War is Kind by Stephanie Peace and Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth

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War is Kind by Stephanie Peace and Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth

War and peace, another saga in the on going battle of good versus evil. Ironically though, war (evil) is created in the process of pursuing peace (good.) The world today believes that peace is freedom, the right to live, and a harmony between all. Certain places or people do not agree with this though, so the “good” must go in and conquer the “evil” in order to create peace. Where as Claude McKay would agree with me that war serves to create peace, Wilfred Owen would more than likely say that war does nothing but bring death.

War is not pretty, as decorated as it may be, but it does have a purpose. Without fighting, without battles, without war, our nation would not be what it is today. We had to fight for our freedom and our pursuit of happiness. Once we obtained this, we then had to fight to keep it from the Nazi’s, from the Japanese, and even Russians. In McKay’s “America”, he compares our nation to a tiger who’s tooth sinks into his throat. He is saying that America is strong and fierce, and that blood must be spilled in order to “stand with in her walls with not a shred/ Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer” (725 9-10). If America wasn’t this tiger, if America didn’t fight for what those with in her believe is right, then the people with in her would live in fear and terror of being attacked themselves. This is why we must fight, so that we can keep our peace.

While war may keep our peace, there are people who sacrifice themselves during battle who will never get a chance to see it. This is how Wilfred Owen views war in “Anthem for Doomed Youth.” Instead of those who fight in battle being surrounded by peace, they only hear the “monstrous anger of the guns” and only see “[candles] Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes” (731 2, 11). No, for those who fight in war there is no peace, only death. Only decay. This is all those who fight see and hear; this is what loses in around them. To those who fight in war, there is no winning. To those who fight in war, there is no victory. No, instead there is only the “pallor of girls’ brows”, only tears and sorrow (732 11).

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