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Winter's Light Essay example

Decent Essays

Cameron Elliott
Kinkade
RWS 200
14 February 2013
The Poison of Words War, violent mass murdering used to accomplish political and government goals, hate crimes, acts of violence or harm to individuals with personal differences, and suicide, the ending of ones own life. All of these unfortunately happen on a daily basis and is considered a norm in today’s news broadcasts, but why are these tragic events simply glazedover and accepted as a common part of the news most people listen to while eating dinner? M. J Hardman, a board member of the American Humanist Association, proposes through her work, “Language and War,” that it is the violent language and war glorifying metaphors used in daily life that has made people accustomed and …show more content…

Metaphors such as “She shot me down.” When talking about asking a girl out and “You are killing me.” when talking how about how funny a person is, are examples of the influences in the world that has made this little girl more accustomed to violence. As more violent influences poison the minds of the people violent acts themselves also become more prominent. Hardman states “we are constructing our language to glorify war and violence and in that way make such violence appear appropriate even acceptable when it appears in reality.” In Kinkade’s Poem Skinning these violent influences surface in reality through the action of revenge. Kinkade writes “How easy it is/ to cut a throat/ let the blood roll over a pocket knife/ onto the ground” (pg. 63). This poem continues to compare the how easy it would be to skin the man who had raped a little girl just like an animal in metaphors like the ones above. As Hardman states in her work Language and War “We further make war an ‘appropriate’ response to problems by inverting the metaphors when we metaphorize the violent as peace”, just like people turning to revenge to solve their problems. The prevalent idea that violent metaphors are escaping the pages of literature and entering into reality is unmistakable true. No one is usual taught that revenge is the device to turn to when life throws them a curve ball, but the poison of todays metaphors has begun to engrave itself into the minds of today culture. That

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