Joyeux Noel is a French film released in 2005 about the 1914 Christmas truce on the front lines of World War I. The Christmas truce showed humanity and kindness between the opposing forces. Because it was Christmas, they put their weapons down and, in the words of the French commanding officer, “fraternized” with the enemy. They showed all of the moral resources discussed in class; sympathy/empathy, respect and “humanity as a fact and aspiration”. One scene in which those moral resources became particularly evident was when the Scots were ordered by their commanding officer to fire on the German soldier that was running across No Man’s Land. Instead of shooting him, (and subsequently killing him) they chose to fire their rifles into the air
instead. It was an act of protest against the brutal, horrific war they were forced to fight in. One man, however, chose to follow the order and he shot the man. The supposed German was actually a Frenchman disguised as a German in order to visit his mother. One could argue that this scene shows moral resources and also a lack of them. It could also be argued that the only reason he shot the supposed German was because he was angry about the loss of his brother. The Scots were probably unable to shoot the man because they had realized that the opposing force was made up of men just like them. It was out of respect and empathy, the two primary moral resources, that they didn’t kill him. A scene in which people were devoid of moral resources was the scene in which the letters were being read by the French commanding officers. It was not out of the ordinary for outgoing letters to be read and censored, but they would have been sent on afterward. The French never sent those letters on to the families of the soldiers. The soldiers were hoping so desperately for those letters to make it to their homes, but they never did. There was no empathy shown by the general Audebert. In war, you are trained to shoot first, think later. Even today that is the truth. One cannot have any sympathy for the other side or think about them as human beings. In war, it is mostly “eat or be eaten”. I believe that is part of the reason that moral resources disappear entirely (or at least go on hiatus) during war. You have to kill your enemy, no questions asked. You can’t second-guess anything. War is hard, and you must put yourself first. If you don’t, you could die. In Joyeux Noel, the trigger for the display of moral resources was Christmas. Everyone was able to put everything aside and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It showed incredible humanity, empathy and respect. They were able to realize that their opponents were people too, with wives and cats and families back home. They were all stuck in the same horrible situation. The trenches were awful, and none of them could leave. I’m sure they realized that they were all in the same boat, and the enemy was suffering just as much. Unfortunately, if you think that way during war, you could get yourself killed. Usually, the enemy isn’t thinking about you as a human being. They see you as an opponent that needs to die. Joyeux Noel was an award-winning movie for many reasons, but I believe the primary reason is that it showed us how great and also how terrible human beings can be, and how war brings out the worst in us. Somehow these brave men were able to escape the horrific effects of war and still hold on to their basic moral resources. There are no men alive currently who experienced the Christmas truce. The last survivor was Alfred Anderson, who would be 119 this year. The way he speaks of the truth is not at all similar to how it was portrayed in the movie. Whatever the truth is, the Christmas truce was truly revolutionary.
Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier is a work notable not only for its vivid and uncompromising account of his experience as a member of the Wehrmacht in World War II, but also for its subtle and incisive commentary about the very nature of war itself. What is perhaps most intriguing about Sajer’s novel is his treatment of the supposedly “universal” virtues present within war such as professionalism, patriotism, camaraderie, and self-sacrifice. Sajer introduces a break between how war is thought about in the abstract and how it has actually been conducted historically.
A characters courage is not measured by how an action will be accepted by others, but by how their actions stay true to themselves even in the face of a pressured surrounding. Colin McDougall’s The Firing Squad a story about a young soldiers attempt at redemption and George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant an essay about Orwell’s days in a British colony where he was called to handle the situation with an aggressive elephant are two pieces of literature that demonstrate the effects of courage. Courage takes many forms and in these two great pieces of literature it can be measured by looking at the characters and how they use courage and lack of courage as a driving factor in different ways throughout their story’s.
Principles of Morality. Seattle: Ponster Printing, pp. 89-92. 2010. Print. The. Gevinson, Matilda.
