For Whom The Bell Tolls Research Paper

War has always existed. Although the purpose of war varies, the outcome is the same; many lives are changed and ruined. War is often used to gain power, resources, and land, but it disregards the lives of those fighting the fight. Martin Luther King stated, “The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” In three selections, “Medevac Missions,” “A Journey Taken with my Son,” and “At Lowe’s Home Improvement Center,” readers come to understand the truths of wars’ impact on the lives of those surrounding the soldier. Their friends change, their physical and psychological states change, but the hardest truth is adjusting to life back at home. Soldiers experience many life changes during active

"They came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America; men and women whose everyday lives of duty, honor, achievement, and courage made our nation the greatest on earth." This quote is fittingly descriptive of the achievements and importance the post World War II generation had on us. In Tom Brokaw's Book, The Greatest Generation, Brokaw describes in a very personal and detailed way, the lives of a handful of World War II veterans, some famous and others unknown, but all had a great impact on the world as we know it. Brokaw is trying to illustrate to us how these men delivered under enormous and constant pressure, and he

My interpretaion of ¨The Bells¨ is about how Poe´s relationship with his wife from marriage to death. To begin with, the bells in the poem seem to represent his life and how he feels. For instance, the first stanza states, ¨What a world of merriment their melody foretells! ¨(3) This shows that the bells in the first stanza is about cheerfulness and it gives off a holiday feeling. This is the begginning of Poeś new relationship with his significant other, which is filled with love and joy. Furthermore, the bells from the second stanza represent when Poe and his wife get married. In stanza two it states, ¨What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!¨ I could assume that he is extemely happy and this is the highest peak in Poeś life because

Hedges opens the article by offering his firsthand experience with the negative effects of war on the poor, thus establishing credibility. Hedges states, “Those I knew in prep school did not seek out the military and were not sought by it. But in the improvised enclaves of central Maine, where I had relatives living in trailers, nearly everyone was a veteran” (321). Here, Hedges explains how the poor turned to military for a better life, whereas the rich did not have to join the military. Hedges grew up on both sides of the metaphorical railroad track. He acquired an authentic viewpoint on how the military lures in the poor with empty promises of a fast climb up the social ladder. Later in the

Green portrays the war as a symbolic event for men to show their duty as an American to protect their own country. Green’s choice of words such as “honor” and “justice”, “glory” and “heroism” served as a motivator for his audience to show that partaking the role of being in the Union forces will

The author, Tom Brokaw; a part of of The Greatest Generation, has plenty of experience around the military. His fathers, Red Brokaw, was the typically role model for his son. “Between the ages three and five [Tom Brokaw] lived on an Army base in western South Dakota and spent a good deal of my time outdoors in a tiny helmet, shooting stick guns at imaginary German and Japanese soldiers” (XVII). In addition to his father being an inspirational imagine in his childhood, it also included memorable images of the Fourth of July and the moment after his father returned home from the service. The military was all around Tom Brokaw and inspired him to honor the veteran’s lives as well as sacrifice during the war. From a young age good morals and values were influencing Brokaw, much like many other members of The Greatest Generation.

One of the main protagonists of 5 Bells by Gail Jones, is James DeMello. James is a primary school teacher who is haunted by grief; perhaps more so than the other protagonists in the novel. The first loss that the audience learns James is struggling to grieve with, is the death of his mother who had been unwell for many years. Despite her passing away 10 years ago, James still finds it difficult to reflect on his memories of her, and very rarely does so. Instead he relies on pills and alcohol. “James poured more wine for himself and knew he was drinking too fast...he thought of slipping away for a moment to swallow another pill” (Jones, 2012, pp.107).

One of the great Presidents of the United States and a condemner of war, Abraham Lincoln, once said, “Military glory--that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood--that serpent's eye, that charms to destroy.” Similarly, E.E. Cummings denounces war in his poems, after first hand experiences of battle in World War I. Although American society glamorizes war and the honor of sending a loved one to war, Cummings argues through his depictions of actual life on the battlefield, that this glamorization is not patriotic. People who push their children and friends into battle are not aware of and have no desire to be aware of the traumatizing experiences that the soldiers, whom they so proudly support, are facing. As exemplified through a unique writing style and the false rhetoric used by “patriots” who support war, Cummings suggests that the influence from a soldier’s home-front that pushes him to war is ironically anti-patriotic.

The novel War, written by Sebastian Junger, records the events in Korengal, Afghanistan with the American Army from a journal’s perspective. Throughout the book, he retells his experiences of fire fights, the emotional trauma of losing a fellow fighter, the undeniably strong bond between soldiers, and the consequences combat has on family members. While this novel has some detailed and brutally honest components regarding the war in Afghanistan, I found the insight provided by Junger on combat to be interesting. Once I started reading this novel, putting down the book was nearly impossible as I was finding myself entranced within this world of war. The insight into the world of combat, although brief, permitted me to better understand a soldier’s experience in war zones. My previous knowledge regarding the novel’s context, as well as personal experiences, transformed my mindset from thinking critically about the novel to becoming emotionally connected to the soldiers’ success. I found that the more I read this novel, the more my life experiences influenced my attitude towards the individuals and experiences as described by Junger.

“War is hell, but that 's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War is what makes you a man; war makes you dead.”In the autobiography “The things they Carried”author Tim O’Brien, gives his readers insight to the trials,horrors and romances of the Vietnam war.As a young man Mr.O’Brien was forced into the war by the Draft lottery a Selective Service System of the United States conducted to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for men born from 1944 to 1950. Entering into the Vietnam War Mr.O’Brien, knew he was neither prepared nor made for the harsh realities of armed combat.However after taking a life awakening journey to the Tip Top Inn Mr.O’Brien knew what he had to do, so he went to war.In the story “The things they Carried” Mr.O’Brien not only tells his account of the war but gives account to his fellow soilders version of the war like the young medic Marc Fossie who flew his high school sweetheart May Ann Bell to the base, transforming the book into a love story. Or when fellow soldier Curt Lemon dies and the story turns into somewhat of a shakespearean tragedy.Even when the War is over writer Tim O’brien explains to his audience about how savilians respond to his “war story” and how he told a true war stories are not about living in the moment but surviving for

Is one entitled to risk their life for their country? Is war full of glory and romantic? Throughout the past centuries, the perspective on war has changed through a new understanding of reality. Writers such as Ambrose Bierce and Tim O’Brien provide a realistic presentation of war through their respective narratives, “What I Saw at Shiloh” and “The Things They Carried.” Both authors effectively evoke a sense of sympathy through their tone and diction.

James Webb focuses on three main characters in his novel: Robert E. Lee Hodges, “Snake,” and Will “Senator” Goodrich. The inspiration for these three characters seems to be not the life of any particular historical figure, but rather the common backgrounds of real soldiers who served in Vietnam in general. Characters in the novel are most often developed only after their initial introduction into the story. After introducing a character to the reader, Webb will often follow this introduction with the story of the characters life before the military and how or why he decided to enlist. Those characteristics not mentioned at his introduction or those that change are typically revealed during or after intense, traumatic events, such as near-death experiences or witnessing the death of a friend. Although the novel centers on only three characters, these three characters represent highly prominent reasons that American’s had for enlisting; to continue a family legacy and protect his family’s honor, to escape the steep decline and unhappiness of his life, and by accident or unwillingly being drafted.

According to American writer and National Book Award winner Flannery O’Connor, “the basis of art is truth” (65) and O’Brien blends his own personal stories with fiction to paint a truthful picture of what war is actually like. American teenagers these days are unaware of how war really is and because war happens “over there”, there is a disconnect between teens, soldiers and vets. In Northbrook, the conversation of drafts and going to war never occurs because there is no real threat of it. Similar to O’Brien, Northbrook teenagers have good educations and they have big hopes and dreams for their futures. They don’t understand what it’s like to have their entire lives changed by receiving a draft, and therefore reading this story is fundamental to their development as human beings. Author Daniel Robinson explains that there must be some truth to war stories, “but alone they [facts] cannot reveal the hidden truths found in a true war story” (1). Although a soldier may remember what happened on the warfront, a truthful war story takes these facts and adds meaning to them so that the underlying ideas of the human experience become more complex. For this reason, O’Brien meshes his own experiences with his imagination in order to paint as clear a picture as he can about what being at war is really

Alexander Bell was an inventor, self-taught student, and teacher. He was an important part of communication technology history. The invention of the telephone made a huge impact on the world.

The importance of Alexander Graham Bell on today’s society is visible, or rather audible, every day and everywhere. First and foremost, Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific teacher of the deaf. This is what he considered to be his true life’s work, but only one of the many important things he did. Through his research of speech and sound, and his creative mind, he would become one of the most influential inventors in modern history. His own definition of an inventor, “A man who looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world.” suits him well. Every thing that he did had an impact on someone.