Themes In For Whom The Bells Tolls

Nobody fully understands what drives people to undertake a mission, but it often causes people to take many risks. For example, Farah Ahmedi climbed a mountain on a prosthetic leg with a sick mother just to reach freedom. Rikki-Tikki fought for his life to save his family. John Steinbeck eavesdropped on people's conversations just to get material for his book. These stories show different people who had each set a goal for themselves. Ahmedi and Rikki-Tikki fought for their lives to survive and save their loved ones. While Steinbeck traveled to great lengths to write his book. Their goals may be different but they all had set a goal and they all eventually accomplished their goal.

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

People both today and back then have been traumatized by war’s brutal combat, fallen victim to cruel soldiers, and had war cause sorrow and grief to them. Through characters seeing death, characters that are soldiers, and characters that are not in combat, Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See demonstrates that war affects individuals negatively, even if they are extremely

People sacrifice themselves for others because it expresses love at its strongest. The quote, “The only thing that keeps me alive is to know that Reizel and the little ones are still alive. Were it not for them, I would give up.”(45) This express love at the strongest because the father was keeping himself alive for his family. This can be related to the thesis statement because the father was willing to suffer through the pain and misery that he experienced in exchange for another moment with his family. Another quote is “Two boys came to join our group: Yossi and Tibi, two brothers from Czechoslovakia who parents have been exterminated in Birkenau. They lived for each other, body and soul.” (50) Similar to the first quote, they lived because with each other, so that the others do not die for the other. These two quotes have the similar view of sacrifice, the

The thought of going to war excites many young men that have not experienced or have been a part of one. Individuals want to find a way out of the routine, mundane lifestyle that plagues many suburban households. People that just want some excitement enlist in a military branch that will not benefit them or anyone for that matter. In Philip Caputo’s book titled A Rumor of War, the true side of how war demolishes the human spirit is shown. His nonfiction novel captures the nasty side to war. Philip informs us how the mentality of a young man can change with the constant thought of death and fear as a daily ritual. Men do not think about death occurring to them at a young age. This changes when death is surrounding them on a daily basis during wartime. Caputo intended to inform the young public about the horrible nature of war. Mistakes are doomed to repeat themselves if people are not well informed and Caputo is trying to avoid future mistakes. Death surrounded him and many of his comrades during the Vietnam War. When the life of anyone is on the line, one tends to do drastic and sometimes unthinkable things to cope with the fear of death.

Imagine you’re lying on the muddy, damp Earth and all around you can hear the screams of people you know dying. Shells explode, bullets race through the air, and poisonous gas seeps around you, all with the intent to harm you in some way. Yet, you willingly put yourself in that position day after day, year after year. The question surrounding this situation is, why? Who would be masochistic enough to choose to put their lives in danger and live in the most perilous environment possible? Two very different books give us insight into the thoughts of the soldiers who continuously put themselves in these environments. Your Death Would Be Mine by Martha Hanna and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque lets us into the minds of Paul Pireaud and Paul Baumer as they try to survive life as a soldier in the Great War. I argue that Pireaud and Baumer had very different reasons for continuing to fight despite having suffered beyond belief. In this paper I will analyze how the varying degrees of patriotism, brotherhood, family life at home, and age affected how these two men endured the treacherous life on the front of World War I.

“Thousands of our noble soldiers have gladly given up their lives for their country. Should I hesitate to do as much?” This is a direct quote from the famous heroine, Pauline Cushman. She was a very courageous Union Spy and American Actress. Not only was she was a mother of three, but she also had a total of three husbands. Pauline wouldn’t let anything stop her- not near death experiences, not a sentence to execution- not anything. She focused on the task at hand and put aside any fears or doubts.

Through the soldiers’ experiences, the narrator shows only the dark side of human nature. Discuss.

Topic: Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the individual’s capacity for self-sacrifice in the face of compelling circumstances.

As Tim O’Brien states in his short story book, The Things They Carried, the only true thing about war is its allegiance to evil and obscenity. One example of this faithfulness war has to stick to its truth is the inevitable death of many soldiers. War consumes. It consumes a large amount of resources, money, energy, time, but most of all it consumes human lives. The ones who don’t pass must bear the witness of the death of the others. “In the Field”, one of the short stories in O’Brien’s book, explores the way death is handled by soldiers and the process by which absorb the emotions that come along with it.

People will sacrifice their own for others. Everyone makes a sacrifice, whether it be today or a century ago. For instance, The Frank family and the Van Daan family in the Annex during the Holocaust. Mr. Frank, the

Issues of war ripped through families, cities, and eventually, the entire country. By making the decision to go to the war, some would place the distinction of bravery on Cross. He, however, felt like a coward. For he had given in to the society around him and their pressures. Instead of following his heart and staying true to his morals, Cross took the easy way out. By fighting in the war, he avoided the criticism and ridicule which marred draft dodgers and the lifetime of embarrassment that was sure to follow.

It is these extreme behaviours, which challenge and contradict the values that most individuals have been taught from the very beginning. The values the boy must carry into the future. After the mother’s death, all that stands between him and death is his father’s light. It is this light at the end of the tunnel, which allows the man to continue his quest. Despite all the wrong deeds occurring around the world, the boy progresses through his quest whilst also upholding his values such as dignity, perseverance, justice and faith. But it is a greater story of survival, it is the story of the world surviving with the morals, beliefs and laws that are at risk of losing. This concept of the story profoundly confronts my values and how others reject them for their own survival at any cost. Having experienced the environments of a refugee camp, if people were to abandon their values and beliefs just as the characters in The Road, then there would be no hope or future left for them to look forward to.

How many people would truly die for another person? Or harder yet, die for a cause? Many would say no, the task is too difficult, it’s too much to ask a person to do. And who can blame those who believe that? After all, death is absolutely final and irreversible, to die for an idea might seem like a complete impossibility. But there are a selective few who would bravely do what they believe right, even when the consequences may be terrible.

The film Amelie provides multiple examples of individuals sacrificing, and applying Campbell 's moral objective to their own lives. One of the people from the film that follow the objective is Dominique Bretodeau. When he was a young boy, he lost his treasure box. Directly after it was returned to him from a stranger, he began to tear up over the lost memories that the box contained. He then confides in people at the bar that he has not spoken to his daughter in years, and because of this does not know his grandson. This simple act of kindness was enough to make Bretodeau sacrifice his pride enough to reconcile with his daughter and grandson. He had no idea if his family was going to open their arms, or push him away for being away for so long. This failed to stop Bretodeau. This journey of becoming a hero was a spiritual one. Most of the conflict happened within his own heart. A small act of thoughtfulness helped a man choose to create a better life for him, and his estranged family.