“Editha” is a story about a young naïve woman named Editha, who insists that her fiancé, George Gearson, a methodical man, to fight in the Spanish-American War. Editha blindly and ignorantly believes in the heroic romanticism of war and is totally oblivious to the real consequences of battle. She is overjoyed that war is being declared and cannot apprehend his hate for war and his reluctance to fight in a war. Editha believes that her boyfriend is not a real 'man' unless he goes to fight for his country. George has is his chance, because the Spanish-American War has been declared. The fact that George does not seem to take anything very seriously irritates Editha, and she practically torments him into enlisting in the army when war is declared …show more content…
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When George leaves Editha after war has been declared, George’s mother says that she prays that George will not enlist, but Editha hopes that he will. Editha places her engagement ring and various other keepsakes into a package with a letter to George telling him to keep them until he enlists. She chooses to save the package for a while longer in case George does the “right” thing. George goes back to Editha’s house that evening with the news that he led the pro-war speeches at the town meeting and was appointed captain of the local volunteers. He is in the midst of the first wave of soldiers who died, and Editha properly wears black out of respect, but she does so with a great deal of pride and goes to visit George's
mother. This story portrayed human emotions of love with the reality of war being imminently heavy on George and Editha. Editha wants George to go to war, but not because she believes that it is a part of his civil duty as she implied. However she wants the idealistic relationship where she could have a war hero as a husband. Also she wants him to prove his love for her. Editha wants George to go to war for the completion of her idea of him. She feels that she deserves the best and that a war hero would be a nice conversation starter at social events. Human beings depend on other human beings to give them a sense purpose or a sense of well-being. In Editha’s case, she needed George to prove to her his sense of purpose and to prove to her that he had a reason to be with her. This story was a tragedy because a man lost his life trying to prove his love for a woman who really only wanted him around as a showpiece. Editha did not understand what love really is and she does not realize she pressured someone into doing something they were against and ultimately he paid the price for it.
In An American Soldier in World War I, David Snead examines account of George Browne, a civil engineer who fought as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. Snead shares Browne’s account of the war through the letters he wrote to his fiancé Martha Ingersoll Johnson. Through Browne’s letters and research conducted of the AEF, Snead gives a concise, informative, and harrowing narrative of life as a soldier serving in the camps and front lines of the Great War. Snead attempts to give the reader an understanding of Browne’s service by focusing on his division, the 42nd Division, their training and preparation, combat on the front lines, and the effects of war on George and Martha’s relationship. As Snead describes, “Brownie’s letters offer a view of the experiences of an American soldier. He described the difficulties of training, transit to and from France, the dangers and excitement of combat, and the war’s impact on relationships.” (Browne 2006, 2) Furthermore, he describes that despite the war’s effect on their relationship, “their
He in the end losses maggie, who in some way helped him find closure for his lost daughter. Through the use of Characterization Atkinson explains how the physical loss of George's daughter leads to the loss of his identity.
Throughout an individual’s life-time, he/she has a vision as o what his/her should be. But when things do not go as planned and the unexpected occurs, does that person face it, or run away? In “An Act of Vengeance” by Isabel Allende, running away is not an option at well. Through the usage of plot, character and irony, Allende illustrates the cost of war.
	George and Editha got in a heated argument about the war and their different opinions and he left to go out. George told her he would come back for dinner. At this point Editha considered their relationship over. She did not see how she could continue to love a man who did not love his country as much as she did. When George left, that was it for Editha. She decided that if he could not believe the way she did then he did not deserve her. She sat down and wrote him a letter and gathered all the things he had ever given her and put them all in a box. In the letter, she told him that she could not be with a man who was not loyal to his country first of all. She could not be with a man who did not believe the way she did and therefore she was breaking up with him. After thinking it over, Editha decided that she was jumping the gun and that since George said he would think about what she had said, that she would give him a chance to think her way, which she considered the only way.
Annemarie is a normal young girl, ten years old, she has normal difficulties and duties like any other girl. but these difficulties aren’t normal ones, she’s faced with the difficulties of war. this war has made Annemarie into a very smart girl, she spends most of her time thinking about how to be safe at all times “Annemarie admitted to herself,snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.
A big "celebration" dinner was planned for John's going away. All of his family and close friends came to enjoy good food and fellowship before leaving in the morning. His parents were to drive him to the airport where he would fly to the army base. The same base his father trained at many years ago. John's father was proud of his son, but also a little concerned, for he realized the seriousness of this war.
William Dean Howells was an advocate of realism in writing; he believed that literary art should reflect the reality of the common man and demonstrate the truth of everyday current issues. He believed in truthful writing and he accepted very little at face value. He practiced this belief in his own writing, and his story called “Editha” is a good example of this. In this ironic tragedy, W.D. Howells shows the truth and nature of war. He uses a combination of metaphoric characters, irony, and the pathos appeal to create an almost grotesque parody of the reality of war. In final analysis, Howells is successful in highlighting the consequences of war and inspiring the audience to question the wisdom of those who advocate armed conflict.
