Why does Edmund Blunden imbue his memoir Undertones of War with irony? To understand the intent and extent of his stylistic choices, one has to understand the context of the work. Written following his experiences as a soldier during the First World War, Undertones of War was written as a recollection of Edmund Blunden’s personal experiences as a soldier. As a memoir, Blunden projects his own feelings and opinions into his writing, detailing both the emotions he felt in the moment of his experience as a soldier and those he felt while reflecting on the war. Instead a triumphant tale of heroism, the memoir is almost cynical and very down-to-earth, contradicting the uplifting genre of war writing which often seeks to put its heroes on god-like…
The second passage I chose was not about Yossarian’s character, though it may deal with how frustrated he finds his new roomates, but about the glamorization of war. “They were the most depressing group of people Yossarian had ever been with. They were always in high spirits. They laughed at everything. They called him ‘Yo-Yo’ jocularly and came in tipsy late at night and woke him up with their clumsy, bumping, giggling efforts to be quiet, then bombarded him with asinine shouts of hilarious good-fellowship when he sat up cursing to complain.…
From Yossarian, a pilot whose only objective is staying alive, to his commanding officer, whose main goal is to push his men past the brink of sanity, the military base is populated with a memorable, sad, and hilarious assortment characters who all embody minute aspects of Heller’s antiwar crusade. As the story progresses, each page…
The Troubles of War In the hardships of war, you must fight for what you believe is right or things will never change. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, Tim and his family face many troubles with the ongoing war. The war is brutal and effects not only those fighting it, but those around it. Unfortunately the people must do desperate things in order to cope with their desperate situations.…
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien In the book The Things They Carried boys were drafted to fight a war in new place,new atmosphere ,a different type of terrain and weather. This is new to everyone who is fighting this platoon were consisted mostly young men and few experienced men. Some of these boys are carrying things that reminds them of home or as something that keeps them fighting. Throughout the book it shows us how theses young men fighting in war changes them after how they evolve to “Adults”.…
Many young children dream of being princesses or superheroes when they grow up and the rest of the world permits them to live in this fantasy world while they can. Inevitably, though, one day, the children will realize that the world is not the fairytale they once imagined it to be. A piece of their innocence and bliss slips away. The idea of loss of innocence has been popular in literature for ages. One of the best known novels in the world, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, follows the story of a young girl as she discovers that her town is not the picturesque place she once thought it was, but is instead filled with people quick to judge, especially when it comes to race.…
Tim O'Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, eloquently (NR) demonstrates the theme of ‘beauty in horror’. The novel emphasizes this theme through the underlying foil between beauty and atrocities that are not uncommon in war stories. O'Brien focuses on the imagery of these events as well as the tone to illustrate the difficulties that soldiers are exposed to and how they have been conditioned to their situation to no longer see the horror in these horrific events rather start seeing them as beautiful events. The relevance of this theme is most prevalent in the short story, “How to Tell a True War Story.” This short story illustrates many different barbaric events that have been very beautifully illustrated.…
The senseless destruction of the natural world coupled with a seemingly endless amount of cruelty destroys Rowell’s faith in humanity and he proceeds to take his own life because he does not wish to live in a world like this. War tears families apart, both physically and mentally. Findley’s novel exemplifies the destruction of a family through the mind. This is displayed with Robert Ross’s family and the most affected victim was his mother, Mrs.…
In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the father’s optimism is retained by his son’s endurance as the boy symbolizes hope. The appalling circumstances of the world results in the characters’ pessimism where they experience feelings of doubt during their journey. However, the father’s reassurance inspires his son to sustain the voyage, accordingly motivating the man’s own persistence. As he confirms his son’s survival day after day, the man’s faith in hope is fortified, inspiring him to continue their expedition. Generally, in the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the boy symbolizes hope as he is perceived as a God, and serves as a barrier between his father and death, motivating the ongoing journey.…
In his book, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque is characterizing a young generation who lost everything in the Great War. He describes how Paul the main character, and his comrades perish one by one to the brutality of the war. The author describes how they become more dehumanized, as they fight endlessly for nothing. Because in many of the fiercest battles of the war, there is hardly any territory won or lost, yet the casualties are huge. Finally, the book has an anti-war message prevalent throughout as strong theme.…
“So it goes.” These three words convey the fatalistic mindset of Kurt Vonnegut through the voice of Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist of Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five. The strength of Vonnegut’s novel lies in his own personal experiences, as he himself was an American prisoner of war, was captured in Germany, and then was transferred to the city of Dresden. Throughout the novel, Billy Pilgrim suffers flashbacks of the horrors of war, specifically those associated with the bombing of Dresden. By narrating the novel through the voice of Billy, Vonnegut conveys his belief that war is absurd, exemplified by the causes and effects of the firebombing of Dresden.…
The boys turn into savages who are inhumane and stolid to the environment around them. Jack uses fear and his response to the daily struggles of living on the island to show that man is born innocent and is corrupted by society. When the Jack first arrives on the island, he tries to cooperate…
The terrors of the Vietnam War has always frightened the people into hiding. Afraid of facing death in the eye or having your friend die in your arms. But what if there was more to the war then meets the eye? What if you were your own worst enemy? In the novel, Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers uses both the setting and time period to explore controversial topics.…
While most certainly brutal and violent, the results of war can be either positive or negative. On one side, countless lives are lost; on the other side, principles are upheld or won, and a new country now has the opportunity to prosper. The American Revolution began around 1775 and ended in 1783, when the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain and became its own country. Like any other war, much of the damage and casualties resulted from civilian deaths when the raging armies swept through the colonies. The Loyalists- those who supported Great Britain and King George- and the Patriots- those who supported the principles of freedom and independence- alike were both hurt, killed, imprisoned, or otherwise dragged into…
Although told in an oftentimes quirky and odd manner, Slaughterhouse-Five gives an intriguing perspective on World War II and the lasting effects that it had on the men who fought through it and went on to live out their lives in “normalcy”. The author, Kurt Vonnegut, uses irony, dark humor, and spontaneity to create an unorthodox depiction of the life of one of these said soldiers, Billy Pilgrim, the main character in the novel. In this light, he uses Pilgrim’s experiences in World War II to demonstrate the true nature of war to those who were fortunate enough to never experience it for themselves. The novel’s main theme, the destructiveness of war both internally and externally, is portrayed through Vonnegut’s illustration of the destruction…