Religion In Alan's War

In Alan’s War by Emmanuel Guibert, Alan’s time in the war seems to be greatly influenced by his Christianity. Although it is not addressed until later in the novel that he is in fact religious, when we look back at the instances and circumstances Alan had been in things begin to fall in place. His Christianity had a bigger impact on his decision making than it should have had on a soldier in the war. Alan Cope seemed to follow his moral compass because of his spirituality instead of following his other unit members in their actions. Causing harm to others would affect ones’ moral being. On page 118 in Alan’s War, while staying in France, Alan and his unit decided to stay at a farmers’ house for one night to catch up on some much-needed rest. …show more content…
On page 155, Alan tells us about their trip to Czech. Their units tank had a white flag raised on it and as they passed other German units they stared in awe. One soldier in particular was so in shock he slowed down and was going to get crushed by his tank his unit was driving. Alan Cope tried to wave him down to signal to move out of the way but he was just so affixed on the white flag he was pulled under and ran over. One of Alan’s unit members even yelled at Alan saying, “What’s your problem, Cope? You can’t wave to the Germans!” Alan’s Instinct was to help someone in need, even though he was the enemy. Religious faith provides a belief in a universal moral order. This would explain why Alan tried to help the German soldier when he was about to get crushed by the …show more content…
In Prague, Alan met a German boy named Jako and grew very fond of him during his time there. The American’s adopted him, gave him a uniform to wear, and cared for Jako. They tried to find him a permanent home but had no such luck. So, Alan offered for Jako to come to America to live with him, but he could not get ahold of anyone or get the chaplain to follow through. Suddenly they were forced to leave Czechoslovakia because of the Yalta Accords, and Alan lost all tracks of Jako. Alan runs into Jako again in the future and tries to make up for this. The Yalta Agreement split up the land in Europe, as well as looking at post war plans. It was decided that Germany must surrender, and a new United Nations would be set up, to replace the league of Nations. This affects Alan in a harder way than anything in the war had affected him yet. He had grown close with this boy who had no family to go home to at night and the war had just taken him away from Jako. I think without saying or showing, Alan loses his faith in the war at times because of things like this. His morality and spirituality is really tested at points, but he never loses faith in what he believes in. Alan joined group in California. He knew he was religious and now he could pursue what he wanted. He received a letter from his friend Gerhart, telling him he was making a mistake, and that this was not the right way to understand and practice a religion. Over