War Protest Songs War, what is it good for? Some would say absolutely nothing. This is the recurring theme in protest songs from the 1960’s through present day. This essay will show by comparing and contrasting songs from the Viet Nam era with the present day songs protesting war and the senselessness of going to war. The end result invariably is death for both sides. All of the songs, regardless of the setting and time focus on senseless death. The songs of the 60’s contained lyrics which
In the textbook, the War and Peace chapter is preluded by an epigraph from Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone which states: “Do dreams offer lessons? Do nightmares have themes, do we awaken and analyze them and live our lives and advise others as a result? Can the foot soldier teach anything important about war, merely for having been there? I think not. He can tell war stories.” O’Brien’s quote goes against the stereotypical depiction of the “war hero.” O’Brien believes that just because someone
Colonel Kurtz are the last lines of Apocalypse Now, the Francis Ford Coppola directed war-film masterpiece, which truly explores horror. Typical war films, like Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket or Boulle’s The Bridge on the River Kwai, follow the camaraderie of a protagonist and his unit and their struggles that build up to a violent and climactic confrontation where both sides sustain losses to illustrate the tragedy of war. Apocalypse Now is different; there are only two moments of brief violence that the
States of America was founded with violence; and we continue our independence through the violence of warfare. Violence is found in every aspect of life from entertainment to war. As a civilized society we try to counter-act our violent nature, but it remains at the core of our existence. Violent acts often seem senseless to observers, but occur from a multitude of underlying factors. In Florida, a retired police officer shot a man in a movie theater during a dispute purportedly because the victim
Findley’s The Wars Sigmund Freud once argued that "our species has a volcanic potential to erupt in aggression . . . [and] that we harbour not only positive survival instincts but also a self-destructive 'death instinct', which we usually displace towards others in aggression" (Myers 666). Timothy Findley, born in 1930 in Toronto, Canada, explores our human predilection towards violence in his third novel, The Wars. It is human brutality that initiates the horrors of World War I, the war that takes
protects the boys and their lives, while Powers believes violence kills the young soldiers. From their personal experiences, Canada claims boys in the South Bronx need to be violent to gain respect and to survive, while Powers claims the violence of war is a waste of young men’s lives as they lose respect and even their lives. Geoffrey Canada’s characters in Fist Stick Knife Gun use violence to increase their status and honor, and to make themselves stand out from the rest of their group as being
War on Civilians During times of war, civilians lives are hardly ever thought of. Most people and news sources are covering the gunfire between armies or the riots in the streets. What they are least worried about are the civilians that have to live through these wars for months and even years. The soldiers in the war are not the only ones trying to stay alive. Not only do the soldiers have weapons to use against threats, but they have a plan and have been trained to act during situations. Civilians
It is a paradox of sorts to think that going to war would make someone a coward. What is more valiant than flocking to the battle lines and making the ultimate sacrifice for the innocent civilians back home? But Pablo Picasso, an abstract artist of the 20th century, argues that these soldiers—these martyrs—die for nothing when organized combat turns to genocide and massacre. On April 27, 1934, as a brutal civil war was ravaging Picasso’s native country of Spain, Hitler chose the Basque village of
views of the military and war by conveying the harsh and unforgiving nature of militant soldiers, and the violence, death, and suffering that surrounds the hostile art of warfare. Through Farquhar's immediate death, Bierce exhibits that war is merely a cause of senseless suffering for the extremely high cost of a glorified victory that only ends with the sacrifice of thousands of lives. Throughout his short story, Bierce uses characterization and symbolism to convey that war is unjust and has the ability
The 50 Most Powerful Images from the Civil War shows what the truly gruesome reality of the Civil War was. Many people like to romanticize the war, but these photographs take all the romance away. It depicts hardship, lost love, and bloodshed. These pictures are truly powerful. The very first image depicts a runaway slave, Gordon. His back is covered in welts and lash marks. His back is completely scourged. According to Frank H. Goodyear III, assistant curator of photographs at the National Portrait
significance, or based upon wealth. The overall message Baxter sends, though, is that we do not have the right to place a value on another person (whether increasing their value or lessening it), and that the violence that often occurs from doing so is senseless and achieves nothing. Works Cited Page Baxter, James K. “Wild Bees” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Ferguson, Margaret. New York: Norton 2005. 1701. Print.
multi-faceted story that, on its face, is nothing more than a tale of war. Examining it closer, however, reveals an in-depth insight into the mind of a soldier, manifested in the character of Paul Baumer. Over the course of the story, Baumer struggles to find himself as his views on the war evolve and mature. He comes to understand that what he once was and could have been, has been crushed by drill and combat. Baumer's change in outlook on the war that it is an evil done on society is manifested in two events:
the harshest realities in the Vietnam War. This is his first time in the army and doesn’t know what will happen. Richie meets other people in the army who are also facing the harsh realities there as well. It depends on how they feel, what they’re learning, and what will they’re facing. Peewee is different slightly different from Richie because of their different experiences in the army. Lobel is a Jewish soldier who has more sympathy as a racist in the war. Monaco is an Italian soldier who likes
Gandi)? Gandi, arguably the most influential advocate for world peace, said this quote in response to war-mongering imperial nations in the 20th century. Known for his pacifist ideology during the movement to liberate India, Gandhi exercised civil disobedience rather than entering an armed conflict against the tyrannical British Government. His ultimate conclusion about war was that the horrors of war do not justify any moral corse or ideology. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Ernest Hemingway’s
Thomas Goodrich is an author that focuses most of his writings about the American Civil War. This book “Black Flag Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-1865” depicts some of the most violent guerrilla fighting that took place along the Kansas and Missouri border. He is very objective about presenting this sinister side of the Civil War. Mr. Goodrich’s book portrays the horrific death, destruction, merciless killings, rapes, and the millions of dollars worth of property seized or destroyed
potentially catastrophically devastating to humanity. There already exist weapons of such power that the world could be reduced to rubble if these weapons were ever used in all out war. After World War I international agreements banned the use of chemical weapons because of their horrible effects on soldiers and civilians in that war. Today nuclear weapons, many times more powerful than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have never been used. Now, because of rapid advances in artificial intelligence
Intellectualism in post-war Europe had a sort of existential realization of its own, paralleling the experiences of its literary figures. The philosophy of existentialism had its roots in late nineteenth century philosophers such as Kierkegaard and Nietzsche (Crowell), but wasn't popularized until after World War II, and Sartre (Gaarder 455). After two world wars and countless civil disruptions throughout Europe, the populace was disillusioned with the senseless violence. Recent developments
As long as there have been humans living on planet earth, there have been wars fought. Some wars fought were senseless ego trips, and others were a difference in ideology. However, what all wars have in common is, violence, and due to that, there are incredible amounts of death. Sometimes the killing is to a nation or culture that stands up to obliterate another. But other times, the killing is to a people that had done no wrong besides for calling themselves a nation. However, no matter how
Let's Work for World Peace In conducting research for an essay that I am writing on constructive approaches to the problems of war and peace, I read a short, but thought-provoking fable by an unknown author. I would like to share that story with you, as well as my idea as a possible solution for world peace. "Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a robin asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case I must tell you a marvelous story," the robin said. "I sat on
effective. The main themes were: Heroism, The reality of war Grief/mourning Irony of the play Cowardice/fear Hopelessness of war The cross section of types of people/officers The coping of the pressure of war. Duty In heroism, in this text, we clearly see that Raleigh tries to be a hero but fails. Raleigh (excitedly): "I say Stanhope's told me about the raid". This suggests that Raleigh had a set picture of war (go and kill the enemy and be a hero), but he didn't know