War Is Hell: Themes Of War

The defining characteristics of WW1 were its sickening violence and its immense death toll so, understandably, many pieces of war literature aim to present the horrors of war in order to unflinchingly reveal the true experiences of the soldiers. However, Journey’s End by R.C Sherriff and A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry also focus on the emotional aspect of war and the relationships it created and destroyed. The war forced people of every background to rely on and interact with each other while it also wrenched soldiers away from their families, introducing unique tensions between people that would not have existed otherwise. However, it is debatable which form, Sherriff’s play or Barry’s novel, is most effective in presenting these relationships.

Undertones of War; was written by Edmund Blunden. Edmund Blunden (1896-1974) Edmund was conceived on 1 November 1896 in London, brought up in Kent and taught first at Christ's Hospital, where he found an ability for calligraphy, and after that at The Queen's College. In August 1915, in the midst of World War I (1914– 1918), Blunden was charged as a minute lieutenant into the British Army's Royal Sussex Regiment. He was exhibited on the eleventh Battalion , Royal Sussex Regiment, a Kitchener's Army unit that surrounded bit of the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division in May 1916, two months after the power's entrance in France. He gave the power on the Western Front straight up to the complete of the war, sharing in the exercises at Ypres and the Somme, followed in 1917 by the Battle of Passchendaele, and getting the Military Cross all the while. Blunden survived almost two years in the forefront without physical damage (in spite of being gassed in October 1917), in any case, for whatever is left of his life, he bore mental scars from his experiences. With trademark self-censure he ascribed his survival to his small size, which made "a subtle target". His own record of his as often as possible horrible encounters was distributed in 1928, as Undertones of War. Undertones of War' is a 1928 diary by Edmund Blunden, in light of his encounters in France and Belgium from late 1915 to mid 1918; the target group is for those to comprehend his experience through the war and after. It

The psychologist Sigmund Freud once said, “Because every man has a right over his own life and war destroys lives that were full of promise; it forces the individual into situations that shame his manhood, obliging him to murder fellow men, against his will.” He initially stated this when he was corresponding with Albert Einstein via letter. This quote is also a great explanation of the events that take place during war that people chose to not recognise. War is terrible, and no matter how hard we try, nothing will change that. Erich Maria Remarque shows us that soldiers have endured dreadfully throughout World War I in his book “All Quiet on the Western Front”. The character in the book, Paul Baumer, endures through the tragedies of war with some of his old schoolmates as well as new comrades that he meets along the way. They survive through all of the tragedies together, but in the end, the war made them lose their friendships as well as their lives. The reality is that war comes with consequences while it destroys people, and there is nothing that will ever be able to change that. The book “All Quiet on the Western Front” shows how war comes destroys people's lives with its consequences through three of its themes: the importance of comradery, the loss of innocence, and the horrors and brutality of war.

War is often misinterpreted as an exciting occurrence filled with glory and acts of terrific heroism. In reality, it is brutal and serves as an effective simulation of hell. Timothy Findley's The Wars depicts an inhumane world where individuals are taken out of their elements and are forced to struggle to hold onto their humanity amidst the horrors. The lack of rules in war targets and destroys every aspect of what it means to be human. It heavily interferes with one's motivations, desires and purpose of living. The war also targets one's innocence and brings about suffering both physically and mentally.

Betrayal is the truth that clings. It is a truth that is so painful that it clutches on to the mind, soul, and heart. Deep disappointment and agonizing anguish comes with betrayal. It is the betrayal that discredits false ideals and harbors empty hopes. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, youths like Paul Baumer must deal with the disillusion they feel towards what they were taught to believe in. Once Paul and his fellow classmates are shipped off to war, he and the others learn that they have been betrayed on all fronts.