This is a not a heroic story of any sort. The readers get to see the ugliness of war through Natalia’s eyes. Even when her world echoes with the adversities of war, she tries her best to deal with the blows without any hints of immense bravery. Natalia shows that women during this time in the war can survive without the help of a man. It’s shows how the ordinary and tough lives that live away from the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War.
William Dean Howells' opinion of romanticism is his novel "Editha" by having the character of Editha symbolize his views on romanticism. When George announces that there is war, Editha surprises her lover and audience by saying "how glorious." She romanticizes the war by calling "any war glorious that is for the liberation of the people who have been struggling for years against the cruelest oppression." It's hard to figure out if Editha truly loves George, or if she is overtaken by the thought of having someone heroic to love. One of the ways Editha views life is that to have good things one must prove himself or herself worthy of it, for instance her love. In the story when she's thinking about George, she says George, "had simply asked for her love... and she gave her love... but if he could do something worthy to have her, be her hero- it would be grander." What better way to prove his love to Editha by doing something he was not favorable towards for Editha's sake and allowing himself named captain of Company A for her amusement. Her true feelings for George come to light when she writes him a goodbye letter saying why she was breaking her engagement with him since the man she marries "must love his country first." She wrote that letter as soon as he left, it's quite unfair and she even realizes it yet still writes it to satisfy herself. Even when he enlisted, she knew that he was not for him but for her. Editha noticed he became a different person after enlisting, " he made her feel as if she had lost her old lover and found a stranger in his place," if she had truly loved him she would not have felt giddy at the thought of kissing a stranger after losing her true love.
A link is also created between Elizabeth and Tipper as Faulks describes that Robert could see Elizabeth’s eyes ‘fill with a determination he had never seen’ which contrasts with the dehumanisation of Tipper as light was lost from his eyes. In this case, Elizabeth is having new life brought to her. The new life of the character baby John indicates that the effects of the War will always remain and that within ‘those still living’ its memory will always live on. In summary, Faulks indicates to us that we should have a strong interest in the War because of the sacrifices that the men made for us.
Every Friday the colonel goes to the post office to wait for his pension. He has been doing this for fifteen years and has not received anything. When he goes back home he must listen to his wife rant about waiting long enough and having the patient as an ox to wait fifteen years for the pension. The colonel writes, “‘We have to wait our turn… Our number is 1823’” (22). The colonel refuses to give up the hope that he will receive his pension. Even though he has waited fifteen years for the letter, he will most likely continue to wait at the post office. Even with his wife giving him lectures about it not going to come, he still does not care to give in and continues to go. But he shows a type of nobility to this. He never gets mad at his wife. Even when she lectures him, or when he is waiting for his pension, he never loses his patience. He carries this nobility with him. For example, his wife tells him to go see a lawyer about the pension, and he listens to her and goes. When they are discussing the pension, the lawyer tells him the government won't give him any of the money. The colonel reflects about a memory during the war. Garcia Marquez explains, “As Treasure of the revolution… he had undertaken a difficult six-day journey with the funds of the civil war… half an hour before the treaty was signed” (26). The colonel was taking the money for the revolution to the signing of the treaty. He
The short story “In Another Country” by Earnest Hemingway is a story about the negative effects of war. The story follows an unnamed American officer and his dealings with three other officers, all of whom are wounded in World War I and are recuperating in Milan, Italy. In war, much can be gained such as freedom and peace, however war also causes a plethora of negative consequences. Cultural alienation, loss of physical and emotional identity, and the irony of war technology and uncertainty of life are all serious consequences of war that are clearly shown by Hemingway.
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is a novel set in Italy during World War I. It tells the story of its protagonist, an ambulance driver named Frederic Henry (most often referred to as simply Henry), and his love for a nurse named Catherine Barkley during a time in which Henry has sought to escape from the war around him. A Farewell to Arms, which is notable for its melancholy plot, strongly resembles some aspects of Hemingway’s own life; he committed suicide after a lifelong case of depression, and he too experienced the tragedies of war. He communicates one major theme through A Farwell to Arms—the inevitability of the loss of happiness. Hemingway expresses this idea through his ingenious use of symbolism, motif, and irony.
Through Henry and Catherine’s relationship and experiences together, Hemingway demonstrates the belief that while death is inescapable, it is still important to face death with courage. Henry is stating that he has made a “separate peace” with the war which means he is trying to forget about it. When Lt. Henry and Catherine were discussing about how they are going to be in the future, Lt. Henry states, “If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world ...
A Farewell to Arms is clearly an anti-war novel; the story swifts from naive game playing, through the stages of love and hope, to pure despair and an understanding that a war can lead to no winners. The passionate love story of the novel strengthens the message still more by showing the ironic similarity, but also its discrepancy, with the war. The discrepancy is to be taken into serious account, this discrepancy is the important message of this novel; make love not war.