War and Reading the Quotes From Several

¶ … 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 the protagonists are emotionally devastated by the experience of combat, and in some cases, driven mad.

The title of The Red Badge of Courage refers to the desire of the central protagonist to be wounded in war, as proof of his masculinity and virility. 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 logic of warfare.

In Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, the hero Frederic Henry initially tries to be noble and serve his country. At first, Henry is even willing to get a knee operation more quickly than recommended so he can return to the front. He ultimately decides leave the army and desert despite his previous commitment to service. The novel suggests that there can be no true morality in a wartime context: even good men like Henry are persecuted and treated unjustly. The only true morality is manifested in the love that Henry feels for Catherine Barkley, a nurse with whom he falls in love with and has a child by. Henry decides to undertake a purely personal existence, united to Catherine. "But won't they arrest you if they catch you out of uniform?' 'They'll probably shoot me'" (Hemingway 106). Despite the evident goodness of his action, in the logic of wartime it is acceptable to kill a soldier if he refuses to kill. Hardened by warfare, Henry experiences a reawakening of his true character with Catherine.