Charles Yale Harrison’s novel Generals Die in Bed strips away the misconception that war and is glorious and in doing so strongly conveys to the reader the horrible reality that was the First World War Harrison emphasises the harshness of this reality through the constant bombardment of gruesome and desensitising events experienced by the Narrator. The dramatic degree of different between the fictional views held by the public and the truth is highlighted by the contrast of the soldier’s experiences and society’s false impressions. Furthermore the novel shows war for what it truly is, a dominant force with the power to consume, transform and scar all that stands in it’s way. Through GDIB the reader is given a raw and truthful depiction of the
The film makes you think about what is really happening and what is only in Jacob’s mind, therefore the narrative style itself could be a representation for what’s happening inside Jacob’s head. It also educates the viewer about Jacob’s life before the war, which explains why Jacob acts the way he does now. The choppy narrative style of the film does a great job in drawing the viewers in. The quick flashes of graphic scenes not only capture the viewers attention, they also make the viewers feel emotions such as worry, fear, or even compassion for Jacob. The movie’s opening scene is of Jacob and his fellow soldiers being attacked during the Vietnam War.
But to read it as autobiography is to miss some of its complexity. The final act of the novel consists of the preparation for Amiens and the battle itself. Before being sent off, the soldiers are given a pep talk by a brigadier-general who recounts to them the news of the sinking of the Llandovery Castle, a clearly identified hospital ship that was torpedoed by the Germans in clear contravention of the international laws of war, a “wanton act of barbarism.” It is this information that steels our protagonist and his comrades to go into the bloodbath of Amiens energized by feelings of revenge. But when our hero survives and is sent wounded to Britain he encounters a hospital orderly who says of the Llandovery Castle: “That was bloody murder, brother. Our officers oughta be shot for that.
With third person limited, the reader is able to depict his feelings and thoughts throughout this whole scene. With descriptive imagery, Crane gives a depiction of the battle around Collins. He describes that the contant stream of bullets "mingled with the shells and the pieces of shells until the air was torn in all directions by hooting, yells, and howls"(6). With the "shells and pieces of shells", Crane is describing the scene as a cluttered and hectic battlefield with bullets flying left and right. This gives the reader an image of thousands of soldiers dying on the battlefield, thus capturing the reader and pulling them into the story in order to try and depict what this scene was like.
War is a concept containing many facets. As war has pervaded human society since its beginnings, artists have created innumerable depictions idealizing war, criticizing war, and everything else in between. In the piece “Fall of Troy,” the artist elicits a complex response, leaving the audience first awestruck by the almost majestic soldier who dominates the piece front and center, then appalled by the depravity of war via the corpses and horrified civilians surrounding him. At a first glance, one’s eyes are drawn immediately to the soldier in the middle, whose figure is most prominent in the scene as he strikes a dominant and violent pose. He wears a full suit of Greek armor, untarnished and drawn with subtle details.
Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ describes a particular scene in the lives of WWI soldiers. Owen opens the poem with a description of the soldiers who are ‘Bent double, like old beggars’ (line 1). The soldiers are tired, fatigued, their feet are bleeding; they are marching from the battlefield towards their camp for some rest. They are then attacked by poisonous gas, effects of which are similar to drowning. One of the soldiers fails to fit the gas mask in time, and Owen masterfully describes himself witnessing the soldier’s gruesome death.
How does Michael Moore use the techniques of Satire in Bowling for Columbine to achieve his purpose? By using film techniques such as irony, juxtaposition and sarcasm, in a remarkably powerful way, Moore leads the audience through a deeply emotional and informative journey in his film, bowling for Columbine. He clearly highlights the flaws in American society and the terrible fact, that American gun culture is based upon fear which is leading to the knocking down of much of their society. Through these techniques, Moore invites the viewer to reflect on the values and attitudes about human frailty and depravity and to question whether the gun laws in America need to be altered. Moore outlines the flaws in American society simply by using juxtaposition as a technique of satire.
Another scene that is made more impactful through the use of black and white filming is when ‘Amon Goeth’, SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) and the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów, shoots a man outside in the snow. Immediately after this man is shot he is laying limp on the ground and his blood, which comes out as black, spreads into the pristine white
The diegetic sound of the bullets hitting against the soldier’s chest, helmets and the metal of the boat provokes an emotional response from the audience. As well as that, visual visceral imagery was a technique widely used in the opening scene in representing the true nature and horror of war which can be related to the days of torture in the medieval times, when people were eviscerated for their crimes and wrongdoings. An example of this use if when the soldier picks up his disjointed arm by his foot, portraying a pitiful image as he relies on his instincts to take back what belongs to
This gives the reader the sense that he really knows what he is talking about and has experienced these gruesome sights. Visual and auditory imagery are also used throughout this poem. Owen saw a man “flound’ring like a man in fire or lime” (12) suffering from the gas and dying a very slow and painful death. In this alone he shows how awful the war was through the man choking and having his skin eaten away from the “lime” (12). He saw things “obscene as cancer” (23) which is a bold image when death for a country is supposed to be sweet and proper.