of their hearts. The type of language that Mark Twain uses really puts a clear picture of what is happening and he makes it so that you can imagine what it would look like in the church.

Twain writes that “The men took their guns along [to church], and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same.” (110). Once in the church, they listen to a sermon “all about brotherly love” (110). Twain goes on to explain how the church goers appreciated the topic and discussed it on their ride home. This is outrageously ironic on a number of levels. First, just the concept that the Grangerfords would be at war with a family that is so similar to them that they go to the same church. The irony in the two families being so warlike that they bring their weapons into their place of worship. Lastly, how out of all possible topics, the sermon was about brotherly love in this particular situation nonetheless. Not to mention that even after reflecting on what they heard in church the families continue to engage in a battle later that day. Twain is trying to prove that overly powerful people like the Grangerfords or the Shepherdsons are either foolish or

Often times when Mark Twain talks about Sunday school or church in generals in the book Tom Sawyer he uses satire to explain some things in the book. When we hear about Sunday school or church we are often made to think of it as a funny or joking situation.

Tone, the general character or attitude the author has towards a piece of writing. The tone in “Harrison Bergeron” is represented, by the author, in a number of techniques that writers have in their arsenal such as, satire, irony, symbolism and diction.

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.

Throughout human history, war has been a common solution to settle conflict or disagreements between people. War has and will always be apart of this world, because no matter how much death it causes humans will never change. Some people have come to see the idiocy in war and have even written about it in poems, short stories, etc. One of these people, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, has mocked this absurd and pointless practice. Twain’s essay The War Prayer satirizes the customs of praying for safety and victory in war and for equating war with patriotism.

Mark Twain uses satire to portray different issues that were going on during the time period. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer to represent romanticism and realism. Doing so formed the characters into two drastically different persons. Mark Twain uses satirical elements to contrast the two main characters in their personalities and views.

When writing short stories authors can use irony as a reference to interpret and support parts of the work. The short story “The Eyes Have It” by Philip K. Dick is about a man who finds a book on the bus and interprets the idioms with in the book literally, which leads him to believe he has discovered another life form among earth. The author wrote this piece using irony through word play as a literary device. By taking something that is a normality in society, and twisting the words to be literal, the author displays that the words and phrases that are just supposed to commonly known ironically do not make any sense. “The Eyes Have It” concludes with the notion that the English vocabulary once ultimately registering it, can be quite strange.

“Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them” (Twain). In this satirical essay Mark Twain discusses his ideas about mankind’s useless morel sense. He observes that humans are the only species to possess a moral sense, yet they use it to perform evil. He states after comparing animals to humans he is humiliated to conclude that man is the least evolved of all species. Despite his use of satire, false authority and hasty generalizations, his piece was successful. He uses satire to pinpoint man’s flaws, while motivating his readers to analyze their own morals.

Twain uses satire to show the conflict between slavery and Christianity. Twain forces audiences to view

Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. This literary device is extremely popular in literature and entertainment, and is evident in everyday life. One modern example of satire is The Onion, which, in its home page today has satirized American politics as well as day to day American living. In one specific article, The website satirizes the current American Presidency when it says, “From building a brand new nation, to safeguarding the ideals of liberty and democracy around the world, to moving on her like a bitch, The Onion takes a closer look at each of America’s