War causes death, poverty, diseases, destruction, and many more devastating and unavoidable consequences. The government drafted men into military service, giving them no choice but to separate them from their daily lives, friends, and families. Soldiers fight in wars while putting their lives on the line and are only rewarded with physical or psychological injuries. Countries wage war against one another in order to resolve disputes and disagreements between them. Individuals, such as nurses, soldiers, and civilians undergo traumatic events when they are caught in the middle of a war. Although some may argue that war does not impact the self the most, based on the informational text, “War Escalates” by Paul Boye, the short story, “Where …show more content…
As an illustration, the author describes the scenery of the battlefield, “The most vivid images of the war show soldiers facing the hardships and terrors of battle. Some confronted the enemy in well-defined battles in the highlands. Others cut their way through the jungle, where they heard but seldom saw the enemy. Still others waded through rice paddies and searched rural villages for guerrillas… They were rarely safe. Enemy rockets and mortars could--and did--strike anywhere” (Boyer 2). By using descriptive language, the author illustrates the soldiers surroundings and evoke the reader’s sense of terror. With this in mind, this gives the readers a better understanding of how inhumane war is and how the severity of war torments soldiers by them through physiological traumatizing experiences. Furthermore, the author quotes a nurse recalling her experiences in a field hospital, “We really saw the worse of it, because the nurses never saw any of the victories...I remember one boy who was brought in missing two legs and an arm, and his eyes were bandaged. A general came in later and pinned a Purple Heart on the boy’s hospital gown, and the horror of it all was so amazing that it just took my breath away. You thought, was this supposed to be an even trade?” (Boyer 2). By using imagery, the author cites a nurse who describes the boy’s injuries in detail and appeals …show more content…
The first piece of evidence to support this is when the author writes to his family about his time in the Vietnam war, “I got to know this boy well, and he was my best friend. His name was Dan Davis. On Monday morning, the 15th of November, he died in my arms of two bullet wounds in the chest. He said, ‘Ken, I can't breathe.’ There was nothing I could do” (Bagby 1). This quote depicts how Bagby is unable to erase the memory of the death of his friends and the helplessness he felt in battle. Bagby demonstrates through imagery by describing his friend’s death in detail and evoke the reader’s sense of vulnerability. By doing so, the readers are able to create visual images of Dan’s death and the grief Bagby went through and is able to understand how soldiers suffer because they will never be able to forget their time in the war. For instance, “ The odor of blood and decayed bodies, I will never forget. I am all right. I will never be the same though, never, never, never. If I have to go into battle again, if I am not killed, I will come out insane. I cannot see and go through it again. I know I can't” (Bagby 1). The use of imagery allows Bagby to highlight the horrors he cannot unsee and his struggles of keeping himself sane, by Bagby's detailed recollection of his friend’s death and appealing to
To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who
The war brings enormous damages to humanity. People who survive war suffer from psychological problems. In the excerpt from, A Long Way Gone, a boy who managed to stay alive through war suffers from the past memories that are even in his dreams, “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories. Memories I sometimes wish I could wash away” (Beah). This quote makes it clear that people who went through war suffer mentally from unwillingly dreaming of war and memories that suddenly come to their heads. The image “In Times of War” also shows that humanity suffers from war. In the cartoon picture, there are people lying
We have all seen or read about the political and social upheavals caused by war. Some may have even experienced it first-hand. Throughout history war has had negative psychological implications on those effected. However, there is no greater negative impact of war than the psychological and emotional turmoil that it causes individual soldiers.
Wars are often glorified in tone to give praise and respect for those on the battlefields. There is an overall understanding that there are sacrifices needed in order to accomplish a larger goal. Excluded from this understanding is the realization that the effects of war
War leads to oppression and leaves negative implications on all people and societies by impacting the poor, women, children, and nations as a whole. "War is a state of violent conflict between one or more groups" (Rasenberger 3). Rasenberger defines war as a state of conflict between one group within itself or several groups in combat with each other, what is not mentioned are the after-effects of war. War itself leads to many civilian and military deaths, an estimated 1.5-3.8 million people died during the Vietnam War and an approximate 500,000 people died in the Iraq war. The biggest tragedy of War is that it always results in fatality, but another key, negative, factor to understand is that after the War many adverse implications arise. Post-war ramifications in the nation fall upon the poor, women, and children, making them weaker and less motivated leading to the downfall of a society. Regardless if a nation wins or is defeated in war they have to deal with consequences of war and find solutions to the impacted people and society. It is essential to understand that there is never a true victor in war because regardless of the outcome, fatality and a fall of morale within society on both sides are inevitable. War has often been the solution to situations that required force or violence, but in recent times this has
Writers used imagery as a way to show how graphic and disturbing war can be. In the poem (Doc. D) the author describes how he would be “ killing women or even watching women get killed”. This is used to show the violent and disturbing actions many people have to do while at war. Another author describes how he saw (Doc. B) someone “ yelling out, stumbling, and floundering like a man on fire”. This shows how on a daily basis many soldiers saw events that would mentally scar them. In Document D the author describes how he would have kill men and keep shooting them to make sure they were dead. This is used to show how graphic the life of war was. The use of imagery is an effective way to show how disturbing the war is.
