War Is Kind Analysis Essay
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War is a scandalous topic where peoples’ views differ as to what war is. Some people see it as pure evil and wicked while others think that it is brave and noble of what soldiers do. Looking at poems which had been written by people affected by war help show the messages which are portrayed. The two sets of poems which show different views of war as well as some similarities are “the Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace and “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, “The Song of the Mud” by Mary Borden. Both these poets use linguistic devices to convince the reader of their view of what the war is. Tennyson and Lovelace show how war is worthy
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John Dower's War without Mercy describes the ugly racial issues, on both the Western Allies and Japanese sides of the conflict in the Pacific Theater as well as all of Asia before during and after World War II and the consequences of these issues on both military and reconstruction policy in the Pacific. In the United States as well as Great Britain, Dower dose a good job of proving that, "the Japanese were more hated than the Germans before as well as after Pearl Harbor." (8) On this issue, there was no dispute among contemporary observers including the respected scholars and writers as well as the media. During World War II the Japanese are perceived as a race apart, a species apart referred to as apes, but at
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What is the Just War theory and how did it pertain to St. Augustine? According to Augustine there is no private right to kill. According to Paul Ramsey opposes in The Just War, Christian participation in warfare “was not actually an exception to the commandment, “you shall not murder” but instead an expression of the Christian understanding of moral and political responsibility. One can kill only under the authority of God. St. Augustine argued that Christian rulers had such an obligation to make peace for the protection of his subjects even if the only way to eliminate such a threat was through force of arms. St. Augustine believed that in wars there was a right intention.
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The point of the poem was to deliver the horrors of war to the public
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“War Is Kind” writes, “Swift blazing Flag of the regiment, eagle with crest of the red and gold, These men were born to drill and die” (Crane). Even though this is not necessarily talking about any war today’s soldiers do not know if they are gonna die and they are honored for their bravery and sacrifice. Also in “War is Kind”, “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind, Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky And the affrighted steed ran on alone, Do not weep. War is kind” (Crane). At this part of the poem, it is trying to say that these men are leaving their wives, family, and kids to fight for the country. Society views soldiers now as heroes because of their sacrifice and bravery. No one is making them fight they are risking their lives for people who can not fight for themselves. Americans are extremely grateful for our
War Without Mercy Essay
John Dower's War Without Mercy talks about the racial conflict in War World II towards the Japanese and how it affected the war and the reconstruction of the Pacific. “The Japanese were more hated than the Germans before as well as after Pearl Harbor. On this, there was no dispute among contemporary observers. They were perceived as a race apart, even a species apart -- and an overpoweringly monolithic one at that. There was no Japanese counterpart to the 'good German' in the popular consciousness of the Western Allies." (8) Mostly he focused on the American atrocities than the Japanese atrocities during the Pacific war.
War is Hell, War is Peace - War is Necessary Essay
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War is controversial, unfortunate, and certainly misunderstood; it is a transforming agent, a catalyst for change. Nonetheless, many people focus on war's negative consequences, while positive effects are downplayed. War is a necessary evil in the sense that it stabilizes population, encourages technological advances, and has a very high economic value. Without war, the overpopulation of the human race is inevitable. It is this reason that war is a useful tool by not only Mother Nature, but also humans themselves to institute population control.
The Just war theory is and interesting one simply because the phrase just war is an oxymoron. War is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations. Implicit in this definition of war is the result of death and since justice is right action towards other death is the most unjust of things. Thus war is unjust.
Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind By Stephen Crane
War is kind. In the poem, “Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is Kind” by Stephen Crane an elaborate depiction of war, emphasizing the negative impacts of warfare through the use of several devices including irony, to parallel ______. Throughout the death and destruction the speaker remains comforted within the chaos, because of an overwhelming desire to reach the divine paradise. Although the speaker witnesses slaughter within the war torn city, he finds peace in attainment of the true divine paradise through death.
