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“War is kind” by Stephen Crane is the perfect example of irony. It also ties many war themes together nicely and is similar to “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, “Drummer Boy of Shiloh”, and “O Captain My Captain” in various underlying ways. Even though it shares themes with other poems, it brings creative views on war onto paper and introduces all of the pains focused on in the other passages into one. Crane’s poem has many themes, a main one happens to be about the battlefield. A few stanzas in the poem focus on what other soldiers see, experience, and deal with on a day-to-day basis. It also touches on the idea that some generals and higher positions had no problem sending soldiers into battle to die. Some of the scenes described in
Though in his short life Stephen Crane was never a soldier, his novel The Red Badge of Courage was commended by Civil War veterans as well as veterans from more recent wars not only for its historical accuracy but its ability to capture the psychological evolution of those on the field of battle (Heizberg xvi). Walt Whitman, on the other hand, served as a field medic during the Civil War. He was exposed perhaps to the most gruesome aspect of the war on a daily basis: the primitive medical techniques, the wounded, the diseased, the dying and the dead. Out of his experiences grew a collection of poems, "Drum Taps" , describing the horrors he had witnessed and that America suffered. As literary artists, a wide chasm of structure and style separates Crane and Whitman. The common cultural experience, the heritage of the Civil War connects them, throwing a bridge across the darkness, allowing them, unilaterally, to dispel notions of glorious battles and heroic honorable deaths. By examining Crane's Henry Fleming and the wound dresser from 'Whitman's poem of the same name, both fundamental literary differences and essential thematic consistencies emerge.
There are many things in this world that are impossible to understand without first hand experience.This can be especially irritating for people who have the knowledge, but see everyone else with the wrong idea. Philip Larkin and Wilfred Owen show this in their poems about the common misconception of war glorification. Through imagery and the use of similes, they explain what it's really like for a person to go into battle. To outsiders, fighting in war is a noble cause worthy of envy and praise, but from the inside perspective the only thing war does is take away the innocence of
This is the poem that Jim Northrup wrote about war. I am going to Explicate the poem and
Vivid imagery is one way with which writers protest war. Crane uses imagery to glorify, and shortly thereafter demean and undercut war, through the use of imagery, by placing positive and negative images of war close to eachother. “Blazing flag of the regiment,” and “the great battle God,” are placed before “A field where a thousand corpses lie.” (A) These lines’ purposes are to put images into the reader’s head, of how great war may appear, and then displaying that there are too many casualties involved with it. In Dulce Et Decorum Est, a man is described dyin...
In Crane’s poem, “War is Kind” he writes about how war is “kind,” though in reality, war it isn’t. War is never kind. The speaker is telling a maiden not to cry for her dead lover. He tells child to not cry over his dead father, and for a mother not to cry over her her dead son. Crane uses lots of irony in this poem. Which leaves the reader thinking the speaker is cold hearted. The speaker in Crane’s poem is sarcastic about war and is sardonic in his perspectives considering war. Although underneath the sarcasm and coldness, the speaker could be feeling anguish, and sadness. That person might be feeling bitter because he may have experienced war first hand or may have lost a loved on in war.
Vonnegut uses irony very often to strengthen the readers’ contempt for war. Edgar Derby, the well-liked high sc...
War and its ramifications for those who are unfortunately entangled in it, is an issue that has fueled both political discussion and literary exploration throughout the previous century. Underived, authentic accounts of the experience and effects of war, from those who have served in it, can be especially enlightening for the majority of society who have had the fortune of not being intimately familiar with war. Through the examination of poems and stories written by soldiers, who were inspired by their involvement in conflict, one can obtain a greater understanding of this gruesome aspect of life, without having to directly experience it. Similarly, soldier turned poet, Bruce Weigl, has contributed his perspective on war through his literary
Through reading this poem several times I decided that the message from the poem is that war is full of horror and there is little or no glory. Methods which I found most effective were Full rhyme and metaphor.
However, in his “Letter to his Mother”, Whitman uses irony to show that light can shine through the dark clouds of war. The letter illustrates how a wounded soldier was taken by enemy troops “with other wounded, under a flag of truce.” While many of the enemy troops paid little attention to the hurt soldier, “One middle-aged man, however… came to him in a way he will never forget.” This soldier nurtured, treated, and cheered up the wounded man. Despite being enemies, the letter shows how war can unexpectedly unite men under a greater purpose than just
Mark Twain writes about the ironic mindset of people in the early days of war in “The War Prayer.” In the beginning, the people in the country were rejoicing and idolizing the soldiers going off to war. They pray to G-d to keep their soldiers safe and for them to win the war. While they were praying in church a worn man comes and reveals that they are praying for their country to win whilst praying for the downfall and sorrow of other individuals. Twain uses tone and irony to describe the shortsighted mentality of people in times of war.
Both Stephen Crane's "Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind" and Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" use vivid images, diction rich with connotation, similes, and metaphors to portray the irony between the idealized glory of war and the lurid reality of war. However, by looking at the different ways these elements are used in each poem, it is clear that the speakers in the two poems are soldiers who come from opposite ends of the spectrum of military ranks. One speaker is an officer and the other is a foot soldier. Each of the speakers/soldiers is dealing with the repercussions from his own realities of the horror of war based on his duty during the battle.
When I read this poem “war is kind” the first thing that came to my mind is irony. It is ironical how the author refer to war as being kind bearing in mind the violence, death, injuries and destruction war brings, war is not kind. This poem is written in an anti-war theme and can be traced back to the First World War. The author of this poem most likely purpose was to address the general public.
One of the main themes of The Great War and Modern Memory was the irony that surrounded the war and affected the soldiers fighting in it. One of the reasons why the war was so ironic was because it was worse than many people were expecting it to be. In response
There are many inspiring literary works from the short stories, plays and poems but there is one in particular that will have a lasting and profound effect on my perspective concerning the strength and determination of mankind, “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane. Crane presents the epic battle of man against nature with such vivid imagery that it ignites the imagination. It is an attribute of mankind to seek supremacy against each other, fate and nature itself, as can be seen in this short story. The battle Crane describes begins as the survivors of a shipwreck, a group of four men, doggedly attempt to row a small lifeboat to shore amidst the turbulent waves and currents of a tempestuous ocean. “The Open Boat”,
The thing about war is that it's all filled with pain and heartbreak, halfly because you know somebody that’s going to war and you will never know if you will ever see them again. Future generations can learn about the pain soldiers had gone through and they will learn about the history behind war, they will find out that being in war isn't a walk in the park and that being in the military is a very serious job all by reading about war in history books. The three poems; An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, The Man he Killed, and The soldier are all told in a Soldier's point of view in the war and that’s something they all have in common. People can learn lessons through reading this essay about the war and what these poems give off. The poem The soldier, by Rupert Brooke, teaches readers that pride in one’s country is a powerful thing.