Mark Twain's True Meaning Behind War Prayer

Satire: a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule. In the early 1900s, talk was all about war, but war was not all talk. The United States was involved in multiple wars, and most people believed war to be a positive thing. Those with differing opinions were publicly shamed, and Mark Twain was not exactly shy about flaunting his opinion at first. His personal views of the goings-on in the world can be found in his writing, and “The War Prayer” was no different. Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer” informs the reader of his negative views of war in multiple ways, and show how only dead men can speak out about their opinions. This is shown with the double meaning behind the “age stranger” quote, the capitalization of Throne, and using his personal quote about dead men.

Mark Twain and His Worldview The worldviews of authors greatly affect what they write and how they write it. This essay will examine what Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, believes about the world and how he expressed this in some of his lesser known writings such as Letters From the Earth and Little Bessie. By understanding his worldview people can better dissect some of his other more common works to learn their intirquices.

Further evidence from his 1877 speech leads one to believe that Twain’s real life experience and his story have far too

In the short story or prose poem, Mark Twain uses all types of rhetorical devices such as metaphor, alliteration, and diction and many more. This allows to build up an intense way of grabbing the reader’s attention. In the short story, this is manly about how the war is great news and an “aged stranger” is saying be careful of what you pray for. The War Prayer offers a poignant reflection on the double- edged moral sword implicit to war.

In the first part of his prayer, he praises the soldiers and prays for victory. In the middle of the prayer, his tone shifts as he condemns the church for its contradictory position on the war. Twain viewed the American war as selfish because any prayer that seeked special benefit for one group meaned, requesting to deny

Samuel L. Clemens, better known for his novelist title Mark Twain, wrote an intuitive short story in 1905 as a response to the Spanish-American and Philippine-American War. He began his writing career at the age of eighteen until the commence of the Civil War; in which he then volunteered to join the war. Within two weeks he quit and set off for a new conquest much in which resembled soul searching. Expediting to move across the country he crossed paths with natives and became a familiar writer moving to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Twain’s form of writing cultivated into a fervent style during his life in Hartford yet took an aberrant turn reaching the nineteen hundred. He began to pivot around dark writings that focused on the inner workings

Twain’s essay discusses imperialism and its consequences. Twain uses two very different characters, a priest and a stranger, to contrast pro-imperialism and anti-imperialism. Ultimately, Twain’s essay reveals to readers that praying for success in war is also

In "The War Prayer", shows the effect of war on the people. This text has seemed to effect people in a bad way. There is man who people have believed to have gone mad or what Twaine wrote as "lunatic". He claims to have a message from the Almighty God and has to deliever it to the people of the church. Twain wrote " Bless our arms, grant us with victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!", shows that he wants them to win. He tells the whole church about the message he has received until he finishes with what he has to say. The church didnt believe in what he has to say because " It was believed afterwards, that man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said". They didnt believe him. The effect of war caused him to go crazy and believe in what God had told him.

Clemens’ piece is written as a condemnation of the strong religious and nationalistic bellicosity he saw evident in his nation and other alike in his lifetime. This fervor for war was routinely justified by war theology established in the Old Testament. Clemens, having seen the horror rendered by the total war wrought upon the south by Sherman’s march and the Civil War as a whole, it is easy to imagine how strongly opposed he would be to the war theology evident in “The Book of Joshua”. “The War Prayer”, is perhaps Clemens’ attempt to rid the nation of the war theology that in some degree had helped justice the ferocity of the Civil War. The piece begins describing a nation which is at the onset of war. Clemens describes man and woman alike, filled with a fiery desire for war, fueled by their belief in nation and God, not unlike the Israelites in, “The Book of Joshua”. The parallels drawn between the people of the two texts makes Clemens’ writing all the more effective as a criticism of, “The Book of Joshua”. Clemens make very clear that nation’s lust for war is perpetuated by an aggressive war theology. Clemens’ describes the scene, “in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener” (Twain, par. 1). In the following paragraph, Clemens further highlights the relationship between religion and the fervor for war in his description

Sameul L. Clemmons,also known as Mark Twain wrote a short story titled, "The War Prayer." In which he talked about a battle soon to be faught, presumably the Spanish/American War. I really liked this essay because of how it relates to today's world and the battles that are faced daily. This short story had a very strong syntax but it was understandable if I payed attention when I read. The imagery was so strong that I could imagine everything that there was a movie playing in my mind. There is such a strong message to be taken from this essay that it is almost too hard to find the words to describe how it affected me. From this essay I have gathered that even though I pray for the self-gain I feel I should be blessed with I am also taking

“The War Prayer” by Mark Twain is set in a southern American church during wartime. This church has gathered in the spirit of patriotism, and is praying and pleading with God to not only help them to victory but to smite their enemies. The preacher and his congregation see only from their own perspective, they want God to ensure their own triumph. The “messenger” from the story tries to warn the congregation that their prayers are back-handed, a prayer for one success is a simultaneous prayer for another’s defeat. Christians aren’t supposed to pray for the murder and destruction of others, it is in conflict with everything we believe in. Twain tries to emphasize the hypocritical nature of such “Christian” practices. The church from the story

With the lack of conjunctions Twain gives off the intellectuals of an excited young child. Following this example of an Asyndeton, Twain again uses this technique to unveil the people’s ignorance. He says “ visions of stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuits, the surrender.” Using this rhetorical technique Twain can shine light to idiocy of the excitement that the war is creating, by converting society’s ideas to something that sounds similar to an excited

The man himself was Samuel Clemens but his life was always marked by dualism, like much of his work, and “Clemens the man was at odds with Twain the image” (Lock 75). Samuel Clemens was not only a member of the American Anti-Imperialist League, but was its vice-president for eleven years, openly. Yet, much of his work was only published after his death which illustrates confliction between his private and public figure (Lock

In his prayer he says “Visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender.” Many of the individuals are portraying the negative effects of patriotism and are acting over excited towards the topic of war. The Preacher’s prayer is conveying blind patriotism, providing only the positive side of war. This is not allowing everyone to see and understand the entire picture. Throughout the story their emotions say very consistent due to their unwillingness to open their minds to new

Leading up to the American Civil War, Sir Walter Scott made a lasting impact on American literature. His romantic style was wildly popular, especially in the southern states. Most of the nation's views on the war at the time were highly romanticized as a result. However, there was nothing romantic about this war. Once soldiers witnessed the horrors of war, many of their romantic views were changed forever. One such soldier was Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. The themes of American literature shifted drastically following the war from romantic to realistic to bring to light the true atrocities that accompany war. Mark Twain's "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed" is an example of how Twain, because of his experience in the Civil War, rejected the Sir Walter Scott romantic ideals of war and instead embraced a realistic treatment of the subject.