Stephen Crane's War Is Kind
At fifteen, Crane enrolled at the Hudson River Institute, a lightweight military prep school, but he never developed a fondness for formal education, flunking out of Lafayette College as an engineering student and then dropping out of Syracuse University after one term. At Syracuse, however, Crane met Hamlin Garland, the well-known realist writer who influenced Crane’s style. Later, he also met and became fast friends with William Dean Howells, a champion of realist writing and a leading American literary critic. Although both his parents wrote (primarily religious articles) and two of his brothers were journalists, Crane was mostly a self-taught writer.“War is Kind” is the first poem of Stephen Crane’s second collection of poems, War is Kind and Other Lines, published in 1899, less than a year before he died. The poem is sometimes referred to by its first line, “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.” The subject of the poem is war and its effects. Many of the short parable-like, densely imagistic lyrics in the collection deal with God’s absence, the indifference of nature, the ironies of war, and the vagaries of
Use of Diction in Thomas Hardy's The Man He Killed Essay
causes the poem to flow, and thus lightens up the dark and serious issue of war. The lines "But ranged as infantry, And staring face to face, I shot at him as he at me, And killed him in his place." are easy to read; however, their meaning is extremely
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Owen’s poem has the clear intention of showing the true nature of war to the reader, which is mainly achieved by contrasting reality against the ways in which war is so
A Summary OfThe Diary Of Aleppo Essay
The introduction, which features the first stanza showcases imagery to encapsulate the effects of war. In the first line of the poem describes movement as “slow”, this shows that war feels as if it will never end making victims feel trapped in agony and distress. In addition, references to weaponry such as bombs and rifles are displayed, meaning that war results in death and destruction. Death and destruction show grief and despair by the tears and screaming of citizens.
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War is Kind 2 Pages 393 Words
"War is Kind" is the first poem of Stephen Crane's second collection of poems, War is Kind and Other Lines, published in 1899. The subject of the poem is war and its effects. The poet uses imagery and irony to make a picture of the uselessness of war. The title gives us an ironic tone of the poem, as it is very difficult to understand a war being kind in any way. "War is Kind," a twenty six-line poem, focuses on the emotional loss of three women whose lover, father, and son have died in war. Crane's descriptions of the fallen men in the first, third, and last stanzas suggest the evil of war and its inherent cruelty. The second and fourth stanzas gives more common images of war and the cruelty about the military. These lines gets across a sense of the soldiers' exhaustion and uselessness, as they fight with the flag, "unexplained glory," flying overheard. Crane uses emotional imagery which stresses the horrible effects of battle on the human body. The tone of his descriptions is ironic. He does not mean that war is kind, but unjust and cruel. An example is in the third stanza where the father "raged at his breast, gulped and died." He uses repetition in the first, third, and last stanzas, telling the loved ones not to weep, because "war is kind." An example of irony occurs in the second stanza when the speaker says "Great is the battle-god, great and his kingdom." The speaker obviously does no mean that the battlefield is great and glorious, but shameful. It is also ironic that war's "kindness" means the freedom of the soldiers' death from their suffering. The speaker of the poem, both sympathetic to the victims of the war and scornful about the purposes of the war, shows the graphic scenes of the battlefield death and the emotional distress of the people left behind. One of the most effective emotional appeals Crane uses is downplaying...
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Poem Analysis Of War Is Kind By Stephen Crane
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War Is Kind Analysis
War changes people lives, thoughts, and ideas. People never know what truly happens to them until the war is over and they have returned to their normal livelihood. Families are ecstatic and excited to see their sons returning from a dangerous mission such as war. In many instances, people do not understand or fathom the depth of what their child has been through during the period of war. Some authors notice and sometimes try to explain the changes of people who return from war, and use them in poems, stories, and articles. Writers use imagery, irony , and structure in the poems to show a better understanding;using these techniques to help protest of war and the affect it has on everyone involved. Imagery is the most common thing people find in their writing. Authors use imagery in the writing as a source to protest war. When the speaker in Kevin Power’s article “The Yellow Birds” says the smell is deep down into you now” (Powers). The quote …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that war changes people's lives, thoughts, and ideas. families are ecstatic and excited to see their sons returning from war.
- Analyzes how writers use imagery in their writing as a source to protest war. kevin power's article "the yellow birds" shows that the smell of the war is in you.
- Analyzes how uses imagery to describe the way he shoots someone and they fall to the ground. irony can be sarcastic or the opposite of something.
- Analyzes how structure is used to show the reader how stanzas are setup and the repetition of the words that are said more than once in a poem.
- Explains that war destroys everything it touches, including the minds of the people involved. writers help protest war and the hurt brings through imagery, irony, and structure.
