Many people think of war as disastrous. Towns ruined, families run out of their houses, and death. Hunt applied letters from soldiers that are families and friends of the Creighton’s to show the hard times of the war. In one of Tom’s letters to the family he writes, “We was feelin set-up about Fort Henry and when some of the boys got tard of carryin hevey blanket rolls they jest up and throwed em away--some of the boys that was sick or bad hurt they froze to deth in the snow,” (Hunt, 51). More and more letters came from the boys talking about bad things they had done, and bad situations they were thrown into. The Civil War was disastrous.
We as humans find conflict to be rash and futile, but to the soldiers that fight for our freedom, it is an honor and a privilege, but it is dreadful nonetheless. We are going to be discussing Tim O'Brien's intentions in writing the short story “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy.” It is my understanding that he wrote the story to tell us about war as it is hard to imagine its entirety and that war takes lives. Finally, I believe that he wants us to see how dangerous and terrifying war really is. So let’s explore this complication.
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 novel Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, the main character is Richie Perry. At seventeen he graduated high school in Harlem, and he wanted to go to college, but his mother couldn’t afford to send him to college since she was an alcoholic. So he joined the army to escape his unfortunate future, but joining the army meant he had to leave his little brother Kenny, who saw him as a father figure since their father left when they were younger. Perry was sent to Vietnam and through his journey, he made lifelong bonds with many different people such as PeeWee, Monaco, and etc. Also in his journey, he suffers from mental and physical wounds. In the end of the book he was completely changed, he has lost his innocence, his sense of normalcy and morality, their hope, and his faith, and the
The society Lowry depicts in The Giver is a utopian society; a perfect world as envisioned by its creators. It has removed fear, pain, famine, illness, conflict, and hatred, all things that most of people would like to eliminate in today’s society. In this utopian community, major problems are rare, only minor problems such as scraping your knee would happen. Even when this would happen there would be medications sent to them. In Lois Lowry’s award-winning novel, The Giver, Jonas’s society is considered to be utopian because the society has an overall sense of sameness, organization, and minimal problems.
Moreover, Heller shows the perversions of the human character and society. Using unique style and structure, and also satirizes war and its values as well as using the war setting to satirize society at large. By manipulating the war setting and language of the novel Heller is able to depict society as dark and twisted. Heller demonstrates his thoughts of society through the depicted war. In the novel, the loss of personal identity in the soldiers lives.
"Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and uniforms you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert (Remarque 223)". Comradeship among soldiers is a major theme throughout the novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" because the soldiers knew each other before the war, protected each other during combat, and can relate to one another without having to literally speak.
In My Brother Sam is Dead the authors prove that war is futile. War is futile means that war is pointless or, not producing any useful product. One of the points that proves war is futile is it confuses reality with principle. Secondly war creates the youth against the elders, a clash of generations. Lastly the most devastating point that proves war is futile is it tears families apart. Although in My Brother Sam is Dead it is unclear what side the authors are on; ultimately they argue that war is futile.
Jeff was on a mission. His mission was to gather information on the evasive rouge colonel that went by the name of Bonge Stoof. Bonge Stoof was a name that struck fear into many of the citizens of the thirteen colonies. He was known for being brutal with his prisoners, ravaging houses of innocent people, and killing his own country men. He and his squad of men were getting more and bolder in their attempts of taking down the thirteen colonies and had recently blown up a shipment of gunpowder. Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson had recently assigned him with the task of finding Bonge Stoof and gathering information on him and his group of rebels. Jeff Logander was not specifically happy with this assignment because he knew that it would
With every journey comes a destination which is dependent on the degree of the individual and their will to potentially better themselves. A journey offers travelers the opportunity to extend themselves physically, intellectually and emotionally as they respond to challenges. Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron is a contemporary fractured fairytale in the form of a play that explores the grim, Australian legend of the missing child. This text portrays real issues in an absurd representation which forces the reader on an imaginative journey as well as the characters in an inner journey to establish an identity. Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor is a distressing elegy about loss of life through war. Slessor’s sophisticated language, allows the responder
The journal entries reveals Deward Barnes crucial experiences that shaped him as a soldier, and makes the readers truly appreciate and understand these first hand accounts of a Canadian soldiers' experiences on the Western Front. Through reading Barnes' accounts, his dramatic experience of being shot, his participation in the firing squad that executed a deserter named Private Harold Lodge, and his transformation from a frightened soldier, to a a brave veteran, the reader witnesses how the individual experiences of a soldier shaped his character the longer he stayed in the war. Barnes provides memorable descriptions of his experiences on the Western Front as he illustrates why he did things, his reactions to doing them, and how he felt about it afterwards. One of the major themes in this source, that I can most definitely use in my essay, is his negative reaction to his participation in the execution of the deserter, which was the key experience in altering his character as a soldier. Furthermore, his experiences outside of battle, as well as in it, such as his more relaxed reactions to the cruelties of war, portrays a more mature soldier. Barnes becomes shaped by becoming familiar with destruction of war; he is transformed by it. This source is influencing my thinking, as well as my approach to research as it makes me
In 'The Memorial Tablet ', Sassoon is representing his views as a soldier who died in World War 1. The soldier is forced to fight for something he doesn 't believe in. It says "Squire nagged and bullied until I went to fight". Sassoon 's choice of verbs 'nagged ' and 'bullied ' emphasizes how much the squire wants the soldier to join and how much the soldier doest want to join.
The author seems to have a deep connection with war which is why the author listed a bunch of things about war because all of these things has a deep meaning that’s related to the author.
Tom is a soldier, and he is very passionate about what he does for the Union. Because he believes so much in the Union army, he dies while fighting for them. I think this proves the importance of the war seen by the author. If she didn’t feel this way about the war, why would she make a character feel so passionate for the Union. On the other hand I think the author wanted to show the readers that war was a difficult time for families. In the Creighton family they had two of the three of the family members joining the Union Army, while one of them left to fight for the Confederate Army. One night Jethro found Bill gathering his things on the hillside, he was preparing to join the confederate army. After he leaves the family doesn’t hear from Bill again except for John who found him as a captured soldier. John wrote to the family saying
Dissension is not worth combat. Collier and Collier try to demonstrate that war does more harm than good, no matter how “right” one side may be. In the novel, the authors contend that war fractures society, and divides country-men. The horrific deaths in war are unsettling and extremely detrimental to the cause. Equally, unfairness will always be a consequence of war. Just like Tim concluded in the book, “I keep thinking that there might have been another way, besides war, to achieve the same end.” (Collier and Collier 211). Even though war can bring resolutions, the resulting consequences outweigh the