The Meaning Of War In Shakespeare's Hamlet

The word "war" has a clearly association with horror, devastation and injustice. It is hardly to find greater antonyms than "war" and "justice". After all, the law which is inseparable from the justice is understandable as civilized communication and background for nonviolent conflict solving process. On the other hand, the war is also the way to solve conflicts, but in a different way, using the suffering and the price of life.

Many people wonder if war is a necessary evil. War can end injustice and brutality. It can lead to freedom and liberty, and ensure the safety of future generations. However, war also costs lives, and it leads to brutality. War can tear apart families, and cause pain and suffering. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, the main character, Tim Meeker, has to weigh these factors and choose what side he is on. Throughout the book, he is indecisive, and constantly debates which side he should choose. By the end of the book, Tim decides to become neutral after seeing and experiencing the deaths of Ned, Life Meeker, and Sam Meeker.

Everyone has to deal with loss and Shakespeare understood that within his play Hamlet. Throughout the play Hamlet is dealing with the loss of his father, in fact he gives several soliloquies about it. Perhaps the most famous soliloquy given is the one from Act III, scene i. Hamlet begins with the famous line, “To be, or not to be, that is the question:”(1). Although there are many literary devices used within this excerpt, the most prominent are syntax, diction, and imagery, and Shakespeare creatively uses each to portray Hamlet’s state of mind.

War. It divides to conquer? Ending in triumph, or does it leave us broken? Who’s to say, it can do both. It all depends on the war itself. War is about principles. It can be used to end injustice, tyranny, or both. It can band people together to form a bond that is unbreakable, all fighting for the same cause. But that bond can have a high price. War kills soldiers, tearing them from family; it kills innocent people, just trying to survive. People are brutal, whether it be a harsh commander with deathly penalties, or even a rude soldier, demanding supplies or a roof from a civilian. Many think war is not the only way, there can be a peaceful solution. Two such people are the authors of My Brother Sam is Dead, James and Christopher Collier. They show this belief through the life of Tim Meeker, who struggles to decide who to side with, his brother, Sam, or his father. The ironic and horrible deaths of Jerry, Ned, and his own brother, Sam, eventually force Tim to choose neutrality.

Throughout O’Brien’s work, he illustrates how the nature of war can change friendships and develop trust. While those involved are affected by war, each person handles their emotions differently. There is something ingrained in humans that even when people lose their sanity and their emotions go insane, most humans still feel the need to protect the other. People can go into a war as enemies, but when dangerous situations come, trust must be built, even if it is

The world has been prospering from war for a long time. But, we do not always see the problems it causes. For instance, it tears families apart, it clashes generations, and finally it shows us principal versus reality. So, if war brings more bad things than good it defeats the purpose of even having a war in the first place. The authors of My Brother Sam is Dead also feels that war is pointless and unnecessary. War would be considered futile for many reasons including the fact that it splits families up. “Get out. And don’t come back until you come dressed as my son, not as a stranger.” (Collier and Collier 22). This quote from the book is representing how war split the Meeker family up. If it was not for the war Sam and Mr. Meeker would not

In the beginning of William Shakespeare’s introspective play, Hamlet’s first soliloquy finds him as a more melancholic and more desperate character. He faced conflicts involving himself, the people around him, and his environment–how the events that have occurred in his surroundings negatively influenced his character. In Act 1, after enduring an unpleasant encounter at his mother and Claudius’ court, then being asked by his parents not to resume his studies in Wittenberg and rather stay in Denmark, Hamlet starts to have his suicidal thoughts for the very first time. For Hamlet, existence itself is a burden; he desires for his flesh to ‘melt’ and wishes that God had not made ‘self-slaughter’ a sin. Hamlet, then characterizes the world as “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” (1; 5) Claiming that suicidal is the only alternative way out of a painful world but it is however forbidden by his religion. In a quote from the text, “O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father”, (1; 21-24) Hamlet describes his intense disgust at Gertrude’s decision of marrying Claudius, her vastly inferior former brother-in-law. As matter of fact, this is specifically

Hamlet is a powerful story of love, life, revenge, and death. The themes within the play are written to live on for eternity. It is difficult to fully and accurately represent a play as great as this one. The movie that we watched in class did not wholly represent the wonders and the magnitude of the themes within Shakespeare’s work.

The main character of William Shakespeare’s tragedy is actually a confused person that’s stuck between two choices. Some may argue that he feels guilty for his father’s death and so it’s his duty to avenge it. While others may disagree and conclude that he is just a maniac who is both violent and dangerous. Hamlet passes through the lane of hesitancy, where he hesitates to kill King Claudius. As a matter of fact, the main conflict of Hamlet is that he feels both the need to solve the crime and punish the responsible. In addition, he suffers from hesitancy in the correctness of their actions. Throughout the play, Hamlet says, “That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, /Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell.” (2.2.581-587) This

When talking about war, there are many books with few answers to what war truly is. Barbara Ehrenreich brings forth not only the possibilities towards understanding war but also the passion people from history have had towards it. One key issue she brings to light is humanities love for war, so much so that people would use excuses like holy wars to justify their need to fight in a war. She declares that war is as muddled as the issue of diseases and where diseases came from around 200 years ago. More so than that she even goes further on to state that these rituals that date back to prehistoric times are the cause of human nature during times of war rather than human instinct. Ehrenreich brings up the idea that war is human kinds natural high. She sails us down a road of self-doubt in humanity and makes society re-question the idea of antiwar acts all the

Even without war the loss of human lives is catastrophic. On average 1.8 people die every second. So many lives are lost from illness and accidents for example the highest mortality rate among people is caused Cardiovascular diseases. So if we as people have so many reasons as to why we are dying why would we send people to war send them to die for this warped belief of nationalism. They belived that they needed to fight to solve the worlds problems yet do we ever stop to think is there another way. War an easily be prevented. In the past we have seen many wars caused by fighting over our thoughts and ideals but couldnt we find a way peaceful co

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.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after his father, King Hamlet, dies. Death theme is the most occurring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most of his plays have a very dramatic death ending and involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of revenge and death. Shakespeare starts the death theme with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending. In William

Values and beliefs are defining principles of the way in which we view a person, action or relationship. Often, we are encouraged to think again about these values and beliefs, after being exposed to challenging and insightful events, people, or material. William Shakespeare's tragedy, “Hamlet,” written in the Elizabethan era, encourages us to think about our values and beliefs surrounding revenge, love and loyalty. After examination of these concepts, the reader develops new insights into their values and beliefs, and come to fully support the statement that “ the most significant texts encourage us to think again about our values and beliefs.”

In a desperate attempt for peace, as ironic as it may be, we create chaos, resulting in the death of millions at a time. Firearms burn bright in the dim sun, exposing the vibrancy of blood-stained suits. As the bullets penetrate skin, the life of another innocent individual has already been lost. Families never to hear a last, “I love you” before their loved one tragically passes in a loud, chaotic mess. They run towards the danger, knowing exactly what result the soldiers might have gotten in the gamble of life or death.