“War is brutish, inglorious and a terrible waste” (Sledge 315). E.B Sledge says this when describing war after two grueling campaigns in the Pacific. However, there is irony. Earlier in the war, Sledge is hungry for war, for action, for involvement. War intrigues him, then like most, he feels the reality of it. This is one of the main focuses in With the Old Breed. Sledge’s view of war changes as he continues through the war and beyond, along with his understanding of conflict and the realization of war being the solution.
In the beginning of Sledge’s memoir, he depicts his desire for joining the war. His feeling that the war may end soon prompts his aspiration to get into action. While the military students are at Georgia Tech to continue their studies before being sent to boot camp, Sledge (among a few others), purposefully fails classes so he can be sent straight to boot camp and begin the journey to the front. Sledge wasn’t prompted only by patriotism. He has a superficial idea of what war entails. During this period in his journey, his morals are high, and he views the war to be a positive. However, some of this feeling could have been encouraged by the fact that they were Marines. Marines were not just your typical soldier and he took pride in that. This pride itself gave him more hope and confidence going into the unknown. Even though Sledge is upbeat and excited for and during boot camp, you can sense a small fear that lingers in the back of his head about the dangers that his future holds. This sense of fear increases as he nears his departure for Peleliu. Sledge writing this book well after he completed his stint in the war comments after he described the excitement to begin boot camp and their journey ...
... middle of paper ...
...aving any concern or sorrow for a fellow Marine. Sledge’s mindset in Okinawa vs Peleliu was much different in that he knew what to expect and knew how to survive. All of his abilities he developed grew as time went on.
Sledge has had a major transformation in his thought and role of war: from being a rookie thinking war would be a walk in the park, to being a leader among his peers and knowing what to expect and how to channel his fear. War is never an easy thing, but through his experiences Sledge was able to find the good in things and come out successful. Even with the extreme terror he always faced in battle, his mindset was more realistic and was an accurate representation of reality. One thing I have learned is that war is truly brutal but the brave men and women who devote themselves to this country keep the United States a country worth living in.
Throughout the book Sledge talks about the reality of the war and it is vividly portrayed in this chapter. Sledge most likely named the chapter “Of Mud and Maggots” because earlier in the book he stated that Okinawa was very muddy and filthy, even worse than Peleliu. Therefore, from the chapter title we can infer that the chapter will be about how disgusting and disturbing war can be. The chapter title gives the chapter a sort of disgusting tone, because when people think of mud and maggots it's usually not a pleasing thought. In the chapter Sledge sees a marine and says that “He was filthy like all of us, but even through a thickly mud-caked dark beard I could see he had fine features.” (Pg. 242) this is the first instance in the chapter where Sledge uses mud and he uses it to describe how filthy a marine is, this shows how much mud was at Okinawa and how soldiers had to deal with it no matter what*. In Okinawa, Sledge and the soldiers encountered some horrible weather, “The weather was chilly and mud, mud, mud was everywhere. We slipped and slid along the trails with every step we took.” (Pg. 248) this is another instance where Sledge talks about mud and it shows how the mud impacted them and increased the difficulty of battle. Later in the chapter when Sledge was going up a hill he slipped and slid down the hill into a hole filled with muddy water and a skeletal body covered in maggots, he then had to scrap the maggots off of his clothes with his knife. This scene alone shows how disturbing the conditions at Okinawa were, the mud continued to get worse as the battle went on and there were maggots
Demolished cities, torn families and decimated countries are a few of the destructive properties of war. Throughout history, the world has been through war after war, never ceasing. Two of the greatest and most destructive wars were World War I and World War II. These wars involved most of the world’s countries and ended with tragic results. The wars also left many soldiers with various mental and physical problems that ruined their social lives. John F. Kennedy once said that “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” For the most part, he is right; if war does not end, it will end humankind. The main problem with this is that most people barely even know how destructive war can be; people believe war is the only way to solve problems with other countries. The problem with that is that war often uncovers or starts new problems that can affect others more than the past problems. Literature has helped people grasp at the understanding of what happens during wars and the problems that it can create. Some go into deep aspects of significant wars while others go into wars that everyone fights within themselves. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Beowulf and John Milton’s Paradise Lost are a few pieces of the thousands of works of literatures that capture the tragic, destructive power of war, global and small.
Winkle was left to gather his thoughts and rectify them on his own. Despite the fact that he had the blood of others on his hands and once enjoyed it. Winkle realized “If anything the war made him appreciate life more, helped him see what was important” (Wrinkle111).
