“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind”. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former president of the United States of America stated the following quote to the United Nation’s General Assembly on September 25, 1961. He introduced the topic of mankind and how war can destroy relationships between people. What Kennedy is trying to convey is that war executing is the lives of not only people participating in war, but mankind in general. Kennedy’s logic relates to the short story, The Sniper by Liam O’Flaherty, as well as the poem, “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy. They relate because both the horrific effects war can have on friends and family. In both the short story and the poem, the authors convey that war is a terrible
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In The Sniper, the theme is about how war tears families apart Although, in contrast, “The Man He Killed” has a theme that war tears friends apart. “His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.” (O’Flaherty 208). After the sniper had killed his enemy, the sniper felt remorse, and is infuriated and distressed from killing him. “Had he and I met / By some old ancient inn, / We should have sat us down to wet / Right many a nipperkin!” (Hardy 1-4). If the two men had met off the battlefield, they could have became friends, therefore war tears friends apart. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 208). By the sniper killing his brother is a prime example of how war tears families apart. “You’d treat if met where any bar is, / Or help to half-a-crown.” (Hardy 19-20). This quote explains how war tears friends apart because if they had met before war they could be friends sitting at a bar together, or doing other things as friends, but instead, they met face to face in war and one had to kill the other. As a final point, both texts provide many examples of how war tears people apart leaving them full of pain and some, even suffering. The Sniper gives an example of how war tears families apart, and “The Man He Killed” gives an example of war tearing friends
In The Sniper, the theme is about how war tears families apart Although, in contrast, “The Man He Killed” has a theme that war tears friends apart. “His teeth chattered, he began to gibber to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.” (O’Flaherty 208). After the sniper had killed his enemy, the sniper felt remorse, and is infuriated and distressed from killing him. “Had he and I met / By some old ancient inn, / We should have sat us down to wet / Right many a nipperkin!” (Hardy 1-4). If the two men had met off the battlefield, they could have became friends, therefore war tears friends apart. “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 208). By the sniper killing his brother is a prime example of how war tears families apart. “You’d treat if met where any bar is, / Or help to half-a-crown.” (Hardy 19-20). This quote explains how war tears friends apart because if they had met before war they could be friends sitting at a bar together, or doing other things as friends, but instead, they met face to face in war and one had to kill the other. As a final point, both texts provide many examples of how war tears people apart leaving them full of pain and some, even suffering. The Sniper gives an example of how war tears families apart, and “The Man He Killed” gives an example of war tearing friends