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¶ … war and reading the quotes from several thinkers in "On War," make your own statement on the subject
War: The illegitimacy of warfare
According to the philosopher Voltaire on the subject of warfare: "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." Novels such as Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms suggest that war is fundamentally anathema to the human character. Simply because there are trumpets and an endorsement of the murder of the 'enemy' the leaders of the land, suggests Voltaire, does not make war any less scarring to human nature and dignity. Although the wars chronicled in the novels may be presented as glorious enterprises at first, the characters are initially repelled by the experience of war, and only after growing coarsened does the experience become more bearable. But perhaps the most apocalyptic rendition of war is found in novels of the Vietnam Era, like The Things They Carried, in which the characters of...
Set during the Civil War, the protagonist Henry Fleming is initially terrified by battle and flees, but decides he must subject himself again once to war to prove his manhood. "Once he thought he had concluded that it would be better to get killed directly and end his troubles... He must look to the grave for comprehension" (Crane 25). Fighting is awful and the men do not even talk about the cause they are fighting for when they are away from the frontlines because all they can think about is their survival. In the moment of battle, Fleming is able to work himself up into a frenzy: "He himself felt the daring spirit of a savage religion mad. He was capable of profound sacrifices, a tremendous death" (Crane 113). However, Fleming's inner struggles have nothing to do with justice and everything to do with his own personal fears and need for masculine self-justification. Fleming is not a natural-born killer, but the situations into which he is placed change his character because they turn morality upside-down. Wanting to live is seen is bad. Not wanting to kill is seen as good, in the inverted…
According to a report in the New York Times, the level of piracy in Somalia's treacherous waters has fallen sharply in the year 2012. This is according to statistics that were released by the U.S. Navy. This fall is credited by the U.S. Navy to the aggressive patrolling by various international forces as well as increased vigilance by the commercial maritime operators (Shanker). In my opinion, I do believe that ransom
Others say Omar "was chosen by God," Rashid writes. When interviewed by a journalist from Pakistan (Rahimullah Yousufzai) after taking control of Kabul, according to Rashid's book, Omar stated, "We had complete faith in God Almighty. We never forgot that. He can bless us with victory or plunge us into defeat." Omar was born around 1959 (albeit much of his life is carefully guarded in secrecy), he has only one eye,
However, in the end, they were unable to stop the war despite their best efforts. The war happened anyway, in spite of the best intentions and actions to prevent it. T he actions of the various governments were reactions to events that they had tried their best to prevent. They did not make a full-blown effort to convince their people of the need for war, until the war had
He is more interested in "things," than what those things will bring. "Nick went over to the pack and found, with his fingers, a long nail in a paper sack of nails, in the bottom of the pack. He drove it into the pine tree, holding it close and hitting it gently with the flat of the axe. He hung the pack up on the nail. All his supplies
Lesson 6 Journal Entry # 9 of 13 Journal Exercise 6.4B: Responding to Literature Modern British Poetry Lesson 6 Journal Entry # 10 of 13 Journal Exercise 6.5A: Responding to Literature The poem was written in 1919, which is immediately after the First World War. I think that Yeats is, on one hand, enthusiastic about the end of the world and the coming of a new era. On the other hand, I think he is
This makes sense, and has happened in other wars, such as the Civil War. Here, it seems like it was more prevalent because of the nature of the war, and the close proximity of the trenches. The men understood they were more than killing machines, and reached out to the men close to them. The author states, "In various place they fraternized, even playing soccer, singing, and talking together"