An American machine gunner, Charles Yale Harrison, says in his novel, Generals Die in Bed: “[War] take[s] everything from us: our lives, our blood, our hearts; even the few lousy hours of rest, they take those, too. Our job is to give, and theirs is to take,” (Harrison, 26). In this example, Harrison explains how war is the most selfish and strongest of all evils; war continues to take everything someone has until they have nothing left to take. The war also created long-term effects for soldiers; one being shell-shock. This term is used to describe the damage of constant loud shelling during war which greatly affected those who were not exposed to shelling frequently (Unnamed). Another term that is still used today is PTSD, (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”), which is used to describe the effect war had on the soldiers afterward (Unnamed). World War I brought major psychological disorders upon the soldiers during and after the war had ended leading to great damage for the rest of the victim’s
O’Brien used imagery to illustrate the war in a sense to make you feel as if you were there with the soldiers. While staying short and simple, he was also very specific of the details. “Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. He lay with his mouth open. The teeth were broken. There was a swollen black bruise under his left eye. The cheekbone was gone” [423] is a perfect example of how O’Brien used imagery. This passage makes you see in your mind what the soldiers seen through their eyes.
There is no doubt that when war occurs, every single human being is affected by it even if it is just a little. In the novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front” written by Erich Maria Remarque, a group of teenage men, who also appear to by classmates, are in the German army of World War I because they have chosen to leave their adolescence at home and school for grown up work at the army. Throughout this fictional novel, they face many challenges that result in them not seeing each other ever again because of death. War affects individuals by leaving behind necessities such as education or jobs, not being able to watch over others such as their health, and injuries that soldiers receive while they are at war.
War can destroy a man both in body and mind for the rest of his life. In “The Sniper,” Liam O’Flaherty suggests the horror of war not only by presenting its physical dangers, but also by showing its psychological effects. We are left to wonder which has the longer lasting effect—the visible physical scars or the ones on the inside?
Since the beginning of mankind, war and the horrors that come with it have had devastating effects on both the minds and the bodies of human beings. Mentally, war drains soldiers of their ability to think properly. During a battle, soldiers witness bloody battles which frequently result in demise. Day after day of witnessing deceased fall to the ground, a soldier can do nothing but think about blood, gore, and his or her fallen comrades. Additionally, a war can be physically taxing on whomever takes part in it. Dodging or being hit by fists, swords, or bullets will inevitably cause pain and may disable somebody for the rest of their life. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque demonstrates through characterization, imagery,
The psychologist Sigmund Freud once said, “Because every man has a right over his own life and war destroys lives that were full of promise; it forces the individual into situations that shame his manhood, obliging him to murder fellow men, against his will.” He initially stated this when he was corresponding with Albert Einstein via letter. This quote is also a great explanation of the events that take place during war that people chose to not recognise. War is terrible, and no matter how hard we try, nothing will change that. Erich Maria Remarque shows us that soldiers have endured dreadfully throughout World War I in his book “All Quiet on the Western Front”. The character in the book, Paul Baumer, endures through the tragedies of war with some of his old schoolmates as well as new comrades that he meets along the way. They survive through all of the tragedies together, but in the end, the war made them lose their friendships as well as their lives. The reality is that war comes with consequences while it destroys people, and there is nothing that will ever be able to change that. The book “All Quiet on the Western Front” shows how war comes destroys people's lives with its consequences through three of its themes: the importance of comradery, the loss of innocence, and the horrors and brutality of war.
“The long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey… Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms.” Liam O’Flaherty starts the story off with a strong sense of detail, and it immediately emerges the reader into the story and makes them envision being in Dublin at the time of the war. Halfway throughout the story, the sniper gets shot. The author uses sensory details to create an image that makes the reader envision the actual pain the character is battling against. “Then taking out his field dressing, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine bottle and let the bitter fluid drip into the wound. A paroxysm of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton wadding over the wound and wrapped the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.” When the author emerges the reader into the story, it makes them able to relate to the agony the sniper is in, which contributes back to the mood.
Soldiers and Citizens in War Tim O’Brien’s vignette, “Style,” in the book, “The Things They Carried,” epitomizes soldiers lack of morality towards citizens during the burning of a hamlet in which a girl frantically dances after the loss of her family and her home. The author makes use of imagery, tone, and repetition to captivate the effect of the war on both the soldier and the citizen. O’Brien’s use of descriptive language creates an image of the innocence of the victims of war and creates a sympathetic tone towards the dancing girl who eventually becomes a soldier’s definition of collateral damage. O’Brien’s use of imagery creates a vivid picture of the innocence of civilians when confronted with soldiers desensitized by war. The author illustrates the dancing of a girl as delicate and graceful, “She did a graceful movement with her hips…
Poets frequently utilize vivid images to further depict the overall meaning of their works. The imagery in “& the War Was in Its Infancy Then,” by Maurice Emerson Decaul, conveys mental images in the reader’s mind that shows the physical damage of war with the addition of the emotional effect it has on a person. The reader can conclude the speaker is a soldier because the poem is written from a soldier’s point of view, someone who had to have been a first hand witness. The poem is about a man who is emotionally damaged due to war and has had to learn to cope with his surroundings. By use of imagery the reader gets a deeper sense of how the man felt during the war. Through the use of imagery, tone, and deeper meaning, Decaul shows us the