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Symbolism and interpretation
Symbolism and interpretation
Symbolism and interpretation
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Kenneth Burke’s War, Response, and Contradiction focusses on the link between art, contradictions, and society. In this article, the different interpretations of stimuli from the members of the same society reveals the contradictory nature of humans. Two main examples are the anticipated reactions to the ways war is represented and the comparison of a lamp and literature. Individuals within society will interpret war differently when exposed to human and inhuman images of war, revealing the contradictory nature of humans. Comparing a lamp to literature assists in showing contradictory nature of humans as the audience realizes that individuals within the same society have different interpretations of the same stimulus. The difference between
Hicks, Patrick. "War, Literature and the Arts." War, Literature and the Arts. An International Journal of the Humanitie, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. .
Sir Arthur Currie was not a man raised to become a great general, he had to start from the beginning and work his way to the top. He served his country by fighting and leading battles that made Canada a great independent nation, making him a figure of inspiration to many Canadians. In the many battles of World War One, including Amiens, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, and others, Arthur Currie devised well prepared, flexible, unique, and intelligent war strategies that led Canadian troops to victory.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
Is it true Americans are rightfully notorious for creating inaccurate paradigms of what really happened in historical events Americans are tied to? Has America ever censored historical events in order to protect Americans innocent democratic reputation? After reading, “The Best War Ever” by Michael C.C Adams, I have found the answers to these questions to be yes. Some of the myths that Adams addresses in his book include: 1. America was innocent in world war two and was an ever acting protagonist in the war; 2. World war two or any war for that matter can be, or is a “good war” and bring prosperity to America; 3. War world two brought unity to Americans.
This art analysis will define the theme of the universality of 20th century modern warfare in the context of modern works of art by David Levinthal and Roger de la Fresnaye. David Levinthal’s “Untitled” (1972) is commentary on the mass killing of modern warfare in the 20th century, which killed many millions of men during Hitler’s invasion of Europe. Levinthal’s childhood imagery of tanks, soldiers, and homes visualize the mass killing of war as a “universal” concept in the depiction of the modern psyche. Roger de la Fresnaye’s “Artillery” (1911) is also a commentary on cubist imagery that projects a military
An article called, “The Real War,” written by Roger J. Spiller, begins with a quote by Walt Whitman, “The real war will never get in the books.” The author writes about an interview with Paul Fussell, who was a soldier in World War Two and has written many books about World War One and World War Two. Fussell is very opinionated and critical about other books written about these wars, asserting they are not realistic or portray the true essence of what really occurred by soldiers and other people participating in the wars. I claim that it is impossible to convey the actual personal feelings and emotions of those involved in a war in books or any other forms of media.
In A Separate Peace, John Knowles demonstrates how the boys’ “separate peace” has underlying war imagery through their symbols and behavior.
Tim O’Brien states in his novel The Things They Carried, “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat” (77). This profound statement captures not only his perspective of war from his experience in Vietnam but a collective truth about war across the ages. It is not called the art of combat without reason: this truth transcends time and can be found in the art produced and poetry written during the years of World War I. George Trakl creates beautiful images of the war in his poem “Grodek” but juxtaposes them with the harsh realities of war. Paul Nash, a World War I artist, invokes similar images in his paintings We are Making a New World and The Ypres Salient at Night. Guilaume Apollinaire’s writes about the beautiful atrocity that is war in his poem “Gala.”
World War I was a very deadly war with over 100 million human casualties(deaths plus injured). Therefore war is a very transformative event for humanity, because it always affects individuals, societies, and even the world in a pessimistic way.
Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five; or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is, as suggested by the title, a novel describing a crusade that stretches beyond the faint boundaries of fiction and crosses over into the depths of defogged reality. This satirical, anti-war piece of literature aims to expose, broadcast and even taunt human ideals that support war and challenge them in light of their folly. However, the reality of war, the destruction, affliction and trauma it encompasses, can only be humanly described by the word “war” itself. Furthermore, oftentimes this term can only be truly understood by those who have experienced it firsthand. Therefore, in order to explain the unexplainable and humanize one of the most inhumane acts, Vonnegut slants the hoarse truth about war by extrapolating it to a fantasy world. Through this mixture of history, reality and fantasy, Vonnegut is able to “more or less” describe what he believes truly happens in war yet, at the same time, reveal a greater truth about humanity's self-destructive war inertness. Vonnegut's use of fantasy in Slaughterhouse-Five unveils mundane war misconceptions as it rallies action against war through a comparison and contrast between the Tralfamadorian world and philosophy and Billy Pilgrim's existence and war experiences.
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.
By developing the symbols of scarecrows, blue-flies, and dogs, Dickens portrays the theme of man’s inhumanity. But, the French Revolution was not the first time ruthlessness and savagery have overcome mankind. Throughout history the same power struggle between upper and lower classes repeats itself over and over again, with the result always being the same—bloodshed. Mankind is a greedy, power-craving race who is never satisfied with what they have. Due to the fact that man will do anything to gain more authority no matter how morally wrong it is, bloodshed and war is inevitable. Wickedness and barbarity will continue to poison the human race so long as it is in human nature to yearn for power.
The three narratives “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, “Song of Napalm” by Bruce Weigl, and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen all have the same feelings of war and memory, although not everyone experiences the same war. Zabytko, Weigl, and Owen used shifting beats, dramatic descriptions, and intense, painful images, to convince us that the horror of war far outweighs the devoted awareness of those who fantasize war and the memories that support it.
The just war theory is described by Thomas Massaro in his book Living Justice as the “principle that warfare might be justified under certain conditions” (108). The complexities involved with international relations makes determining a just war very difficult. Even though historically pacifism hasn’t gained much traction within Catholic circles, it currently is gaining popularity with many mainstream Catholics. With so many differing views on military action, one might ask, “What determines a just war? How can we balance the need for peace with self-defense?” An examination of criteria for a just war and critiques written on this topic might shed light on these two questions.
Earnest Hemmingway once said "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." (Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference) War is a gruesome and tragic thing and affects people differently. Both Vonnegut and Hemmingway discus this idea in their novels A Farewell to Arms and Slaughterhouse Five. Both of the novels deal not only with war stories but other genres, be it a science fiction story in Vonnegut’s case or a love story in Hemingway’s. Despite all the similarities there are also very big differences in the depiction of war and the way the two characters cope with their shocking and different experiences. It is the way someone deals with these tragedies that is the true story. This essay will evaluate how the main characters in both novels deal with their experiences in different ways.