It is used to show the reader how the stanzas are setup and the repetition of the words that are said more than once in a poem. When the speaker in Stephen Crane poem “ War Is Kind” says “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind” (1). The author is repeating the quote because of repetition . He is showing the reader that war is not kind. Structure are used in poems and articles to give the reader an idea that war is not a good thing. In the article, “The Things They Carried” the author lists the people that who was in the war. He states “ Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations” (O'Brien). The author uses parallel structure by listing the man's name about them and what happened to them in the war. In Document D, the author uses structure because he makes it sound like he was scared for life. War is always on his mind . The different structures he uses gives a more vivid picture of war because he cannot get his thoughts together and it reflects on
- Analyzes how the novel all quiet on the western front by erich maria remarque, and the poem "i have a rendezvous with death," by alan seeger, demonstrate the theme of lost generation of men, mentally and physically, in war.
- Analyzes how diction is used in both the novel and the poem to manipulate the thoughts of the reader and stir up emotions.
- Analyzes how baumer's remarque shows the reader his feelings about how no man or woman will ever know how much the war affected his life and how its reminiscences would be there.
- Analyzes the use of repetition in seeder's "i have a rendezvous with death" as an indicator of the narrator’s attempt to reassure himself.
- Analyzes how remarque demonstrates the idea that soldiers who escape death on the battlefield will eventually die emotionally once returned home.
- Analyzes how the generalized natures of death and spring create sharp contrasts between the unexpected, abrupt end of a life, or: "disputable barricade" and the period of green, new life budding.
- Analyzes how paul, the narrator of all quiet on the western front, acknowledges that his fate is in the hands of his enemy.
- Analyzes how seeger and remarque demonstrate the theme of a lost generation of men in war through diction, repetition, and personification to relate to their readers.
- Explains that the realism period lasted from about the american civil war to around the 1914.
- Analyzes how the poem "war is kind" expresses anti-war thoughts by criticizing the war.
- Analyzes how chief joseph's speech, "i will fight no more forever," shows the theme of the effects of war and how his people are probably freezing to death.
- Compares the writings of "war is kind" and "i will fight no more forever." both show a similar theme of war but in different perspectives.
- Concludes that both writings express the similar theme of war. both are written during the realism period, which lasted from the civil to about 1914.
- Analyzes how norman bowker is the second character that was the most affected by the effects of war on the mind of someone when they return home to real civilization.
- Concludes that war is a catastrophe because it affects anyone that gets near it. it's time for these wars to stop putting innocent people first and making sense of what could happen if they take place.
- Analyzes how tim o 'brien's book, the things they carried, shows how war affected people mentally and physically, but it wasn't as bad as some people thought it could have been.
- Analyzes how luther magee and michael hosking are related to the vietnam war and how it affected them.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien shows how the characters' mental states changed throughout the book, because of the war.
- Analyzes how bob "rat" kiley loses his best friend, curt lemon, right in front of him because of a landmine. he writes the letter to his sister because he is sad and feels like her brother deserves to know.
- Analyzes how rat coped with curt's death by physically harming a baby water buffalo. he does this because he wants to take his anger out on something.
- Analyzes how mary anne bell, in the story "sweetheart of the song tra bong," was innocent, pure, and full of energy. she wanted to learn more about the war and the land because it intrigued her.
- Analyzes how norman bowker drives around a lake reflecting on how he almost got the silver star. the death of one of his friends and fellow soldier, kiowa, changed his mental state.
- Analyzes how norman bowker sends a letter to tim o'brien telling him that he feels useless and his life is meaningless. he feels responsible for kiowa's death.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien's book, the things they carried, shows that war changes the mental state of the characters throughout the book.
- Analyzes how the protagonists in "the red convertible" and "if i die in a combat zone" must deal with the ramifications of war, whether psychological, moral, or cultural.
- Analyzes how erdrich's "the red convertible" and zabytko’s “home soil” give a strong interpretation of two distinct reactions.
- Analyzes how irene zabytko illustrates a father and son, both soldiers, during different wars.
- Describes tim o'brien's work as "story-truth" and "if i die in a combat zone."
- Narrates how commandos are followed by wave after wave of supporting troops by the end of the city.
- Opines that tet is nothing less than a catastrophe for the guerillas.
- Analyzes how o'brien's work and writings, at times, give the readers a sense of desperate hopelessness.
- Analyzes tim o'brien's contrast between personalities, from pre-war to post war. he exemplifies the changes a soldier can withstand and those he can't.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien's stories, "the red convertible," and "home soil" provide a clear understanding of the atrocities of vietnam war and what occurred to the soldiers who served in it.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien's "if i die in a combat zone" protests war in 1968, stating that the united states entered 1968 with cautious optimism about the vietnam war.
- Analyzes how the atrocities of war affect countless people every day, changing their lives forever.
- Analyzes how the war that occurs in how i live now sparks growth in multiple crucial characters.
- Explains that many war veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder after coming home from war, and this mental illness tears families apart and affects personalities.
- Opines that war wraps its bloody fingers around everyone's lives in one way or another. they believe that anyone in the thick of a war watches tragedies unfold right in front of them, and that injuries leave scar tissue — they never heal perfectly.
- Analyzes how war transforms people. daisy and edmond exhibit complete turn-arounds in who they are at the end of the war, as does iraq veteran jessie bratcher when he murders his girlfriend's rapist.
- Analyzes how the soldiers embodied in tim o'brien's the things they carried depict the physical and emotional burdens developed during the vietnam war.
- Analyzes how the characters in the things they carried endured hardships that created an element of truth within the novel.
- Analyzes how the most sincere element in the things they carried, death, is relatable to actual life for soldiers during the war. the guilt of death is seen through the novel in many different characters.
- Explains that by telling stories, they objectify their own experience, separate it from themselves, pin down certain truths, and make up others. they start with an incident that truly happened and carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur.
- Opines that historians and teachers should use fictional books in their history classes to stimulate imagination in students. students will be able to better comprehend events that took place during historical time periods.
- Explains that o'brien's message is not to prove any facts of the war, but to demonstrate the blending of truth with imagination.
- Opines that the world of literature wouldn't be the same without the wars.
- Explains that wilfred owen, the greatest english poet of the first world war, volunteered to fight on 21 october 1915.
- Analyzes owen's use of language to transport the reader to the frontline of the war. his poem, disabled, shows the life of a soldier after the impacts of war as many soldiers were left without limbs.
- Describes how owen met siegfried sassoon while recovering from'shell-shock', and he quickly established himself as the poet that showed the unscrupulous side of war while most poets wrote as if they enjoyed being in the trenches.
- Analyzes how owen's poetry changed after his doctor encouraged him to translate his experiences, especially those he relived in dreams, into his poetry. sassoon introduced owen to ways of using satire to further his poems.
- Analyzes how owen's experiences during war influenced his poetry. his letters to his mother depicted his dissatisfaction and horrors, and his experiences with religion.
- Opines that war poetry emerged as a response to the horrific wars that were ripping the world apart.
- Opines that writing was used as a tool to open people's eyes to the brutality of war.
- Analyzes the emotional stress that most soldiers carry with them during times of war due to their inexperience and age. o'brien uses specific details and illustrations to show readers what the experience was like for the men during the vietnam war.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien describes the "things" that all the men of the platoon carry throughout the war both literally and figuratively.
- Analyzes how o'brien depicts the physical and emotional burdens that soldiers carry during times of distress. lt. cross is an example of how distinguishing between fantasy and reality can be stressful.
- Analyzes how lt. cross' reaction to ted lavender's death exhibits the horrors of war and how it can make men irreparably cynical and gloomy.
- Analyzes how o'brien establishes the tone of the story through images and illustrations. the story revolves around the events of war and death, mainly the death of ted lavender.
- Analyzes how o'brien illustrates the effects of war and ironically, the moral or lesson being illustrated in the things they carried.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien is both the narrator and protagonist of the things they carried. he incorporates his personal experience of the vietnam war to help readers understand the emotional, physical, and psychological state that most soldiers endure in war.
- Concludes that o'brien's point of view structures the events he relates. he is our guide through the unexplainable trepidation of the war.
- Analyzes how timothy findley depicts the critical impacts wars have on people by showing how after war characters are not what they were at the beginning.
- Analyzes how findley proposes that solders may be headed to suicide by their encounters in war. rodwell is affectionate for animals and stays with them even on the combat zone.
- Analyzes how robert's presentation to viciousness is abandoning him in an unstoppably delicate state. his declining psychological wellness may be because of absence of rest.
- Analyzes how findley depicts the impacts of war on human behaviour. robert ross, the protagonist of his novel, has post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Analyzes how findley portrays the negative impact of war on the family members.
- Analyzes how robert gains his leadership skills more into the novel. he is constantly trying to help other soldiers around him, while captain leather doesn't give them any. cognitive psychology is the study of the human thoughts and how one solves problems.
- Explains that adapting is one of the few variables that soldiers need to fit in, in war. taffler attempted to commit suicide so he could escape from his excruciating presence.
- Analyzes how "the wars" depicts the physical and mental impacts of war. he digs into the hindering consequences for the psychological well-being of the fighters.
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War is Kind
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Stephen Crane’s “War is Kind” is all about explaining why men choose to go and die in war. Even though it is brutal, war provides some level of satisfaction to its adherents, and thus, it is more complex than what it seems. In the work, one of the seminal lines is, “These men were born to drill and die / The unexplained glory flies above them” (Crane). The point here is that while the outside observer – in this case the “maiden” – may not understand why war is a good thing, the men who are fighting the war are doing it for a bigger purpose. While death might be their eventual destination, that does not make war unkind or even bad. Rather, their purpose is to fight, so anything that happens in the course of that fighting must be understood as a good thing for them and their souls.
The author describes war as “a field where a thousand corpses lie” (Crane). It is important not to mistake what the poet is saying. He is not discounting the idea that war is a horrid, terrible practice that sends young men to their deaths. Rather, he fully admits this, and in fact, part of his goal is to show the full horror of war through tremendously explicative language. This sets up the contrast which stands at the heart of this work. War is many things. It is one of those rare things that can be, at the same time, both brutal and wonderful. Even while men are slain in huge numbers and people are left home to weep about the dead, the men doing the fighting understand that they are doing it for a reason, and because of that, the women who are weeping should also try to understand war from the perspective of the man fighting it.
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War Is Kind Poem Analysis
The similarities between 'the sniper and cranes'.
Cant we all just get along? These two stories “The Sniper” and “Cranes” show the really bad aspects of war and how they can really effect humans. In the story “The Sniper” the theme for the sniper is “War knows no boundaries, age, sex, location, time of day, or family ties. In cranes it talks about how the two friends in the story, one becomes a rebel the other a government worker. “Cranes” was written by Hwang Sunwon and translated by Peter H. Lee. And “The Sniper” was written by Liam O Flaherty. Although the setting of both stories was during the civil war the themes are the same and different.
James M. Mcpherson's What They Fought For: 1861-1865
The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History. In both books, readers are able to understand the motives of the war, attitudes of Americans and the hostility of battles through the letters of soldiers.
How Does Stephen Crane Use Irony In A Mystery Of Heroism
Brides to be never got the chance to actually become brides ,mothers never saw their sons again while babies never met their fathers. Stephen Crane informs the reader the hardships of war through irony and sarcasm. In, “War is Kind” Stephen Crane wrote “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,”..”Do not weep, babe, for war is kind,” ..”Mother whose heart hung humble as a button On the bright splendid shroud of your son, Do not weep,” which shows the reader that fiancees/wives, mothers and children never got to see their loved ones again due to the hardships of the war. Therefore, leaving them to weep the sorrow and sadness
Louisa May Alcott Analysis
The three texts, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury, Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen and Civil War Journal by Louisa May Alcott share the common theme of importance of an individual’s contribution during the Civil War. The main character, Joby, from “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh’ contributed to the Civil War by leading the whole army of soldiers into battle. Charley from Soldier’s Heart contributed during the Civil War by volunteering to fight in the war, as a soldier. Louisa May Alcott, the main character and author of Civil War Journal aided the wounded soldiers, as a nurse. Therefore, these three stories all bring the significance of an independent’s Civil War contribution to life.
Mark Twain's Use Of Metaphors In The War Prayer
So, Mark Twain uses metaphors in "The War Prayer" to provide evidence of how war effects the people involved. War creates people to come back home to their friends and family as "bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory"(Twain). People that survive war are seen as role models in their
Artilleryman's Vision And Glory: Poem Analysis
Today, many Civil War veterans have PTSD. According to Mayo Clinic, “Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that 's triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event” ("Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”). “The Artilleryman’s Vision” by Walt Whitman and the movie “Glory” both portrayed disturbing experiences of war; however, Whitman’s poem is more personal, vivid, and relatable; therefore, the reader gains a better understanding of how PTSD affects an individual.
What Makes A Soldier Great And Dulce Et Decorum Est
In essence, these two poems are drastically different works of art. "Dulce et Decorum est" is a more graphical and relational work compared to the latter, as you go on a journey as a soldier who gets to experience traumatic and graphic events, it begins to alter what you think about war and conflict. As you read on, it gives you graphical wording to prove that the saying "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" is a misrepresentation of actual war. After reading, the underlying message becomes apparent, it wants you to alter your current perceptions about war and how pointless they really are. In contrast, "The Things that Make a Soldier Great" aims to clear up what soldiers really go to war for, they are not there for "The pomp and pride of kings" but only when you "Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run—You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.", soldiers fight to protect their homes, not their kings. The poem aims to glorify soldiers and certain aspects of war, it goes on to prove that in reality there really isn 't good vs bad on the battlefield, it 's just a man who "sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call, And only death can stop him now—he 's fighting for them all.", and this is our hidden meaning.
