War has a significant impact on society, revealing certain aspects of human nature otherwise hidden. From a historical perspective, both Joseph Heller and Ian McEwan criticise the nature of war through Catch-22 and Atonement respectively. Both authors reflect upon values and attitudes present during wartime through the portrayal of characters reflecting these and create a ‘constructed world’ of war, reflecting aspects of reality, to discuss and criticise the questioning of reality consequential of war. Finally, both authors explore the dehumanisation and deindividualisation of soldiers by exploring dominant historical and culture contexts present during World War II.
Heller and McEwan both create ‘constructed worlds’ infused with a sense of …show more content…
The hospital setting has significant impact in both texts, but the portrayal such is different. While McEwan’s hospital presents the horrors of war with detailed imagery, describing the “sticky odour of fresh blood” and “every secret of body rendered up”, the patients in Heller’s are there for superficial things, such as “the grippe” and “a dose of clap”. Yossarian uses the hospital to escape from his missions, from the reality of war itself, while McEwan’s soldiers do not have the choice, facing the horrific reality of war. Heller’s hospital has a “much lower death rate inside than outside”, suggesting an irony in the fact that hospital, a place often associated with death, is safer than the war. Contrastingly, McEwan presents his hospital as the epitome of the human suffering consequential of war. Alongside this imagery, McEwan utilises blood as a symbol representing . Briony is promptly told to “wash the blood from her face” Similarly, Heller’s “soldier in white” symbolises the utter disregard for the humanity of the soldiers by the bureaucracy, also alluding to Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun, which explores the dehumanisation of soldiers in war. Through this portrayal, both authors also suggest some criticism of the role of women in the war. Cecilia and Briony feel obliged to join the war effort, working in the hospital, and McEwan’s reflection upon the auxiliary role of women in war is clear. McEwan also reflects this through his portrayal of the nurse trainees; Sister Drummond tries to remove the individuality of the nurses, instructing them to “[never] communicate to a patient [their] Christian name[s]”. Heller portrays a similar idea, characterising all the significant female characters in his story as either nurses or prostitutes. While correct within historical context,
Heller and McEwan both create ‘constructed worlds’ infused with a sense of …show more content…
The hospital setting has significant impact in both texts, but the portrayal such is different. While McEwan’s hospital presents the horrors of war with detailed imagery, describing the “sticky odour of fresh blood” and “every secret of body rendered up”, the patients in Heller’s are there for superficial things, such as “the grippe” and “a dose of clap”. Yossarian uses the hospital to escape from his missions, from the reality of war itself, while McEwan’s soldiers do not have the choice, facing the horrific reality of war. Heller’s hospital has a “much lower death rate inside than outside”, suggesting an irony in the fact that hospital, a place often associated with death, is safer than the war. Contrastingly, McEwan presents his hospital as the epitome of the human suffering consequential of war. Alongside this imagery, McEwan utilises blood as a symbol representing . Briony is promptly told to “wash the blood from her face” Similarly, Heller’s “soldier in white” symbolises the utter disregard for the humanity of the soldiers by the bureaucracy, also alluding to Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun, which explores the dehumanisation of soldiers in war. Through this portrayal, both authors also suggest some criticism of the role of women in the war. Cecilia and Briony feel obliged to join the war effort, working in the hospital, and McEwan’s reflection upon the auxiliary role of women in war is clear. McEwan also reflects this through his portrayal of the nurse trainees; Sister Drummond tries to remove the individuality of the nurses, instructing them to “[never] communicate to a patient [their] Christian name[s]”. Heller portrays a similar idea, characterising all the significant female characters in his story as either nurses or prostitutes. While correct within historical context,