In A Tactical Ethic, Moral Conduct in the Insurgent Battlespace, author Dick Couch addresses what he believes to be an underlying problem, most typical of small units, of wanton ethical and moral behavior partly stemming from the negative “ethical climate and moral culture” of today’s America (Couch, D., 2010, p. 15). In chapter one, he reveals what A Tactical Ethic will hope to accomplish; that is identify the current ethics of today’s military warriors, highlight what is lacking, and make suggestions about what can be done to make better the ethical behavior of those on the battlefield and in garrison. He touches on some historic anecdotes to highlight the need for high ethics amongst today’s military warriors as well as briefly mentions
Whenever one reads or hears about World War I or World War II, you hear of the struggles and triumphs of the British, Americans or any of the other Allies. And they always speak of the evil and menacing German army. However, All Quiet on the Western Front gives the reader some insight and a look at a group of young German friends who are fighting in World War I. “This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.....” The soldiers of this war felt they were neither heroes nor did they know what they were fighting for. These soldiers were pulled from the innocence of their childhood, and thrown into a world of rage. Yet somehow they still managed to have heart and faith in man kind and could not look the opponent in the eye and kill him. For he was man too, he too had a wife and children at home, he too was pulled out of his home to fight for a cause he didn't understand.
To conclude this essay we have acknowledged that ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ are contrastable. However, in some points they are compatible as both involve war. Even though they mention war, it is shown in different ways. As ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ glorifies soldiers and the war, whereas, ‘Dulce Et decorum Est’ points out that war are not as heroic as it seems but instead is a horrifying brutal affair.
The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co...
Salden, Chris. “Wartime Holidays and the ‘Myth of the Blitz’.” Cultural History 2, no. 2 (May 2005).
World War One was a massive event. It affected millions of people from all walks of life, and inspired countless written pieces. Nevertheless, without being there, it is impossible to truly be able to tell what the war is like. Therefore the use of setting is very important in giving the reader an idea of the circumstance. This is not to say that everyone is in agreement over how the war should be displayed. Quite one the contrary, the two Poems “In Flanders Fields” and “Dulce et Decorum Est” use their settings to create two very contrasting images of human conflict.
guilt, greed, betrayal, and murder are no strangers. In this story an honorable warrior and
Behind every war there is supposed to be a moral—some reason for fighting. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. O’Brien relays to the readers the truth of the Vietnam War through the graphic descriptions of the man that he killed. After killing the man O’Brien was supposed to feel relief, even victory, but instead he feels grief of killing a man that was not what he had expected. O’Brien is supposed to be the winner, but ends up feeling like the loser. Ironically, the moral or lesson in The Things They Carried is that there is no morality in war. War is vague and illogical because it forces humans into extreme situations that have no obvious solutions.
This is depicted throughout Inglourious Bastards and is illustrated beautifully in the opening scene and chapter one of the film set in 1941 Nazi occupied France. There is a peaceful French home own...
Director Mark Herman presents a narrative film that attests to the brutal, thought-provoking Nazi regime, in war-torn Europe. It is obvious that with Herman’s relatively clean representation of this era, he felt it was most important to resonate with the audience in a profound and philosophical manner rather than in a ruthlessness infuriating way. Despite scenes that are more graphic than others, the films objective was not to recap on the awful brutality that took place in camps such as the one in the movie. The audience’s focus was meant to be on the experience and life of a fun-loving German boy named Bruno. Surrounding this eight-year-old boy was conspicuous Nazi influences. Bruno is just an example of a young child among many others oblivious of buildings draped in flags, and Jewis...
On the 12th and final day of Christmas (January 6), processions honoring the three Wise Men weave around Florence. In the fading light, flames dance over figurines in the streets of northeast Italy, symbolizing the turn of a new leaf. For some, children especially, Epiphany is a source of joy, candy, and incentive to behave. For other older children and adults, it’s more complex holiday.
Scissors, Paper, Rock! For my first cultural event, I attended the University Performing Dancers rendition of “Scissors, Paper, Rock!”. This dance performance took place in University Hall here on campus. This performance is considered a cultural event because the game Rock, Paper, Scissors is an ancient game that many different cultures have claimed to invented.