Religion vs. other causes of war For several decades many have dabbled around with theories of what causes wars. War is defined as a time when two or more groups come to a disagreement and create conflict; it has been around since the beginning of time. “War poisons everything it touches, and often creates environments that support cruelty and inhuman behavior.” (Selvidge 2009). A considerable number of persons have been the victims of war, including innocent children, mothers, and fathers, old and young. War has left a great part of humankind starving, homeless, emotionally and physically unstable.
When we think of war, we often think of soldiers, tanks, weapons and battlefields. But most wars breach boundaries, affecting civilians, mostly women and children. Soldiers, guerrillas and paramilitaries use tactics such as rape, fear, murder and pushing people off their land or manipulate and force them into doing shocking things that scar them for life. This poem was written about the events that have been going on countless decades in human history, the issue of child soldiers. Generally speaking, child soldiers are anyone under the age of 18 participating in contemporary conflicts and who is a member of combatant force representing anything from rebels to a structured government.
O'Brien's extract conveys to the readers the contradictory feelings that war evokes in a person. War can be seen in different perspectives and can be felt with many different emotions. The author describes war as astonishing; an adjective rarely used in the general opinion. But O'Brien has seen and felt first hand, and writes that war makes you grow up and learn about yourself as a person. You learn to value life in those desperate moments where death comes close.
Throughout history, many soldiers faced life-threatening or traumatic events during war, as it took heavy tolls on them. Some events would cause them to relive these experiences through either nightmares or flashbacks. Tim O’Brien, a veteran who has received a Purple Heart, knows how traumatic events can affect soldiers as it makes them do things “brand-new and profound” which, in his story, “How To Tell A True War Story”, shows his characters “a piece of the world so startling there was not yet a name for it”(293). There are many terms used to describe this behavior, as war has always had an impact on people, but the most common is called Post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD. It was the new name for an old story, and thanks to the Vietnam War, this disorder has been examined more closely.
By displaying this collection of extensive research, the author hopes to communicate to the reader that the efforts of Halliburton are deleterious in a multitude of ways, and that its contract with the military needs to be stopped. Granted, with the help from Halliburton, the military enjoys some luxury of not having to directly provide essential needs for the soldiers. However, this book outlines the management corruption and overall excessive costs of contracting with Halliburton. Also in his book, Pratap Chatterjee discusses the relevance of the Global War on Terror and how it interrelates with the operations of Halliburton. In the last 20 years, Halliburton has been heavily involved in helping the military.
Men have always had the urge to explore, conquer, and fight for their beloved country. Violence and bloodshed has been a reoccurring theme throughout human history, seeding from the arrogance of mighty leaders and officials. Unfortunately, sometimes the loss of soldiers and civilians becomes too great to be given the patronizing title of “confrontation”. There is a time when everyone is affected by war, a time when major powers in the world begin to ally with each and plan to destroy another country; a time concealing the darkest parts of human history; a time of world war. Making the claim that there has only been two world wars so far would be foolish.
“Like every place it had its angers, and its angers, as always, as everywhere, found justifications... anger had a license that it might not have had in another place.”1 The city is a particularly dangerous and tough place where violence is used as a vehicle for people to solve their conflicts and disagreements. This is also why Mat's older brother and two sisters are already deceased. “...the graveyard, which was even then more populous than the town.” 2 This also tells a lot about the society, and how tough it could be at some places in the US at that time. It's a third person narrator who is omniscient given that he knows everything about Mat's feelings and is predicting what is going to happen. Mat's mother is described as a highly dynamic and cheerful woman, who isn't dwelling on the loss of her three children.
The Sociological Imagination is a basic concept that can be expanded to many different aspects of life. One cause can lead to an effect of events and send a chain reaction and disturb other issues which will have to be resolve. In the article of Sociological Imagination, it talks about some of the issues that we Americans are struggling in today’s society. For instance war, men and women of our armed forces are fighting for our freedom, dying for our country in honor to protect us from all anxiety. With war comes with a price, the weapons from guns to armory and the bravery of our men and women that have to survive in harsh conditions.
In Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper”, we are exposed to the unfortunate brutality that Civil war inflicts on those involved. It’s ability to pit brothers against each other is a tragic realization that the protagonist in the story must come to realize. The author’s effective use of setting and characterization clearly provides a poignant insight to war that reveals it’s ferocious tragedy. O’Flaherty continually uses setting to create tension within the reader and give a more realistic approach to the nature of war. His short, choppy sentences cause a feeling of hurry, much like the character would have been facing in the story.
The Iliad still has much to say about war, even as it is fought today. It tells us that war is both the bringer of renown to its young fighters and the destroyer of their lives. It tells us about post-conflict destruction and chaos; about war as the great reverser of fortunes. It tells us about the age-old dilemmas of fighters compelled to serve under incompetent superiors. It tells us about war as an attempt to protect and preserve a treasured way of life.