Media and the Military
During the Vietnam War the media was left unchecked and brought the
wartime images of death and carnage into America's living room. These
images served as morale killers and eventually turned much of the public
against its own government. During the Gulf War on the other hand, the
military filtered what reached the public's eye and morale was kept to all
time highs. In wartime the government should be able to manipulate public
opinion by controlling the media.
War is not pretty, and it is not for the weak at heart. Images of
war should not be broadcast into living rooms live. During the Vietnam
conflict this is what happened. Pictures and real time video of our troops
being slaughtered during battles of the Tet offensive and the siege of Khe
Sahn were sent home for all of America to see (Klein 50-51). Again, war is
not pretty and the way you keep morale up is you don't let the public know
how bad war really is.
Television is one of the most powerful tools of media and “by the
mid 1960's television had become the most important source for news for
most of the American public, and beyond that, perhaps, the most powerful
single influence on the public.” (Hallin 106) So people trusted what
reporters like Walter Cronkite were telling them. They believed it when
NBC journalists told them things like, “ the Marines are so bogged down in
Hue that nobody will predict when the battle would end…more than 500
marines have been wounded and over 100 dead since the in Hue began.” (Klein
51) Don't get the wrong idea though, these things really happened but the
public didn't need to know it.
The constitution and 1st amendment still mean something but
national security should come first. People rioting all over the country
in anti war protests should be an issue of national security. Without the
support of your homefront no country can win a war, especially a foreign
war (Franklin 250). It is impossible to get support at home when NBC is
showing them pictures of their boys getting massacred every night on the
nightly news.
On the other hand, during the Gulf War in Iraq the horrors of war
still existed, maybe not to the same extent, but they were there
nonetheless. These horrors however where kept out of our living rooms by
systematic filtering by the US army. Now the army didn't just seize tapes
and erase bad parts. Very few reporters and cameras were allowed to the
front lines.
In the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," written by Dylan Thomas, emphasizes resistance towards death as he repeats this exhortation in the last line in every stanza. Imagery is used by Thomas to create the theme of his poem and what it means. Although readers are unaware of the details behind the on coming death of Thomas father, the motives of the author for writing this poem are very obvious. Thomas intends to pursuit his father to resist against death and for him to fight for life. Through "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," Thomas conveys resistance towards death with images of fury and fighting to symbolize the great anger and rage Thomas feels towards the thought of loosing his dying father, though upon first reading then seem banal.
...ness and emotional destructiveness of war. War is an unnatural thing, so The Thin Red Line, consequently, does not portray war in the “normal” fashion.
"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight" is a poem by Dylan Thomas. This poem is about fighting against death. Many people die everyday with a sense of defeat. They reach a point in their lives were they feel it is useless to fight against a force that is destined to claim them. The strength of their youth disappears leaving them weak. Those who accept death too early die spiritually before they die physically. They grieve a loss that is yet to come. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" demonstrates perfectly the attitude Dylan Thomas felt his father should have had against his death. "D.J. Thomas had never recovered since having tongue cancer in 1932. Losing his eyesight Mr. Thomas' pride and fire had almost all drained out of him; he was becoming the husk of his former self. He did the crossword puzzles of which both he and Dylan were so fond of and awaited the end. The spectacle of his decline distressed Dylan greatly and inspired this poem." (FitzGibbons 295). Dylan Thomas did not wish to see his dad surrender to his death. In writing this poem, Dylan set out to encourage others to fight against death and to live their lives to the fullest.
The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger once said “Perjor est bello timor ipse belli”, which translates to: “the dread of war is worse than war itself”. With this quote, Seneca identifies that war has both its physical and mental tolls on its participants. The psychological and emotional scars of war do much more damage to a solider than the actual physical battles. Tim O’ Brien repeats this idea many years later in his novel “The Things They Carried”, by describing how emotional burdens outweigh the physical loads that those in war must endure. What keeps them alive is the hope that they may one day return home to their loved ones. Yet, the weight of these intangible “items” such as “grief, terror, love, longing” overshadow the physical load they must endure since they are not easily cast away.
Dylan Thomas sets the tone of his iconic poem with the title, which is also one of the recurring lines in the poem. When the speaker says “Do not go gentle into that good night”(1,6,12,18), he is saying that you should not peacefully accept death. In most cases, many people would consider a peaceful death as good of a death as there can be, but Thomas urges the reader to not accept it. While it may seem like an odd stance, one must consider that towards the end of the poem we learn the speaker is speaking to his father. In context of the poem, this is someone struggling to accept that his father is dying therefore he is begging his father to also not accept it. Another way Dylan Thomas is able to not only reinforce the defiant tone, but also reinforce the central message, is his repetition of critical
War has always been inevitable throughout the history of the world. The outcomes can differ greatly; it’s usually either a win or a loss. Wins or losses are just definite statements, but photos can represent these statements. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “V-J Day in Times Square” shows an American sailor kissing a young woman right in the middle of Times Square, despite their surroundings. This iconic photo was taken after the U.S. declared victory over Japan in World War II, and was published in Life magazine a week later. John Gap’s (III) photo shows a young girl being consoled at a soldier’s funeral in a local high school gymnasium, later to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. This humble photo was taken during the war still raging in Afghanistan, showing that these types of losses happen quite often, as there are no iconic photos for Afghanistan compared to the photo shot after the win over World War II. Unlike its counterpart, this photo was published only at a local level on a website. Both these photos show a soldier being dismissed to go home from war. Although the two photos share that common factor, the scenario in which the soldier comes home differs greatly. Through these photos, Albert Eisenstaedt and John Gaps III help evoke pathos and give the observer a sense of the pride and the devastation felt of a home coming from war using photographic elements such as framing, focus, and angles.