My Brother Sam Is Dead Quotes
To many people take the toll of war,to many lives have been taken from the toll of
Mark Twain's Essay: The War Prayer
Throughout human history, war has been a common solution to settle conflict or disagreements between people. War has and will always be apart of this world, because no matter how much death it causes humans will never change. Some people have come to see the idiocy in war and have even written about it in poems, short stories, etc. One of these people, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, has mocked this absurd and pointless practice. Twain’s essay The War Prayer satirizes the customs of praying for safety and victory in war and for equating war with patriotism.
How Does Wilfred Owen Use Irony In Dulce Et Decorum Est
During war, authors like Stephen Crane,Wilfred Owen, Tim O’Brien, and Kevin Powers use literature to protest war. There were also authors who experienced the war first hand.. These authors use irony, imagery, and diction to help their anti-war protest.
Yusef Komunyakaa Analysis
Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem and Stephen Crane's excerpt factor similar and different events throughout their stories. While Crane’s piece is written from one man’s point of view, Komunyakaa uses the collective voice of a group of soldiers. In Crane’s excerpt, it talks more about fighting, what’s happening and going on in the war. In the poem, it talks more about what the soldiers do to mask their feelings and their emotions to stay strong and not get distracted thinking of memories of family.
Soldiers And Noncombatants In The Civil War
It has been one and a half centuries since the end of the American Civil War, and in the past couple generations, many historians and author’s have published letters, diaries, newspapers, etc. written by soldiers and civilians from that era. From housewives, and generals, to African-American and women soldiers, all of whom have documented they 're experiences through written text. Both the Union and South have significant figures who will be forever remembered because of they’re personal testament. The goal here is to explore the lives of casualties, soldiers, and noncombatants in the Civil War. These written works have served as the voices for the voiceless, and help to shed light to the horrors and triumphs that were in many cases were kept
Review Of Earl Hess's 'Union Soldier In Battle'
“Union Soldier in Battle” by Earl Hess, gives an insightful and truly detailed look into the lives of American soldiers during the civil war. This book not only discusses what the battlefield was like but it also goes into depth on how soldiers dealt with coping with what was happening around them. Hess draws his work from letters, diaries, and memoirs of Union soldiers; by doing this, Hess is able to expose the soldier’s deepest fears and also their sources of inner strength. He shows how they were encouraged by belief in God and country, or simply by their sense of duty; how they came to rely on the support of their comrades; and how they learned to muster self-control in order to persevere from one battle to the next.
Compare And Contrast All Quiet On The Western Front And War Is Kind
War. Funny how one word can damage a world. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front and the poem “War is Kind”, the authors, Remarque and Crane tell about the details of war.
Last The Red Badge Of Courage Literary Analysis
Throughout American history, the Civil War has been one of the most devastating and intriguing wars. May scholars and students of history have studied in depth this war, but it has been said that none have been able to portray it as accurately as Stephen Crane. Daniel Hoffman about Crane’s life wrote, “Crane 's life was brief; he was dead of tuberculosis before his thirtieth birthday. His career as an author lasted only from 1892 to 1900. Yet he wrote the greatest novel of the American Civil War, perhaps the best fictional study in English of fear The Red Badge of Courage” (Hoffman). The Red Badge of Courage according to James Woodress in his review of the novella said, “It is the most famous of all novels written about the Civil War” (Woodress).
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Irony in Stephen Crane’s Poem War is Kind Analytical Essay
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How is it possible to completely shut out reality through imagination? Well during the romantic period this was the question that lingered in the minds of Realist writers. During this time Realist authors were the individuals who accepted life for what it was and didn’t sugar coat reality. Unlike Romantic writers that were known to view life idealistically and only through their imagination.
Opposing these Romantic tendencies, Realist author Stephen Crane further communicated his stance by writing the poem ‘War is Kind’ to reprove these unrealistic romantic ideas. Crane’s poem regards to the reality of war and its impacts which is significant as it connects to his position of valuing truth above all. Additionally, in this poem, Crane depicts Realism by exhibiting the truth about war and its brutal effects which he also emphasizes through his utilization of the literary devices repetition and irony to convey the theme that war is not kind.
