Generals Die In Bed Analysis

War is terrible, this is an undeniable fact. Although what it is specifically that makes it so terrible can vary based on people’s opinions. In the novel Generals Die in Bed the author illustrates three main reasons why war is bad. War is a difficult and unpleasant experience for the ordinary soldiers.

War is terrible because of the poor hygiene facilities. Lice effects the soldiers very negatively. Quite often, soldiers itch until they bleed. During the day they can resist the urge to itch, although throughout the night, “rest is impossible. We are being eaten alive by lice” (15). The soldier’s lack of cleaning, bathing and basic hygiene has led to lice which affect the soldiers by not getting any sleep. Sleep deprivation is bad for the soldiers

Many people get injured or killed. When the soldiers were marching to the front line, Fry’s shoes were giving him pain, “I can’t go any farther” (7). There are many injuries that happen in war, although we do not expect that the injuries would be caused by their own uniforms. Fry’s injury is not made better by his officer humiliating him. More significantly, many get killed by letting their guard down when doing their duties. Brown was separating the food into equal portions for the soldiers to eat, he stood up to get a spoon and “in an instant his head snaps back viciously from the impact of the bullet” (33). Brown was killed right in front of his fellow soldiers, his friends. Not only was this a bad thing for Brown, but it must have been terrible as his friends to watch him die. Finally, others are in terrible pain before they die. The soldiers went into enemy territory for a raid, Renaud, a new recruit, was hit by the flame-thrower, “His shrieks are unbearable… Broadbent looks at me and then draws his revolver and fires three shots into the flaming head of the recruit” (112). Renaud was in terrible pain before Broadbent killed him, the author mentioned that “one of his eyes tongues of blue flame flicker” (112). This was not only physically painful for Renaud, but also for Broadbent and the narrator, having to hear a fellow soldier in pain, unlikely to live. Broadbent killed a fellow soldier, which must have hurt him emotionally. These examples show that