Pg 40 from; ‘It’s war. They’ve attacked’ to the end of the chapter. Comment on the importance of this extract and its relationship to the novel as a whole. Confusing and shocking, to the reader as much as the characters, this extract from ‘The Siege’ by Helen Dunmore is essential to the structure and development of the novel and also the novel as a whole. In this extract, Dunmore introduces war into the novel.
There is nothing a person can do about death - it happens to us all. Because the novel's main focal point is the chaos caused by the allied bombing of Dresden, Vonnegut is obviously trying to make the point that war is bloody awful, but also inevitable. When he tells a friend that he's writing an anti-war novel at the very beginning, he's told he might as well write an anti-glacier book. In other words, war will happen; people will die. So it goes.
Compare the ways the distinctively visual is created in The Shoehorn Sonata and one other related text of your own choosing. War is indeed an unconventional and traumatic experience that anyone would be ruined to endure. These experiences of war can be lived out through memory of hardships and war time acts of injustice and through the post-traumatic stress that is developed due to the experience. John Misto, play writer of “The Shoehorn Sonata” and Wilfred Owen the composer of “Dulce et decorum est”, have both undoubtedly condensed this thematic perception of war and how individuals can live out their experiences. This concept has been achieved through the employment of both visual and language techniques.
How does Wilfred Owen present war though his poems? Wilfred Owen produce a poem called dulce et decorum est. In this poem Wilfred Owen explores the many horrors and cruel ordeals of World War One. He does this by using horrific imagery and techniques such as vivid imagery and dramatic descriptions. Owen then seeks to convince the reader that it is not honourable or right to die for your country, as the title of the poem suggests so.
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 two texts offer readers and viewers different insights into the nature of war. Both texts use very graphic imagery which is disturbing and often macabre to illustrate the confronting reality of war. Annaud utilises visual imagery and music to help create an effectively realistic mise-en-scene throughout the film. Annaud affirms the importance of hope and love whilst demonstrating the brutal political nature of war. In “Fly Away Peter” Malouf constructs characters to show how war affects people.
How poetry of World War 1 reveals the varying attitudes to war that existed at the time from the two war poems Margaret Peterson’s “A Mothers Dedication” and Siegfried Sassoon’s “Counter Attack. A Mothers’ Dedication displays the patriotism during the time whereas Counter Attack depicts the reality of war and the horrors faced by the soldiers such as Sassoon in the war. These two poems display the binary attitudes that people had to war at the time. “A Mother’s Dedication”, by Margaret Peterson reflects the strongly nationalistic, propaganda driven views that mobilized Britain in response to the war. 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.
Chapter 31 Essay In the destructive nature of World War I where the great powers of the world were locked in an armed struggle for survival. America lay on the sidelines, sticking to her policy of neutrality. But as the war progressed and the rules of war broken, America found herself getting sucked into this new global war. When America finally did declare war it was inspired by German naval policy, Woodrow Wilson's idealism, and America's claim to world power. All motivated the U.S. to declare war on Germany and help the war torn Allies and defeat the Central Powers.
The word “knive” indeed implies a violent action, which could mean that Owen is describing weather as though it were an enemy. He then uses personification later on in the poem; "Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army". In this quote, he personifies dawn or nature as a woman which points out that Mother Nature herself has betrayed them. This clashes with the whole idea of women being compassionate and loving, and in fact, the image of the woman is being subverted. This is used by Owen to describe the unpredictability of war that the soldiers had to face.
“Harrison’s underlying theme – the horror of war – is particularly clear if we examine the actions and comments of his narrator”. Discuss. It is said that war can change a man. What exactly is meant by this phrase? What things might a soldier experience in war?