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Crane portrays Realism in his poem by presenting the truth about war and its outcomes while also including the literary elements repetition and irony to convey the message that war is cruel. Throughout the poem, Crane repetitively incorporates the words ‘Do not weep. / War is kind'(1-26). The restatement of this ironic assertion is significant as it trying to assure the reader that war is good yet its the cause of people’s suffering, and their grief for those they have lost.
Specifically, this is the reality of war and Crane uses this quote to relate back to the reality that people die at war and their loved ones are left coping with the death and trying to convince themselves they died honorably and for a purpose. However, it does not change the fact that the person is gone as a result of being in combat, and by recognizing this Crane helps the reader understand his message that war is cruel. Another ruthless aspect of war Crane hints at in his poem, is that people do not care about the individual going to war instead people care that there is a body going to fight for the nation.
To explain this Realism Crane repeatedly included the line ‘These men were born to drill and die'(8-19). Essentially, Crane is revealing that those who serve, are nothing more than soldiers committed to honoring and defending the nation. He’s indicating through repetition, the reality that aspects of war indeed are brutal considering nobody truly cares about the individual giving up their life to serve. All and all, Crane accurately uses repetition as well as irony to help indicate his portrayal of Realism regarding the ruthlessness of war and its effects along with the theme that war is unmerciful.
Furthermore, throughout the poem, Crane continues to apply irony and repetition to show his depiction of realism in terms of war and its brutalities, along with his main point that war is cruel. In the poem, Crane connects with a harsh aspect of battle, the command for soldiers to kill. To achieve this Crane incorporates the ironic statement ‘Point for them the virtue of slaughter / Make plain to them the excellence of killing'(20-21).
Crane utilizes irony because, in reality, the act of slaughter and killing are not righteous and soldiers do not find killing their opponent enjoyable or rewarding. Soldiers are humans, they have emotions, they care and value the lives of others, ending a life damages them just the same as it would anyone else. Yet they are still forced to because it’s the reality of war, and as Crane portrayed the reality of war throughout the poem, he makes the reader understand that war is brutal. Unfortunately, this is not the only awful aspect of war Crane proves, as he repeatedly emphasized: ‘A field where a thousand corpses lie’ (11-22).
Here again, another repeated line is used to emphasize the Realism of war and how countless lives are lost. Considering war is the reason for death and loss it supports Crane’s message that war is cruel. As a whole, Crane precisely uses irony and repetition to help show his illustration of realism concerning the harshness of war and its outcomes along with the theme that war is cruel.
Overall, in this poem, Crane describes realism by showing the truth about war and its harsh effects which he furthermore highlights by his usage of the literary elements repetition and irony to communicate the theme that war is unkind. Throughout the poem, Crane addresses negative aspects of war but tries to make them more reassuring, this way he can use irony and sarcasm to indicate the real conflicts of war without a sugar coat.
It should be noted that through Cranes overall points he connects to a bigger thought that even though the object of war is defeating the enemy and gaining power, wealth, or freedom. Is it really worth all the pain and loss that comes with it? War will never stop being cruel and devastating it is time for the public to recognize the reality that there are better ways to handle world problems and general conflicts.
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War is Kind by Stephen Crane
In this five stanza excerpt from ‘War is Kind’ by Stephen Crane, the poet does not use any pattern of rhyme or rhythm . In fact, the whole poem is written in free verse . But that doesn’t mean that there are moments of rhyme or techniques used to create rhythm. For example, the endings of lines one and five of stanza one rhyme with the words “kind” and “kind”. So do lines three and six of stanza two with “die” and “lie.” These same endings are used again in the fourth stanza of the excerpt.
In addition to these full rhymes , there are half or slant rhymes . These are also scattered around the text and connect to one another due to assonance , vowel sound, or consonance , consonant sound. For example, “regiment” and “fight” in stanza two. Another example is “kind” and “wild” in stanza one, which are related due to their similar long “i” sound.
Repetition is also an important part of the poem. It is a technique used within all forms of poetry, but free verse writing can help to unify the lines. In the case of ‘ War is Kind’ Crane uses and reuses the phrase “War is kind” five times in this excerpt alone. The statement is always preluded by another three-line phrase, “Do not weep”. These are two directions both aimed at the “maiden” referenced in the first line.
Summary of War is Kind
In the first lines of ‘ War is Kind’ by Stephen Crane the speaker tells a young woman that she shouldn’t cry because war is kind. He goes on to tell the woman that her “lover threw” his hands in the air while in battle, perhaps because he was injured. In the next stanzas , the speaker describes how soldiers usually act in battle and how they are made to fight and die. He also speaks to a child and a mother, telling them not to cry in the face of death either.
