Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay the impact of war on literature and society
War's effect on literature
What is the effect of war in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay the impact of war on literature and society
History teaches us that war and hate begin when governments believe that the price of aggression is cheap. War is an iniquitous entity, which affects not only those who are involved but also those who support it. Both Catch-22, by Joseph Heller, and the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai are anti-war in their philosophy. However, the comic novel takes a different path from the tragic path of the film. The novel and movie incorporate similar themes and characterizations of certain characters in order to express the anti-war philosophy. However, other aspects of the novel and movie, such as the idea of insanity and the introduction of the commanding officers, illustrate many clear differences between the movie and novel. These similarities and differences, in the way how both the novel and movie promote the anti-war philosophy, help us to broaden our understanding of the mentality of military officials during war and how war either corrupted, murdered or displaced the mental stability of soldiers and their commanding officers.
Catch-22 and The Bridge on the River Kwai share common themes, such as ambition, anti-war, and the concept of Catch-22. In Catch-22, the officers in Colonel Cathcart's squadron are in a Catch-22 situation because Colonel Cathcart's fad ambition to become general and to impress his superiors, influences him to consistently raise the number of missions required for each officer to fly. This prevents any officer from Colonel Cathcart's squadron from ever escaping the evil clutches of the military life. Similarly in The Bridge on the River Kwai, Commander Shears is in a Catch-22 situation because he is forced to either participate in the sabotage of the bridge with Major Warden or have his felony exposed to...
... middle of paper ...
... in his pursuit to live. Lieutenant Joyce is similar to Clevinger and Nately from the novel because they are patriotic, loyal and eager to fight despite having rudimentary skills. However, one significant difference is that Joyce is shier than Clevinger and Nately because Joyce is more hesistant to express his opinion in front his commanding officers than compared to Clevinger and Nately who openly confess their opinions to Yossarian.
In conclusion, despite some minor differences Catch-22 and The Bridge on the River Kwai share common themes in ambition, anti-war philosophy, corruption and the concept of Catch-22. In both of these stories, the enlisted men are subject to the senseless will of their commanding officers, and often suffered as a result. War doesn't only affect the officers involved in both stories but they also affect those who inanely support it.
The development of Catch-22 weaves through time and Heller transitions from one moment to the next with ease. At many points throughout the novel, fluid passages between characters, settings, and ideas take place without correlation, except for small connecting concepts that are often somewhat unrelated to the prior or following topic. For example, the chapter on General Peckem begins with Orr and develops into a more Peckem-related chapter over the course of the section. The chapter ends with Colonel Cathcart commanding his troops to “put all those bombs on a dime” (Heller 329). In the succeeding chapter, about Dunbar, “Yossarian no longer gave a damn where his bombs fell, although he did not go as far as Dunbar, who dropped his bomb hundreds of yards past the village…” (330). The accuracy of the missions connects the two chapters and aids in transitioning from one topic to another, but is a moderately uncorrelated idea. This leaves the reader piecing together the story and having to recall previous content. In addition, He...
There was dead silence in his office, the kind of silence that should never be disturbed. The look of determination on his face was uncanny. Every single move he made was precise and delicate. Colonel Cathcart slowly rolled a few inches away from his desk in his chair, just enough so he could stand up. At a snail's pace, he stood up never taking his eyes off his masterpiece. Cathcart's hand was shaking immensely as he lifted the playing card up to complete his beloved tower. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK' Cathcart's body jumped in surprise, causing his hand to jolt at the sound of the noise. The tower collapsed in seconds. All Cathcart had now was 51 cards scattered all over his desk, still gripping the final card in his hand.
1. Setting/ Matter: In the novel Catch 22, the main action takes place on the island of Pianosa near France where a squadron of men are trained to fly missions and bomb cities during World War II. Joseph Heller wrote the story to parallel his time serving as a flight pilot on the island Corsica. The matter is exactly the same as the setting, because the book is set in World War II and is also commenting on the nature of war in World War II. The scenery at Pianosa is described as “[a] shallow, dull colored forest,” (Heller 17) which also symbolizes the relatively boring lives of the military men. The job of the soldiers is to complete the same tasks each day, which is very repetitive. This is shown through the island’s
Known today as two of the most prominent American satirists, Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut both served time as soldiers during World War II, Heller serving as a bombardier in Italy (Scoggins) and Vonnegut as a soldier and prisoner of war in Germany (Parr). Not coincidentally, both Heller’s 1961 novel Catch-22 and Vonnegut’s 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death follow the journeys of young men in combat during the Second World War – Captain John Yossarian of the US Army Air Forces and soldier Billy Pilgrim, respectively. While it is evident that these fictional novels are both set during the World War II era and convey bleak images of war, closer inspection of both texts brings to light the common
The disillusionment with the novel Catch 22 has been caused by many factors, such as the completely unsentimental viewpoints of war as described by Heller, as well as a complete disregard of the romanticism of war that was popular during the time due to the heroics of World War II. Catch 22 is a novel heavily reliant on the experience Heller had from his time in the Air Force that presents a tale of war in an entirely new light. It was a highly controversial topic upon its publication, as critics either loved or hated the novel, mostly for the same or very similar reasons. Catch 22 presents a completely new vision of war, replacing ideas of well-known glories with a nightmare of paradox, bureaucracy and extreme violence (Parker-Anderson 1). Much of the glory was tainted by the extreme use of objectionable language throughout Catch 22, which created much conflict amongst teachers and high school board members as to whether the novel was an appropriate addition to school
December 7th, 1941 is a day that lives in infamy and changed the course of American history. Despite the United States’ trepidation and hesitation about entering World War II, the deadly attack on Pearl Harbor influences President Roosevelt to declare war on the Empire of Japan, to claim, “that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.” The vast majority of modern American citizens view World War II as the pivotal moment of the 20th century, when the forces of good (the Allies) defeat evil (The Axis Powers). Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 satirically dissects this popular notion about World War II, and humorously exposes the ineffective bureaucratic and immoral profit-driven nature of the American war effort. Heller accomplishes his goal by creating
Catch-22 is perhaps Joseph Heller’s best known work. Catch-22, published in 1961, is a satire which depicts America’s counter-cultural antiwar attitudes. One terrifying aspect of Catch-22 is life and death is controlled not by the men in the squadron, but by the frightening bureaucracy which continually defies logic in order to achieve their own personal gains. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is somewhat autobiographical; emphasizes the literary elements of characterization, conflict, and structure of a novel; and has received extensive and through criticism.