The story about E. B. Sledge as a US Marine during his duty in North China is the evidence that Americans have a big effect on the China civil war. Americans lost many soldiers while support China Nationalist to control the whole North China. At the last, China Communist successful captured Peiping and China Communist lost the war. The life of the US Marines during back then was really hard and they sacrifice their life for another country’s liberty. To summarize, the story of E.B. Sledge was the evidence how hard the life of US Marine during their duty in the war.
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
Everyone knows what war is. It's a nation taking all of its men, resources, weapons and most of its money and bearing all malignantly towards another nation. War is about death, destruction, disease, loss, pain, suffering and hate. I often think to myself why grown and intelligent individuals cannot resolve matters any better than to take up arms and crawl around, wrestle and fight like animals. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque puts all of these aspects of war into a vivid story which tells the horrors of World War 1 through a soldier's eyes. The idea that he conveys most throughout this book is the idea of destruction, the destruction of bodies, minds and innocence.
What is war? Is war a place to kill? Or is it a place where something more than just killing happens? War, as defined by the Merriam Webster is “a state or period of usually open and declared fighting between states or nations.” War, can also be viewed with romantic ideals where heroes and legends are born. Even the most intelligent of us hold some rather naïve notions of war. Upon reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, intelligent readers have been divested of any romantic notions regarding war they may have harboured.
For the great lesson which history imprints on the mind…is the tragic certainty that all wars gain their ultimate ends, whether great or petty, by the violation of personality, by the destruction of homes, by the paralysis of art and industry and letters…even wars entered on from high motives must rouse greed, cupidity, and blind hatred; that even in defensive warfare a people can defend its rights only by inflicting new wrongs; and that chivalrous no less than self-seeking war entails relentless destruction.
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.
"All war is a symptom of man 's failure as a thinking animal." (John Steinbeck) When John Steinbeck reflects that quote. It’s Almost similar to a packed article that we readed ‘’Three Violence and Human Nature’’ I will mostly be comparing and contrasting my book (Britain’s two world wars against Germany) and a few pack it articles and also the reality world. There are some few things that you should know. One of these facts is that this book is Non-fiction. Second statement is that this book called ‘’Britain two world wars against Germany myth memory and the distortions of hindsight’’ brings out a lot of stuff that is happening similar at this moment. My last statement is that it also brings a lot of facts and information from other articles
Jones, Peter G, War and the Novelist: Appraising the American war Novel. University of Missouri Press, 1976. 5-6. Rpt. in Literary Themes for Students, War and Peace. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 449-450. Print.
All throughout time and history people have been at war with each other at one point or another. War can, truthfully, at times be inescapable and considered by some historians as a natural instinct, an instinct that every human being possess. Throughout history mighty empires and governments have collapsed due to the damages inflicted on by a war, yet in spite of this, some have managed to face the odds and make it through, staggering along as if nothing happened. War is a true test of an empire or government’s determination to move forward, adapting using the knowledge and intellect they have acquired to their own advantage. Nevertheless, not all wars lead to fighting by physical means but instead it can lead to fighting mentally by opposing sides. One such example would be the non-traditional Cold War fought between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War was a time that caused an immense fear in the lives of many, and inspired novels such as 1984 by George Orwell, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and essays such as “You and the Atomic Bomb” by George Orwell, which are just some of the voices from this terrible time.
War always seems to have no end. A war between countries can cross the world, whether it is considered a world war or not. No one can be saved from the reaches of a violent war, not even those locked in a safe haven. War looms over all who recognize it. For some, knowing the war will be their future provides a reason for living, but for others the war represents the snatching of their lives without their consent. Every reaction to war in A Separate Peace is different, as in life. In the novel, about boys coming of age during World War II, John Knowles uses character development, negative diction, and setting to argue that war forever changes the way we see the world and forces us to mature rapidly.
War is a hard thing to describe. It has benefits that can only be reaped through its respective means. Means that, while necessary, are harsh and unforgiving. William James, the author of “The Moral Equivalent of War”, speaks only of the benefits to be had and not of the horrors and sacrifices found in the turbulent times of war. James bears the title of a pacifist, but he heralds war as a necessity for society to exist. In the end of his article, James presents a “war against nature” that would, in his opinion, stand in war’s stead in bringing the proper characteristics to our people. However, my stance is that of opposition to James and his views. I believe that war, while beneficial in various ways, is unnecessary and should be avoided at all costs.
War is a howling, roaring creature, using its power to ignite destructive and fatal consequences among the masses. Conflicts have risen between nations yet no one seems to understand what breeds the conflict. While destruction may be the end, deception is its mean. War ...