World War Memorial Analysis

By the time World War I had finished, there had never been a war as large or catastrophic as what had just occurred. One of the main questions though, as time began to separate future generations from what occurred, was how would the events and the people who fought in the war be remembered. When examining within the confines of Britain how these figures were memorialised, there have been a number of different approaches used, such as modern television, novels, monuments, and many more. This essay will focus on two specific formats that accomplish this process. First will be through war memorials and their significance within Britain, both in past and present times. Second, the essay will examine a well known piece of literature, by analyzing …show more content…
On the platform the words “from mud through blood to the green fields” is inscribed. In his own analysis of WWI memorials Abousnnouga took note on a few symbols and what they conveyed. He often saw that within the memorials, soldiers were to be shown as “simply strong and invulnerable .” As can be seen in this monument, all these men are standing tall, looking forward and have a confident look on their face. To me this is a perfect image of the strong fearless soldier archetype. This monument appears to be created using a bronze metal, which Abousnnnouga says helps to give a more ‘timelessness’ aura to monuments . In looking at the inscription, my personal interpretation is that it is trying to present optimism in looking towards the future. It starts out using the images as mud and blood, which could symbolize the sacrifice during the war, and ends in green fields, which could be viewed as springing a new hope after peace had been …show more content…
When Rivers meets Prior, Prior does not speak, instead he opts to write responses to questions posed to him, nor does he recall his dreams . This presents a realistic start to the healing process, due to Prior’s silence, but presents a roadblock in Rivers therapy. Rivers relies upon the discussion of a person’s dreams to help them recover , therefore Prior not being able to talk about them presents a challenge. During the next day when Prior finally speaks, he refuses to talk about his experiences during the war . This presents another issue, as Rivers in his “The Repression of War Experience” thesis believed repression of memory led to symptoms of trauma being exasperated not cured . As Rivers and Prior spent more time together, Prior begins to open up more. Eventually Rivers under goes a session of Hypnosis with Prior trying to bring forth some of his repressed memory. Through this session we learn the events Prior does not remember is the destruction of two of his men and the act of cleaning them up . Upon waking, Prior has an emotional break down, and states he blames himself for the occurrence, something I attribute to the feeling of survivors guilt. One last point of importance is the further along Prior goes; he states he wants to return to the Front, because he feels he’s failed personally due to breaking down . This is common for both the soldier and Rivers,