The War Prayer By Mark Twain

Mark Twain" The war prayer" and Williams dean Howell "Editha" both compare their stories to war; they were impelling the characters into something that can cause death. Twain and Howell both contradicted they stories off war that really didn’t take places. The stories were both romanticism. Howells was very much opposed to war and especially the Spanish-American War, which he considered imperialistic. The story impales Editha, who embodies all the nonsense about the heroic romanticism of war and whose false sense of values drives her unfortunate fiancé to a premature death in a questionable war. Howell made it story based off currently everyday situation of manipulative. Twain “War Prayer was devastating indictment of war, and particularly

During the period between the civil war’s end, and about 1914, an American literary movement occurred. This movement is known as realism for its adherence to real life, but should not be confused with naturalism. Mark Twain played a part as one of the Literary minds of this era. In his Poem “the War Prayer”, Twain shows examples of realism about the townspeople, non-believers, and the negative parts of the war.

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain in the 19th century is about a young boy named Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway slave who go on an adventure. The two travel on a raft along the Mississippi river creating a bond and making memories. Mark Twain presents Huckleberry Finn as a dynamic character who at first views Jim as property and eventually considers Jim as a friend, showing a change in maturity.

As Lemony Snicket wrote in The Blank Book, “People don’t always get what they deserve in this world.” 1930s America was fraught with racism, especially in the southern states. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a Negro man by the name of Tom Robinson was put on trial. Although he was not guilty, the jury convicted him because of the colour of his skin. During the trial, others showed injustice towards Tom and people that were on his side. As Tom’s lawyer, Atticus Finch was not admired by many of the white citizens of Maycomb, the town in which the novel takes place. Although Atticus and Jean Louise Finch (Scout) were white, they were still treated unjustly as a result of helping and supporting Tom Robinson. Scout, Atticus’

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain is his memoir about vital river life during the steamboat era and a remembrance of it after the Civil War. . Mark Twain (1835-1910) grew up Samuel Langhorne Clemens on the Mississippi River in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri. Twain was a journalist, essayist, and writer of short stories and novels. Mark Twain tells of his life on the river, humorous stories, and a glimpse of his life during his childhood. This Memoir displays a detailed account about how life was like in America in the nineteenth century. The way Mark Twain writes this book is very interesting. It is not a straight forward bibliography. It is more like a book based on actual events. The book tells the story of Mark Twain’s life,

According to Brandon Mull, the New York Times bestselling author of the Beyonoders series, “…heroism means doing the right thing regardless of the consequence” (Mull 39). In The Wars by Timothy Findley, the protagonist, Robert Ross, displays key characteristics of heroism throughout his struggle to maintain his morality. In the novel, Robert displays an admiration for the sanctity of life, a desire to achieve the greatest good, and a virtuous moral conscience which all contribute to him achieving heroism in the face of adversity.

Abraham Lincoln once stated in his House Divided speech, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Lincoln believes that there is no such thing as a balance between free and slave states and that the two contradictory governments are bound to fall. That describes the conflict that occurs in the fictional novel, The Killer Angels, a civil war story between the Union and Confederate states fighting to achieve the government they yearn for.

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

Therefore the short story or prose poem, "The War Prayer" had not been published until after his death in 1923. Solely because it was a subject in which went against society. Describing to each that inadvertently everyone, “invoke[s] a curse” apropos to their enemy when praying for their warriors (Twain 2). To credit intercession as a “curse” shows his perfervid conception that prayer unintentionally demands bane. To ever challenge such decimation from the Father Almighty is falsification with what the Christians beliefs accept, in which their moralities are that God has given people their own discretion to seek and love what is true, pure, and beautiful. Twain dispute that there is one prayer that is embodied by those eager and invigorates to war, and another that is left unspoken. But "Never is a prayer of protection uttered but always desired for destruction"(Weiß, Käff).  He uses a messenger described in the poem as "an aged stranger… clothed in a robe that reached to his feet his head bare", and presents himself as "bearing messenger from the Almighty God!" The unknown messenger specifies the awareness to the people in the church, that their individual hopes and wishes are to bring their soldiers home and end the war; yet is calling to God and asking him to demolish another country whose nation is hoping for the same. It then becomes satirical that their portrayal “of God [is] a God of battle”  (Weiß, Käff 4). Although the losing side in war must certainly suffer death it's never comprehensive to what is being asked God, but Twain contends whether we put those sentiments into words or not, that appeal is always present. All intercessory prayers are mainly assumed by subversive representation, by believing in God who is Almighty and has the ability to answer any prayer, Twain points out that there's no sense for limited rewards benefiting one group and the other

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

Since the emergence of written history, many fables regarding war have encompassed a significant portion of prosodic literature. Two of the foremost war poets of the 19th and 20th century—Emily Dickinson and Rupert Brooke—have both written about profound implications of war on society and also upon the human spirit albeit in two very different styles. The book, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, theorizes through Allie, that Emily Dickinson was indubitably the superior war poet. Furthermore, when we analyze their works as well, we realize the invariable fact that Dickinson’s work delves into war with a much more holistic approach as well. She not only honours the soldiers for their valiant efforts, but also deftly weaves notions of liberty and civilian duty in regards to war as well as compared to Rupert Brooke who carried a romanticized imagery of martyrs within his poetry. In summation, Emily Dickinson is a superior war poet for her incisive analysis of death, and human nature in correspondence to war as compared to the patriotic salvos of Rupert Brooke’s poetry.

The winner for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for his book Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson, is a great american civil war historian. Born in Valley City, North Dakota on October 11, 1936 McPherson attended St. Peter High School. After graduation he attended Gustavus Adolphus College and in 1958 earned his bachelor’s degree with Magnum Cum Laude. He later attended John Hopkins University and earned his Ph.D. in 1963 and is now currently working as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. McPherson is most well known for his work Battle Cry of Freedom, but he has wrote a number of other well known books including Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. In 2009 James was a co-winner for the Lincoln Prize for this same book, and elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

With the knowledge of war you have today, would you be willing to volunteer to sign up for the front line?

“The War Prayer” by Samuel L. Clemens, is his attempt to force the public to realize the implicit outcome of praying for victory in war, which inevitably is death. His use of irony and hyperbole is evident in this clever narrative. The passage satirically describes how a very religious town comes together during a time of war to pray for the downfall of the enemy and the triumph of their men. An old man then comes into the church and prays the same exact prayer that the townspeople are praying without concealing the truth. Clemens uses the old man to identify his purpose of the narrative, ignorance to war.