Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid takes place during the crucial beginning years of World War II. During this time, the German army sent a series of air raids to wreak destruction upon the people of England. Feminist author and Englishwoman, Virginia Woolf, writes an inductively persuasive essay in order to convey her view on the foundation of war, which she believes to be the freedom trapped within the mindset of society. Woolf crafts the text using symbolic stream of consciousness, analogies and understatements to convey her viewpoint. Throughout her piece, Woolf employs the writing style of stream of consciousness in order to develop symbolism. In doing so she accurately conveys her position regarding freedom. As she explains that “ It
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Woolf first examines the enslaving nature of womanhood in England. As she describes the women around her as, “ painted women; dressed-up women; women with crimson lips and crimson fingernails. They are slaves who are trying to enslave” she creates the image of female slavery due to the constant need to appease society's preconceived mindset and traditions of who they should be. Women were slaves to beauty. Woolf then compares this slavery, to that of a man's mindset for war, saying, “The young airman up in the sky is driven not only by the voices of the loudspeakers; he is driven by the voices in himself— ancient instincts, instincts fostered by education and tradition.” Men were slaves to war. Woolf uses the comparison that analogy offers to demonstrate the principle that both men and women’s freedoms are equally restricted by society’s mindset of who they should be. She states that “ we are both prisoners tonight— he boxed up in his machine with a gun handy, we lying in the dark.” It is in this analogy that Woolf establishes the principle idea that it is indeed society's trapping mindset which builds the foundation for …show more content…
Virginia Woolf uses understatements towards the physical war itself such as, “ the guns on the hill go pop pop pop” and, “ Sometimes far away, a bomb drops.” These understatements serve as a way to pull away from the severity of the war itself and draw light upon the true problem, which Woolf believed to be within human nature. By using simplistic syntax such as ‘hill’ and ‘pop’ the tone in which Woolf conveys the war itself serves as an understatement. Virginia Woolf saw war as a mere effect of society's trapping mindset and used understatements in order to discredit the imminent danger of war and amplify the terrifying reality of the human
Woolf first examines the enslaving nature of womanhood in England. As she describes the women around her as, “ painted women; dressed-up women; women with crimson lips and crimson fingernails. They are slaves who are trying to enslave” she creates the image of female slavery due to the constant need to appease society's preconceived mindset and traditions of who they should be. Women were slaves to beauty. Woolf then compares this slavery, to that of a man's mindset for war, saying, “The young airman up in the sky is driven not only by the voices of the loudspeakers; he is driven by the voices in himself— ancient instincts, instincts fostered by education and tradition.” Men were slaves to war. Woolf uses the comparison that analogy offers to demonstrate the principle that both men and women’s freedoms are equally restricted by society’s mindset of who they should be. She states that “ we are both prisoners tonight— he boxed up in his machine with a gun handy, we lying in the dark.” It is in this analogy that Woolf establishes the principle idea that it is indeed society's trapping mindset which builds the foundation for …show more content…
Virginia Woolf uses understatements towards the physical war itself such as, “ the guns on the hill go pop pop pop” and, “ Sometimes far away, a bomb drops.” These understatements serve as a way to pull away from the severity of the war itself and draw light upon the true problem, which Woolf believed to be within human nature. By using simplistic syntax such as ‘hill’ and ‘pop’ the tone in which Woolf conveys the war itself serves as an understatement. Virginia Woolf saw war as a mere effect of society's trapping mindset and used understatements in order to discredit the imminent danger of war and amplify the terrifying reality of the human