Analysis Of 'What Are You Going To Join, The Infantry'

Good morning/Afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to present my perspective on how soldiers during world war I have been represented.

For one hundred and one years, the brave sacrifice of Australian soldiers during World War I has been celebrated each year on a single day, Anzac Day. Throughout the time from then to now, various depictions of the soldiers have been created through texts concerning the first world war. Each of these texts portray the Australian soldiers in a different way, many focussing on individual soldiers and how the war affects them, including their own thoughts. This analysis intends to present information regarding how Australian soldiers have been represented within these texts, and to see how their ideals of mateship

Archy’s opinion was generally accepted as “right” at the time. Frank Dunne, at first, was not lured into enlisting simply for he knew it was a futile war, and therefore did not support it. People who would often disagree with the war or want nothing to do with it were shunned. This can be further shown by looking at this conversation Frank had with his mate:

Frank Dunne: “No thanks, if you blokes all want to go get yourselves shot, go ahead.”

“Well, I'm not scared to die for my country, Frank.”

In comparison to how the movie has portrayed this notion of mateship and having a go, the opinion of a young civilian in 1931 seems to differ from what is perceived as the “norm” in these world war I texts, he writes:

“… The general opinion among fellows like myself is that Australians were very foolish to let themselves be lured into going… none of my friends like returned

Archy Hamilton, a prime example of a character who shows “bravery”, did not hesitate for one second to enlist for the war. Perhaps running into things blindly was something commonplace during the early twentieth century. This leads on to Archy’s naivety; throughout the film he continuously displays a naïve personality. Despite not knowing much about the war, Archy remained certain that he would join. Following this further, an interesting proclamation was made by Archy that easily shows his