Imagery And Irony: How Do Writers Protest War?

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How Do Writers Protest War? Literature is something that has been used for countless years to protest war and battling. There are multiple different ways that literature can be used to protest a war. Among these are imagery, irony, and structure. Imagery can add greater effect to the harshness of the wars and the appeals to the senses that are brought from war. Irony is used in different situations of the war to express the same idea that war is cruel. Structure is used to create emphasis on a certain topic and to create emphasis on the harshness of war to protest it. Imagery can be used in literature to protest a war. Many poems and essays have been used to display imagery and the harshness of a war. The poem “War Is Kind” by Stephen Crane …show more content…
This image demonstrates the brutality and harshness through imagery. The reader can just imagine a field full of death due to the imagery in this line. This poem also states that the soldiers were, “Raged at his breast, gulped and died”( 14). This quote demonstrates the brutality of death by using words such as raged and gulped. This creates strong sensory for the reader. The poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen shows the effects that eh war has on people and protests it when the text states that the soldiers, “ limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;”( 6). This document demonstrates the brutality of war and the things that the soldiers have to go through. Imagery is used to display these things. However, imagery is not the only way that writers protest …show more content…
The author can often use irony to express hardship and grief over a subject. In the poem “ THE DUG-OUT” by Siegfried Sassoon, the author uses irony to show that death is harsh and that people are dying young from the war. For example, The author is speaking to the soldier and states, “You are too young to fall asleep for ever;”(7). THis quote shows irony in that the author is telling the soldier or man that he should not be at the war because he has not reached his full potential and life. The author shows the point of view that war is bad and that too many people are dying young. The poem “War is Kind” also uses irony to protest war. The author speaks of soldiers and states, “ Make plain to them the excellence of killing”(21). This quote demonstrates that the soldiers just become killing machines. The author uses excellence and killing in the same sentence to show the mindset of the soldiers and their leaders. This can be a great way to protest a war because it shows the brutality of the men. Another quote from “War is Kind” shows an excellent example of irony to protest war. The author writes about the men once again and says, “ Point for them the virtue of slaughter”(20). This quote expresses the slaughter as being a good thing. The slaughter is just the harshness that the writers are protesting in writings. The author uses this to protest war in that he highlights the fact that slaughter is good in

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