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The Asians Dying Analysis

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By 1975 the Vietnam war had claimed over 5 million lives, many of which were civilians. This has made it a war that Americans have been ashamed of and tried to forget. W. S. Merwin was outspoken on how he felt about war, which he shows in “The Asians Dying.” He makes a statement on the inhumane way the Vietnam war took human lives. ”The Asians Dying” will shock readers with its gruesome imagery and force them to look at what war does. Merwin uses the archetype of death to show the reader what the Vietnam war did to people, and how inhumane the Vietnam war was.

Death is something people throughout all cultures and different parts of the world are affected by. Merwin uses this to his advantage so his message will reach a larger audience. Death is a common factor throughout “The Asians Dying”. Merwin depicts those who died in the Vietnam war in ways that some readers may find hard to read. Descriptions of dead bodies and gruesome imagery are used. Although these depictions may be disturbing, they are accurate and necessary for Merwin to show the inhumanity of war. Instead of directly telling the reader about the deaths that the war caused, he paints a picture in the reader's mind of “rain [falling] into the open eyes of the dead.” (Merwin 10) Merwin knew this detailed description of the once living corpses would haunt the reader’s mind. He was sure to mention the inhumane manner the bodies were left in. No burial, out in the open for the rain to fall on them, with their eyes wide open. Readers are forced to …show more content…

“The Asians Dying” effectively shows readers the cruel manner in which lives are taken through war and shows how war is inhumane. His use of Gruesome imagery allowed him to show the reader just how inhumane the Vietnam war was and, his use of the archetype of death allowed him to get his anti-war message to almost all

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