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Stephen Crane's War Is Kind

Decent Essays

The first recorded war was fought in 2700 BCE. Countless wars have been fought since. Like all issues, people have an attitude toward war. Stephen Crane, the author of “War is Kind” and “A Mystery of Heroism,” has a negative attitude toward war. “War is Kind” is a poem describing the results of war. “A Mystery of Heroism” is a short story centering on Fred Collins, in the midst of battle. Crane uses irony is “War is Kind” and “A Mystery of Heroism” to reveal his dislike of war and its outcomes, thus reflecting his negative attitude toward it.
First, Crane reveals his dislike for war and its outcomes in “War is Kind.” These two points show his negative attitude, which is expressed using irony. The speaker of the poem says, “Do not weep. / War …show more content…

Before these lines, the speaker tells of the travesties of war. Then, these lines. The quote is verbally ironic, which is similar to sarcasm. The verbal irony is in the speaker saying, “don’t cry, even though these wretched things are happening, due to war, it is okay, war is good.” Crane doesn’t really mean that war is good, despite, or maybe because of, the terrible events war brought on. He wants to be contradicted, to make the reader realize that war is not good. This verbal irony is reflective of Crane’s dislike of war. He also expresses his dislike for war’s outcomes in the poem. The speaker says, “Little souls who thirst for fight, / these men were born to drill and die.” This excerpt contains both verbal and dramatic irony. This part of the poem uses verbal irony because the speaker doesn’t really mean that soldiers’ only purpose is to …show more content…

In the midst of battle, Fred Collins from Company A says, “’Thunder! I wisht I had a drink. Ain’t there any water round?’” This is situationally ironic because the last thing one would expect someone to worry about, mid-battle, is their thirst. Crane’s dislike for war is exemplified in this quote, using situational irony, because it leads the reader to thinking that Collins should not be worrying about his thirst, but about the danger he is in. Crane is making a statement about the fact that war can desensitize people from danger, as well. By leading readers in this line of thought, doubled with his statement of desensitization, Crane expresses his dislike for war. He also expresses his dislike of its outcomes, as well. After conveying his thirst, Collins is goaded by fellow soldiers to go get water from a nearby well. He decides to go ask his colonel if he can go; the colonel says, “’if you want to go, why go.’” Again, Crane uses situational irony. This is not what one would expect the colonel to say. Due to his easy acceptance, it is up to the readers to confront the perils of war. Collins risks his life for very little, maybe because he has gone numb to the danger war offers. This desensitization is a result of war. Parallels also exist between Collins needlessly risking his life for and other

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