There you stand over the body of a fallen friend, a brother or sister in arms. You are asking yourself why them, why not you? What could have I done to save them? That is when you wake up, sweating, panting. It was just a night terror, yet it feels the same as the day they died, even though it has been ten years. This is just one of the many emotional scars soldiers of war face. Though why do we go to war when this is the cost? For many it is because they are unaware of the psychological cost of war, they are only aware of the monetary cost. Tim O 'Brien addresses the true cost of war in The Things They Carried. O 'Brien suggests that psychological trauma caused by war impedes daily life in young Americans drafted into the Vietnam war. He does
Mark Antony is extremely loyal to his friend and leader, Caesar. After Antony discovers Caesar’s dead body, he urges the conspirators to take his life as well, proclaiming he “shall not find [himself] so apt to die” (160). Caesar’s death causes great distress for Antony, and his desire to die alongside Caesar demonstrates his loyalty and the value he gave to his friend. He also curses the conspirators lives, and wishes to “let slip the dogs of war” (273). Proposing war is a very drastic action, and choosing to defend his friend’s name at the cost of a war demonstrates his utmost loyalty to Caesar. Antony’s loyalty was not a result of his position under Caesar, but a result of their strong friendship. While delivering a speech to Rome following the death
Julius Caesar’s ambition for power drove the honorable Brutus to think negatively about Julius Caesar’s position of being the King of Rome. Negatively speaking, Julius Caesar’s ways of having most of the power and deciding not to listen to others except the ones that only tell him things he likes to hear, drove the power-hungary conspirators and the honorable Brutus to take his life away. The honorable Brutus shows his love for Rome by committing an act which he seems best fit for his city. Trying everything he can to put Rome in a democracy, the only solution he saw was to join the conspirators to murder Caesar and explain to the people why they committed such an act. A great friend of Julius Caesar Mark Antony, stood up for many things Caesar had in mind and he was one of the few that Caesar thought was very trustworthy besides Brutus. After Caesar’s death, Mark Anthony told Caesar that he will take revenge for him and that shows great passion for the love that he had for him.
Mark Antony, in the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, was a brave, intelligent, pleasure-loving, and cunning man. He was loyal to his friend, Caesar, whom he considered a true friend. He looked at life as a game in which he had a signified part to play, and played that part with excellent refinement and skill.
War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it
When discussing the different aspects of New Criticism in Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle into The Good Night”, the impression that comes to mind is death. The use of imagery was a necessity for Dylan Thomas to express the different techniques of writing which involved a mixture of surrealistic and metaphysical tones. His ability to change a words meaning to incorporate symbolism is noticeable in circle of unity from life to death and renewed life.
Clarisse is one of the characters who influenced Montag by showing her own world. Clarisse remind Montag the fireman’s real job. Clarisse said ‘”strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames”’ (pg 8). Clarisse is the one of character who read a book in conflict read society. She confused Montag on what he doing in his job and realized real purpose of his job. Clarisse created curiosity in Montag by asking ‘” do you ever read any of the books you burn?”’ (pg 8). Montag recognized that people should be like Clarisse. Through her Montag knows that people are living like a robot that moving by government. Also, Clarisse teach him the value of educat...
To begin with, the easiest point of discussion is one of the physical effects of war. We all know that there are many physical effects of war, recently on Extreme Makeover – Home Edition, Ty Pennington and his crew rebuilt a soldiers family home mainly for one reason – he came home physically handicapped fighting for our country in one of the current wars. Stephen Crane states in his poem “Do not weep maiden, for war is kind. Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky” (686). Quite simply, one horrible physical effect of war is death. Crane perpetuates this by stating “Because your father… Raged at his breast, gulped and died (686). Further, there are other physical effects that beg for the support of the individuals throughout the states, a few of these ma...
Dylan Thomas' poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" is about a son’s bereavement and the acceptance of his father dying. Thomas knows death is inevitable, therefore, he uses persuasion to get his father to "rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Line 3). Villanelle poems require two repeating rhyme schemes. Thomas helps the reader visualize dark and light. : “Wise men… know dark is right” (4). “Wild men… sang the sun in flight/do not go gentle into that good night” (10,12). “Eyes…blaze like meteors” (14).