War. This three letter word cannot describe the true horrors and the calamities caused by it. It cannot accurately show the pain of losing a loved one or the bloodshed and loss caused by the slaughtering of thousands. Rather than affecting the body as much, war has been shown to attack the mind and drive many mad and distraught, swaying them away from their former selves. Just like how the body surges with adrenaline from the fight or flight response, war also affects our minds in a very similar way. As a result of being near or a part of the warfare, triggers a series of emotions and sensations that changes one 's way of life. Throughout the course of history, these character changes have shown their power of drastically altering a person 's mental wellbeing and have made their mark in society through common representation in Old English poems, famous late-1900s literature and modern day talk shows. With the many feelings and emotions that often entail war; the most common is fear. Fear is a deadly force. One that grips a person’s mind and rocks them to their core. It can cause a person to stop thinking clearly and causes people to establish boundaries on themselves, inhibiting their true capabilities. This was shown in a TED Talks show where Sebastian Junger described his experiences of being in the war against Afghanistan. He described that being in combat is scary. He explained that his fear while before, during, and after still stays with him today. “I was awoken up
The war brings enormous damages to humanity. People who survive war suffer from psychological problems. In the excerpt from, A Long Way Gone, a boy who managed to stay alive through war suffers from the past memories that are even in his dreams, “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories. Memories I sometimes wish I could wash away” (Beah). This quote makes it clear that people who went through war suffer mentally from unwillingly dreaming of war and memories that suddenly come to their heads. The image “In Times of War” also shows that humanity suffers from war. In the cartoon picture, there are people lying
We have all seen or read about the political and social upheavals caused by war. Some may have even experienced it first-hand. Throughout history war has had negative psychological implications on those effected. However, there is no greater negative impact of war than the psychological and emotional turmoil that it causes individual soldiers.
The idea of war has been around for centuries and yet humanity is still doubtful as to what causes us to be so engaged in war. Could it possibly have anything to do with the feelings and emotions that come along when dealing with an actual war? In “The Ecstasy of War”, Barbara Ehreneich argues that war brings such powerful and uplifting feeling that it seems to resemble a religious experience. War exposes a lot about human nature and why despite the destruction caused by war, we still manage to participate. It is important to understand the origins by acknowledging the repetitive and compulsive behavior that arises in human beings at war. By changing the perspective on war, humanity can begin to take the first step to freedom. I will examine
The war had changed people in so many ways, as their former character of being sincere, at peace, and loving was slowly changed to chaotic, indecisive and unhopeful lives. People began to forget who they really were all due to the war, “It
For many, warfare lead to their unfortunate demise. For the survivors, warfare leads to PTSD due to the sickening experiences they were forced to endure. Looking back through human history, we can see the sheer lethalness of warfare, and the intense damage it can do. By reading our popular literature, we are able to envision to traumatic experiences soldiers witnessed, and yet still carried on doing their job. Modern day soldiers and veterans help us understand just how heavily those type of experiences can affect someone. For many, those war experiences will evolve into mental health disorders such as PTSD, and they will carry that around with them for the rest of their lives. Warfare is no friend to man. It picks at everything good in the hearts of soldiers and fills their heads with evil. In war, many will die, many will see things that they would do anything to unsee,
War causes death, poverty, diseases, destruction, and many more devastating and unavoidable consequences. The government drafted men into military service, giving them no choice but to separate them from their daily lives, friends, and families. Soldiers fight in wars while putting their lives on the line and are only rewarded with physical or psychological injuries. Countries wage war against one another in order to resolve disputes and disagreements between them. Individuals, such as nurses, soldiers, and civilians undergo traumatic events when they are caught in the middle of a war. Although some may argue that war does not impact the self the most, based on the informational text, “War Escalates” by Paul Boye, the short story, “Where
The effects of war are very vast and it is a wide variety of occurrences to cover. War can break a man down physically or mentally whenever it pleases to do so. “In war there are no unwounded soldiers” Jose Narosky. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front war affects men on the frontlines in many ways, and leaves scars on their lives forever. Also, in the book Night, Jews are affected by war in concentration camps in World War two and they endure a different kind of war. These texts both deal with the effects of war and what it can do to a population. Both of them have Comradeship with the people in both books having to work together to stay alive.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change” (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein). War can be a drastic change for the life of a person as war can ultimately morph them into a slave of the battlefield. In the book The Things They Carried, Tim O’ Brien describes the experiences of people in the Vietnam War and how they have become changed individuals from their past lives before combat. War pummels you with things that transcend your typical escapades and the more you try to understand them, the more you get sucked into the void of combat. The increased time the characters are in the battlefield, the more they have to think about it, thus shaping who they are. Only time can determine how much war can affect you.
Timothy Findley’s The Wars portrays the effects of war on soldiers in battle, as well as the members of family and friends that suffer from loss and insanity. As each character over the progression of the story is exposed to change, the character’s ability to adapt has a significant correlation with their survival, those that can quickly adapt to survive can manage to get by. Soldiers must be able to suppress the extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot overcome these challenges do not survive in war. Murder is quickly pushed out of a soldiers mind, killing others in effort to protect their own life or the life of others around them. Findley demonstrates how war can negatively alter a person’s behaviour. This is seen through
Struggles of the Soldier War takes a toll on the mind, body, and soul. Throughout history, the soldier has struggled to push through the barriers war provides. There are records of the soldier’s insanity and suffering dating back to World War I, shown in All Quiet on the Western Front. His comrades are the only ones that understand what he is dealing with, and the soldier feels isolated when surrounded by civilians. It is difficult to survive mentally because of the horrific things the soldier deals with, which often cause the soldier to develop mental disorders.
One way that the novel supports that idea is by showing how war damages the mind. When soldiers are at war, they grow accustomed to the many stressors involved in that level of combat. While this may be beneficial during fighting because they are able to react quickly and efficiently to danger, that level of adrenaline isn’t healthy for regular civilian life. In the book, Paul experiences some difficulty re-entering life away from the war while on leave. He is constantly on edge, recounting that, “I have been startled a couple times in the street by the screaming of tramcars, which resembles the shriek of a shell coming straight for one.” (page
“The Tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst” wise words from Henry Fosdick. When it comes down to the time where an individual hits rock bottom, a man either do its best or do its worst. Although, Man can do its best and do its worst at the same time. There are many reasons how man’s best can result to man’s worst. Henry Fosdick statement is both true and false.
The wartime lives of the soldiers who fought in the war were in a state of mind of mixed feelings. Happiness and devastating are two adjectives that can describe the soldier’s feelings in the war because at one second they can be happy that they succeeded on a mission, but on the other hand, it can be very devastating because one of their own soldiers could have been killed during the war. Aside from physical danger losing one of your own soldiers or having your family worry about you every day and night are some negatives and unpleasant parts about fighting in a war. For example, soldiers loved ones worried each day, and hoped that they would not get a knock on their door by someone who was going to tell them that their fathers, husbands, sons, or brothers have died in the war.
War is controversial, unfortunate, and certainly misunderstood; it is a transforming agent, a catalyst for change. Nonetheless, many people focus on war's negative consequences, while positive effects are downplayed. War is a necessary evil in the sense that it stabilizes population, encourages technological advances, and has a very high economic value. Without war, the overpopulation of the human race is inevitable. It is this reason that war is a useful tool by not only Mother Nature, but also humans themselves to institute population control.
War makes all its soldiers its victims. It strips them of their innocence; all had dreams for their future. Their future will become a lost life or a life full of memories that will continue to haunt them. The memories of killing, friends being killed, almosts, etc. War contains many horrors like these.