Contrast is an integral part of everyday life. Without contrast, everything becomes one-dimensional and bland. In a traumatic experience, such as during a war, the very nature of it creates and amplifies these contrasts within the human spirit. Timothy Findley’s The Wars is an excellent example of how contrast is created. Some examples of these contrasts are kindness and cruelty, courage and cowardice, but the most important contrast created by Findley in the novel is the one between loyalty and betrayal.

1. Paul Baumer and his friends, as German soldiers in World War I, collectively fight any who oppose the German army. However, Corporal Himmelstoss is an enemy whose transgressions are taken far more personally by Paul and his friends. Himmelstoss often torments Paul and his comrades for the sake of doing so, as he is power-driven and tries to exert control over others whenever he can. It is never stated that the soldiers hate or even dislike the enemies that they fight daily on the battlefield; yet they disfavor Himmelstoss openly. In addition, they all begin to harbor distaste for their former teacher, Kantorek, for encouraging them to join the army. All of the men also struggle against the knowledge that

“The Cause of War” is a book written by Australian author Geoffrey Blainey. The book is a collection of studies from wars since 1700’s and it analysis the relation of rivaling nations. The book is divided in four parts it starts discussing the weakness behind the current theories of peace, it then moves to talk the “ingredients” which are key for a nation to determine whether they will go to war or not. Third part of the group is about some misleading theories of war, and the last part just deals with the variety of war.

World War I was viewed as a new sort of war. Before World War I, wars generally did not involve nonstop fighting over a period of years. In the past the armies mostly consisted of hired mercenaries, or professionals who fought seasonally. However, the soldiers in this novel are volunteers. For Paul and his classmates, the army has become an expression of patriotic duty; they do not perceive it as a career. Outside the classroom, young men of their age faced condemnation from society if they did not join the war

“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.

Erik Erikson, a well known developmental theorist, developed his theory about stages of human development from birth to death by using Freud 's work as a starting point. According to Erikson, personality develops in a series of stages. Erikson found out that children experience conflicts which affect their development. He described the internal conflict which children go through in developmental stages using the term ‘crisis’ and are based on either developing a psychological quality, or failing to develop that quality (Bee & Boyd 2003). During this period of development, chances of developing a psychological quality or failing to develop that quality are equal. He believes that the personal identity and future development of a person are determined by the way he or she resolves the series of conflicts they go through.

The topic of war is hard to imagine from the perspective of one who hasn't experienced it. Literature makes it accessible for the reader to explore the themes of war. Owen and Remarque both dipcik what war was like for one who has never gone through it. Men in both All Quiet on the Western Front and “Dulce Et Decorum” experience betrayal of youth, horrors of war and feelings of camaraderie.

As long as there has been war, those involved have managed to get their story out. This can be a method of coping with choices made or a way to deal with atrocities that have been witnessed. It can also be a means of telling the story of war for those that may have a keen interest in it. Regardless of the reason, a few themes have been a reoccurrence throughout. In ‘A Long Way Gone,’ ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ and ‘Novel without a Name,’ three narrators take the readers through their memories of war and destruction ending in survival and revelation. The common revelation of these stories is one of regret. Each of these books begins with the main character as an innocent, patriotic soldier or civilian and ends in either the loss of innocence and regret of choices only to be compensated with as a dire warning to those that may read it. These books are in fact antiwar stories meant not to detest patriotism or pride for one’s country or way of life, but to detest the conditions that lead to one being so simpleminded to kill another for it. The firebombing of Dresden, the mass execution of innocent civilians in Sierra Leone and a generation of people lost to the gruesome and outlandish way of life of communism and Marxism should be enough to convince anyone. These stories serve as another perspective for the not-so-easily convinced.

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.

The genre of this novel is historical fiction, this genre is historical fiction because it is trying to portray what it was like during the war but it is not a true story so it is fiction. The story is written in the third person, I know it is written in the third person because it uses words like he to refer to Henry instead of I. The protagonist is Henry because he is the one who has been shot down and is trying to escape back to Britain. The antagonists are the Nazis because throughout the book they are always chasing after Henry our protagonist.