In her piece, “Regarding the Pain of Others,” Susan Sontag heavily critiques Virginia Woolf and her reflections on war in “Three Guineas.” Sontag goes on to mention the photographs Woolf forces on people to make them feel pain. She thinks that is the most efficacious way to prevent war. However, Sontag cleverly states, “For Woolf, as for many antiwar polemicists, war is generic, and the images she describes are of anonymous, generic victims.” Violence is inevitable in war, but incrimination is not always guaranteed. These pictures do not claim to one side, as both sides can technically allege that the victim is their own. In propaganda, both sides can change the victim to suit their interests, so is it really an effective means of prevention?