In Hemingway’s “In Another Country”, the main character, Nick Adams, and the major both have their lives changed by the war. Nick Adams lost part of his leg from the war, yet remains hopeful that he will return to the United States and marry someone. However, the major has the opposite view. He used to be the greatest fencer in Italy, yet his hand is shrunken grotesquely from the war. He recently married his wife when he learned he was free of the war, yet she died from pneumonia. The major has lost hope for the future and bears many similarities with sufferers of PTSD. In Bierce’s “Coup de Grace”, the major characters are the two friends, Captain Madwell and Sergeant Halcrow, and Halcrow’s brother and Madwell’s “enemy”, Major Halcrow. Earlier in the story, a conversation between the captain and the major demonstrates the hate they bear toward each other. Then, when Madwell finds his friend, Madwell kills him, believing it is the best thing he could do for his friend. Although Madwell and Halcrow were friends before the war, Bierce uses the war to force Madwell to kill his best friend. This, in a nutshell, shows that the horror of war has the power to affect characters and their
Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line (1998) is a film that examines the Guadalcanal Battle of World War II, looking past the physical results of the violence, in order to uncover the deeper truths and ramifications of war. The film conveys themes and ideologies that are somewhat uncommon to war films, especially WW II films. In this dark, surreal, journey, Malick takes us inside the minds of soldiers experiencing this battle to capture a remote pacific island from the Japanese. We do not hear or see gruff, hardened soldiers, anxious to die for their country. In fact, there are no heroes in The Thin Red Line. There are only regular men, scared of fighting and scared of dying, who have been thrown into a situation that will forever change their lives. The fighting is not suspenseful or glorious just brutal. Using an ideological approach to the study of film, this paper will examine The Thin Red Line’s messages about the truths of war, and how it challenges our society’s stereotypical view of war as a valiant undertaking where brave men fighting for good battle the evil of the enemy. Consequently, the ideologies that are uncovered will then be used to look at The Thin Red Line as a war film, and how it fits and does not fit into the genre.
Unique in style and content, the novel explores the emotions of a young Civil War recruit named Henry Fleming. What is most remarkable about this classic is that the twenty-four-year-old author had never witnessed war in his life before writing this book. Crane's story developed to some degree out of his reading of war stories by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy and the popular memoirs of Civil War veterans, yet he also deviated from these influences in his depiction of war's horror. Critics have noted that his portrait of war is an intensely psychological one, blending elements of naturalism, impressionism, and symbolism. Indeed, he broke away from his American realist contemporaries, including his mentor William Dean Howells, in his naturalistic treatment of man as an amoral creature in a deterministic world.
It is evident that the occurrence of war throughout history has made a lasting impression on soldiers and civilians alike. This has been expressed over the years through different works of literature. The cost of war to the individual is illustrated in “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, and “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick because each story shows some element of mental, emotional, and physical toll.
Catch-22 follows the protagonist, Yossarian’s experience during WWII. However, the book is nowhere near chronological and jumps from different time periods of Yossarian’s service in the military. The novel depicts many events of where Yossarian
One story shows how a man uses his dedication to work to create one of the best things that has ever happened to Chicago. The other story a man uses his dedication to work to create one of the worst things that has ever happened to Chicago. These two men chose different paths and different means to achieving their goals, but the one thing they have in common is determination and dedication. Holmes and Burnham don’t give up and continually work to make their job more successful that it already is, and they will go to any means to get that
In Catch-22, opposite Miller's The Crucible, Joseph Heller utilizes his uncanny wit to present a novel fraught with dark, satiric comedy tied up in a relatively formless plot. The character of Nately acts as a focal point for many of the humorous oxymoronic criticisms contained within Catch-22, as "Nately had a bad start. He came from a good family" (Heller 34), and he ".was the finest, least dedicated man in the whole world" (35). Proliferating Catch-22, satirical dark comedy appears in every chapter, even in the depiction of death (Cockburn 179): ".McWatt turned again, dipped his wings in salute, decided, oh, what the hell, and flew into a mountain"(Heller 157). Furthermore, the plot of Catch-22 follows a cyclical structure in that repetitions of particular events recur in a planned randomness, an oxymoron that pays tribute to Catch-22 itself (Merrill 205-209). A recurring structure within Heller's novel defining his ...
Earnest Hemmingway once said "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." (Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference) War is a gruesome and tragic thing and affects people differently. Both Vonnegut and Hemmingway discus this idea in their novels A Farewell to Arms and Slaughterhouse Five. Both of the novels deal not only with war stories but other genres, be it a science fiction story in Vonnegut’s case or a love story in Hemingway’s. Despite all the similarities there are also very big differences in the depiction of war and the way the two characters cope with their shocking and different experiences. It is the way someone deals with these tragedies that is the true story. This essay will evaluate how the main characters in both novels deal with their experiences in different ways.