Me and my classmates were fed all those great examples of people fighting during Second World War sacrificing their lives and not even dare to look for any kind of reward other then admitting them into “hero ranks” of their “great” country. Fighting for reward was not hero like behavior. I realize though that this understanding of hero was more due to the norms and obligations of certain time and society. In “The Iliad” hero is noted for his courage and strength and desire to fight especially if they risk their life or put it in any kind of danger. But at the same time Homer also pays great attention to rewards, heroes get for their fighting.
To conclude, these two poems are different in many ways (attitude, mood, tone, ect..) One was to encourage the people to fight for their country and go to war, one was to make people see that the war destroyed many men's lives, it had no mercy. But they both had a lot of
The movie “Paths of Glory,” portrays a war theme - more specifically an anti-war theme. The message of the movie is portrayed through the soldiers and the different “paths the soldiers took to get to victory and survive.” Every soldier went down their own path overall leading to somewhat “glory” which not all of them got to experience. Men died in battle, mental illness (and illness in genera), fellow soldiers doings, death sentences; just an endless amount of reasons. Soldiers believed that they were fighting for the glory of victory or “patriotism” which Sam Johnson described as the last refuge of a scoundrel. Soldiers were brainwashed with the idea of patriotism - leading their country to victory at all costs, even if meant going into battle knowing you were going to die enforcing the message of the movie that, “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” At first, the movie described the trench warfare situation of World War I.
It is for this reason that the Great War was seen as an opportunity by men, where they could prove their virility by displaying warrior traits of aggression, endurance and camaraderie, defying all aspects that were associated with that of female qualities. With these ideas in mind, the repercussions of war left men in such a state of serious psychological and physical trauma that they suffered from Shell-Shock or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To be a man meant the repression of emotions and the willingness to sacrifice oneself physically and emotionally for the good of their country. Lastly, those that did not enlist into war were bullied into it by a propagandistic scheme known as the White Feather Campaign. Definitions of masculinity have changed over the centuries with particular focus on the idea of male virility.
The ballad in itself has a unique attitude that one is destined to fight in the war, revealed in the metaphor of birth, in “your birth has brought you” and the militaristic “I fought to give you birth.” A military attitude is furthered through the idea of determination and patriotism; in words such as “uphold” “lead” “shield” and “fight” which highlight the attitudes of heroism and “honour” that existed within British propaganda. In addition to the capitalization of ‘Nation’ in the poem, the ‘son’ becomes a metonym for every single soldier’s role not just to their ‘mother’ but the motherland which is known as Britain. Just because the characteristics are given to the son in the poem, the repetition of the pronoun ‘you’ positions all readers, and enforces the attitude that ‘you’ are born to serve in ‘this great war.’ The stanzas reveal the narrator’s change in attitude from individual power to a reliance on religion, revealed in the repetition of “God.” This is reflective of the more general way in which attitudes varied as the war progressed, as Britain’s powerful empire was ruptured throughout the war The poet Siegfried Sassoon horrific representation of war in “Counter Attack” greatly contrasts Peterson’s idealistic and romanticized poems. His perspective is
Through his poems, Owen highlights the unjust experiences of soldiers to create a protest against the bureaucracy because of how they justified the harming and killing of many for their own political gain. He does this by highlighting the actions and inactions of the bureaucracy that contribute to benefit of the administration. This can be explored in his poems ‘Parable of the Old Man and the Young’ (Parable) and the epic war poem ‘Disabled’. These two poems employ Owens message of anti-war sentiment to establish a connection with the audience through his manipulation of poetic techniques. Owen highlights such unjust experiences of the soldiers to augment his argument against the bureaucracy.
Glory/Honour Henry V Henry was a very great leader and led his men very well. To help his men overcome the terrifying prospect of war he would exaggerate the honour and Glory in fighting this (as appeared) losing battle. He used motivating speeches such as the speech at Agincourt where the stakes were up against the men and were highly outnumbered and Henry emphasise the mark of Honour they will be able to carry round them for ever such as “The fewer men, the greater men share of honour”, which shows as they are outnumbered the honour is greater when they defeat their opposition. In Henry V, Henry speaks of the men’s names being remembered through time and never forgotten and spoken in households, “Then shall our names, familiar in his mouth as
The cold truth, being that the loved ones back home are left broken hearted, as they are told that Father, Brother or Son have been killed at War, serving for their Country. They gave their lives for the people back home... but what for? I do see the honour in fighting for something you believe in, and being ready to make a difference. It is just I simply do not see the honour in a violent battle that leaves many dead, injured and mentally tortured. The soldiers become puppets, and it is someone back home in their warm and comfortable house, pulling the strings.
The third poem is ‘The Soldier’; Brooke uses the message of England being the soldiers’ mother and the personification of England itself to raise pride and morality for the young men signing up for the army. Tone’s such as pride, enthusiasm and passion makes the poem convey an idealised view of war. It makes the readers want to be part of the war and fight for their ‘mother’ England. In ‘Peace’, Brooke uses language to give the impression of an
Taking one of the texts as your starting point, discuss what motivates young people to fight for their country. The three texts each give a different view on Americans entry the army and America’s wars around the world. In text one Sarah Palin tells us how great she thinks it is that the youth doesn’t take their freedom for granted, and actually go out into the world and defend their families and the rights of the free Americans. The second text has a bit more of a negative tone to it. While the Kahlor’s thinks it is great that the Americans go out and defend their country, they don’t thinks that the country does enough for those that return home, using their son as an example; the country didn’t offer an effective form of PTSD treatment, and they believe it was worth the risk.