Analysis of War is Kind
Stanza one .
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind. Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky And the affrighted steed ran on alone, Do not weep. War is kind.
In the first stanza of ‘War is Kind’ the speaker begins by making use of the refrain . He tells a “maiden,” or unmarried woman, that she should not weep. “War,” he states, is “kind”. This is obviously a very unusual and likely ironic , thing to say.
He goes on to tell the woman that her “lover threw” his hands in the air when he was confronted with war. When this happened, his “steed,” or horse ran alone. It was “affrighted,” a complicated way to say frightened. It is unclear what exactly happened to make the lover throw his hands in the air. Maybe it was in surrender, or perhaps something darker happened and he was injured or even killed.
The last two lines of this stanza are a reiteration of part of the first line, and the two statements which make up the refrain. These two lines bookend the stanza, as they do with stanzas three and five.
Stanza Two
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment, Little souls who thirst for fight, These men were born to drill and die. The unexplained glory flies above them, Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom— A field where a thousand corpses lie.
In the second stanza of ‘War is Kind’ the speaker plays with the previous reference to a “steed” and uses the word “Hoarse”. This time though he is referring to the drums played by the regiment of soldiers. They sound “hoarse,” as if they are sick or in need of something to drink. In the next two lines, the speaker says the soldiers are “Little souls” and are thirsting not for water, but “for fight”.
The phrase little souls is interesting, it contrasts with the next lines which seem to suggest the men do not have souls. The speaker goes on to say that these men were born for nothing else other than to fight. They were born to “drill” as in train and practice and then die. They are mechanical in their actions and in their purpose.
In the fourth line the speaker references “unexplained glory”. There is no clear definitive answer to what this glory is, but it could refer to the ephemeral nature of glory itself. It is something that spectators and outsiders from war imbue upon those who were in war. Glory is not something that actively seeks out soldiers on the battlefield.
In the last lines of the section, the speaker mentions a battle god. There are a number of different gods who could fit this description, but the exact name does not matter. What the speaker is doing here is setting out a scene, which is ruled differently than other kingdoms. This particular kingdom is nothing more than a field where “a thousand corpses lie”. It’s a dark and terrible place, which is ruled over by a powerful force.
Stanza Three
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind. Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches, Raged at his breast, gulped and died, Do not weep. War is kind.
In the third stanza, the speaker begins by asking a “babe” not to weep. He has moved on from addressing a woman to speaking to a young child.
He tells the child that there is no reason to weep, and then provides them with a very good reason to do so. The child’s father, who was in a battle of some kind died in “the yellow trenches”. He had raged in his breast and in the simplest way, “gulped and died”. The “rage” refers to his own thirst for war, and to the injury which killed him. The bullet entered his body, driven by another’s rage.
The refrain is again repeated . It is starting to become even more haunting as its deep irony is made clear.
Stanza Four
Swift, blazing flag of the regiment, Eagle with crest of red and gold, These men were born to drill and die. Point for them the virtue of slaughter, Make plain to them the excellence of killing And a field where a thousand corpses lie.
The flag of the regiment is mentioned in the fourth stanza of ‘War is Kind’. It is “blazing” and pattered with a “crest of red and gold” and an eagle. There is another moment of repetition in which the line “These men were born to drill and die” is used again. It is a reminder, and its reuse helps create a rhythm to the poem. Along with the refrain “Do not weep. / War is kind” the poem starts to sound song-like.
In lines four through six of this stanza the speaker goes through some terrible images. He speaks to the flag and tells it to make sure the men know that there is “virtue” in slaughtering one’s enemies and that there is “excellence” in killing. The stanza ends with the repetition of the line “And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
Stanza Five
Mother whose heart hung humble as a button On the bright splendid shroud of your son, Do not weep. War is kind.
The fifth stanza of ‘ War is Kind’ is directed toward a mother who was faced with the loss of her son. With the alliterative phrase “heart hung humble” the speaker describes the way she stood before his coffin. Her heart was on the “shroud” of her son, as simple as a button. Crane describes the heart as completing the action, a technique known as metonymy . The excerpt ends with the speaker again telling someone not to cry, and that war is kind.
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Baldwin, Emma. "War is Kind by Stephen Crane". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/stephen-crane/war-is-kind/ . Accessed 3 March 2023.
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