The Therapeutic Value of Charlie Chaplin
Pat Barker's Regeneration represents a part of history for the First World War. Regeneration is an antiwar novel held together by people, places, and cultural references. Charlie Chaplin is a cultural reference used within the novel. Barker refers to Chaplin on page 60 in the novel. When the wounded and dysfunctional soldiers watch a Charlie Chaplin film at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. During the war Charlie Chaplin films were therapeutic for the soldiers, and showing one of his films helps develop the theme of therapy that occurs throughout the novel. Even though Chaplin was unable to participate in the war, he helped boost the morale of the soldiers that were in it. Barker utilizes Chaplin as a cultural reference to show that good morale is needed to help the progress of the patient's therapy, but true recovery takes more than just a film.
Charlie Chaplin faced public backlash with his stance on World War I. In The Importance of Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Diamond says, "a British citizen had chosen not to leave the United States to fight for his native country" (58). Chaplin's actions caused British audiences to have mixed feelings about him. They loved his films, but disapproved of his non-participation in the war. However, British representatives said that Chaplin was more valuable as an entertainer than an infantryman (Diamond 58). So while the public disagreed with his non-participation, the British government backed him up.
In early 1917, the United States knew that Chaplin was a British citizen living in the U.S. and that Chaplin was part of the support system for their side. However, their attitude changed when the United States entered the war after the Germans sank th...
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...haplin's irreverent humor plays a big role in developing the theme in Regeneration. Without his comedy, many of the patients at Craiglockhart War Hospital would not have been able to look past and overcome the real aspects of the war. Chaplin found a way to make his audience laugh when they were filled with horror, and he opened the minds of the soldiers, which had once been closed like a shell.
Works Cited
Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003.
"Charlie Chaplin Goes to War: Shoulder Arms." Center for History and New Media. 23 April 2003.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proves that he is well knowledgeable in the happenings in Birmingham. By providing a surplus of examples of events and details which he finds alarming, King was able to persuade the clergymen to like at the way the Negro community is being treated in the south using the appeal to logos, pathos and ethos. He displays his willingness to continue with respect and dignity, but because of the emotional ties that he has towards this cause, he will not remain inactive.
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..... "Education in Canada, 1939-46." History of Education Journal 3, no. 1 (Autumn 1951): 7-13.
"Statistical Information about Casualties of the Vietnam War." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. .
The Vietnam War was, and continues to be, one of America's darkest moments, one that nearly tore the nation apart. In order to stop the spread of communism in Europe and Asia, the United States aided French imperialists and their reoccupation of Vietnam. At first, the U.S took a position of neutrality to both countries, but by early 1947, they began fighting in support of France. This war, lasting over 20 years, became the longest and most unpopular war in the 20th century. Overall, the Vietnam War was detrimental to the United States because it caused a massive debt from the 1960s to the 1990s, turned the American people against their government, and many troops were neglected and despised upon their return.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned in the Birmingham Jail for being involved in nonviolent protests against segregation. The letter is directed at eight white clergymen from Alabama who were very cynical and critical towards African Americans in one of their statements. Throughout the letter, King maintains an understanding yet persistent tone by arguing the points of the clergymen and providing answers to any counterarguments they may have. In the letter, King outlines the goals of his movement and says that he will fight racial inequality wherever it may be. Dr. King uses the appeal three main rhetorical devices – ethos, logos, and pathos – in order to firmly, yet politely, argue the clergymen on the injustices spoken of in their statement.
When analyzing the losses of the Vietcong and North Vietnamese compared to American casualties, one notices remarkable numbers. The government of Vietnam reports an estimated 1,100,000 combatants were killed and or missing in action from 1965-1974.(CITE) During this time America only lost about 58,000 out of the nearly 550,000 troops deployed.(CITE) These casualty numbers create an overwhelming American to Vietnamese death ratio of 19 to 1.(CITE)
In ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, Owen compares the solders who are men to ugly, old, sick women through the simile “coughing like hags”, highlighting that the men no longer possess strength, masculinity, exceptional physical skills and potency. As a result, the soldiers’ eradicated youth and innocence portrays the dehumanising effect that the soldier’s have faced through their experiences of the war. Additionally, Owen further explores this dehumanising effect through the exaggerated movement of the soldiers in the hyperbolic metaphor “We cursed through sludge”, illustrating the ghastly and gruesome environment made up of a mix of materials such as body parts of other fellow soldiers, blood and mud. The horrendous conditions the soldiers faced for a long period of time had a drastic impact on the soldier’s mental health which in turn lead to post-traumatic stress disorder or shell-shock disorder and lost of potency. Owen also portrays that not only did the war affect a few soldiers, but all the soldiers through the repetition of “all”. Ultimately, it is conveyed that the soldiers had to unwillingly sacrifice their human attributes and was dehumanised as a result of human conflict. Similarly, in ‘The Next War’, Owen
Within the past few years, scientist have made several breakthroughs with human stem cells. These breakthroughs have catapulted the issue of stem cell research into the middle of a national debate. Most people have no problem with the research itself, however the source of the stem cells (adult or human embryos) used in research is the primary cause of the debate. Some people feel that destroying an embryo is comparable to murder, even if the research it promotes may help people with serious illnesses. Other believe that an embryo is not a person and therefore research on an embryo is the same as research on any other group of cells.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders will come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
...th war opponents, who viewed them as murders and supporters, who blamed them for losing the war. Veteran also began to report PTSD and resorted to drugs and alcohol to help. The Vietnam War left a stain on America’s record with an estimated 58,000 American soldiers that died or were missing during the war (History.com).
Comedy came easy to Charlie Chaplin. “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl.” But more that acting and directing, his comedy is what paved the road for him to being one of the most well known men in history. The era in which he made a lasting name for himself, 1920-1960, endured some of the toughest times in history from the Holocaust, World War I, the Great Depression, to World War II. But oddly enough it was through those times that that the world tuned into him most. “Chaplin had demonstrated that he believed comedy was the most effective when it was offset by a touch of pathos or sentiment” (Inge 62). He turned the turmoil they were living through into his inspiration. He used humanism to connect with his audience along with satire to make light of current events, however there was much truth to his comedy. .In conclusion, it was Charlie Chaplin’s ability to capture the audience in life’s most trying times that carved his name in history.
Chaplin’s direct audience in this speech is the soldiers of every army around the globe. He uses ethos in an attempt to get the soldiers to do the right thing by helping each other to achieve a common goal: bringing each other happiness, a goal which is evident in the following quote taken from the speech: “we want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery.” Our earth is certainly so large and rich with resources to live from that in a perfect world, every human being could live happily. However, it does not take perfection to bring us significantly closer to such a goal—all it takes is cooperative progress in that direction. Charlie is clearly calling on the soldiers to help in bringing about such progress by taking action against the direct threat to the happiness of many. He wants the people to free themselves and others from the barriers that have been unjustly imposed upon ...
“Act” is to deliver the address by the agent (Burke). In the film, the barber makes a rousing speech, calling for humanity to break free from dictatorships. And outside the film, reflecting on the tragic consequences of the First World War, Chaplin made an appeal for peace and against war. He also used this film to bring to light the Nazi Germany’s inhumanity and violence, as well as criticize and satirize Hitler’s brutality and
The film “Modern Times,” directed by Charlie Chaplin, is set in the mid nineteen thirties. This time frame places the characters in the middle of the Great Depression and the industrial revolution. The film depicts the lifestyle and quality of living for people in this era by showing a factory worker who cannot take the monotony of working on an assembly line. The film follows the factory worker through many of his adventures throughout the film. The film’s main stars are Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard.