Attaining Liberty
Liberty is one of if not the most highly desired things in this world today and in the past. In many countries people beg and fight for liberty but other places people have it given to them. Throughout history there have been examples of countries resulting to violence and warfare in order to attain the liberties they seek. The United States, in the Revolutionary War, fought for their liberties and their freedom, and the French during the French Revolution fought for theirs as well. Eugene Delacroix painted a well known picture depicting this event called “Liberty Leading the People” showing Lady Liberty leading the French through a battle while raising the French flag in one hand and holding a rifle in the other, uniting her people through war. Over 100 years later, George Orwell wrote a commentary piece during WWII stating how no country should stand aside and be pacifists during war. In order to beat enemies a country cannot just lay down instead they must take action to defeat them, push for peace aggressively, and come together as a country with undivided morals. Both Orwell and Delacroix demonstrated how in order to attain freedom a country cannot be pacifists but must take aggressive action and come together as one to achieve their desired liberties.
In Delacroix’s painting the most prominent figure is Lady Liberty leading the charge of men through battle. The battle looks violent and there are a lot of casualties but everyone seems to be following Liberty as she raises the French flag in her right hand just as if the people of a country would be following what would ensure them freedom, which in this case is war. The painting can be looked at two different ways. One way is Lady Liberty leading the charg...
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...ainting symbolize the need for patriotism and unity in a country during war on and off the battlefront. These two prominent texts support each other’s points of fighting for human’s unalienable rights and liberties through writing and visualization. The connection between the to conclude that war may not be just but it is the act of physical force or even any action that can bring together a country and achieve the liberties they deserve. This is a message that can apply to any human today, when someone infringes on another’s liberties then they need to stand up and fight back in order to stop the other from doing it again.
Works Cited
Delacroix, Eugene. Liberty Leading the People. 1830. Louvre, Paris, France.
Orwell, George. "Pacifism and the War." Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. By Michael Austin. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and, 2010. 283-86. Print.
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
The poet Wilfred Owen was one of many poets who were against war. He reflected this idea of anti-war in his poems, one of his poems called “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, mirrors most aspects of war all put together in this short still deep poem. An example of that would be when the speaker stated,” What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”(1) The speaker asks is there any sound that marks our soldier’s death other than the sounds of church bell’s which are mostly rung to represent somebody’s absence? Clearly, the speaker sets anger as the tone of the poem through this question to show that soldier’s death is unremarkable.. The speaker compares the soldiers to a “cattle” which illustrates that soldiers are treated more like animals with no feelings and also shows how they are killed indiscriminately in war. Finally the line ironically contains an iambic pentameter which is a natural rhythm for such dark, grim, dull subject. The two novels, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, and All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, both present a similar idea of how soldiers are killed out there in the front comprehensively and the dehumanization of war towards its soldiers. The first novel is set during the Civil War, and it focuses on the psychological aspects of one soldier named Henry Fleming and how his naive thoughts about war constantly change through the course of the novel. The second novel presents the life of a soldier named Paul Baumer and his friends who were faced with the terribleness of war and how severely it affected their lives. The Red badge of Courage and All Quiet on The Western Front are similar in the way of how the main characters develop through the novel to change from naïve and innocent men ...
In the beginning of the short story, the young boy is already imprinted with the ideas of war from his father. His father was a former soldier who “had fought against naked savages and followed the flag of his country..” (Bierce 41). The image of war that is imprinted on the young boy from his father is that of nobility and righteous that comes from war.
The author in “The Things They Carried” expresses the deep sorrows and emotionally trying events associated with warfare. As the war progressed, the effects only began to wear more on the protagonist as the “days would seem longer and [the] loads heavier” (O’Brien 1190). Using words such as longer and heavier, helped the author express how much the war began to take a toll on the soldiers. At one point the author recalls a soldier kicking a dead enemy 's head and questioning “what the moral was” in doing so (O’Brien 1183). This sense of remorse towards senseless and actions took place in the war show the discontent with events that take place. Contrarily, the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper” questions the reasoning behind the wallpaper and begins to curiously infer why it may be in her room. The protagonist infers that the wallpaper “looks as if a boys’ school had used it” and destroyed it because it is “stripped off” (Gilman 549). The narrator begins to look for answers from a wall with none, which leaves it her tainted imagination to guess what the answers might be. Although the narrator is recommended bed rest, she still chooses to “disagree with [her husband and brother’s] ideas” and “believe that
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First, both are similar in how they spread their message across. Basically, both made the enemy seem like a cruel heartless monster who only has the capability to kill while the heroes are the country’s soldiers/citizens. Both play on the pathos of citizens. They paint this idea that citizens must fight because the enemy is filled with barbarians.
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The combination of parallelism and antithesis along with symbolism littered throughout the story help transform the novel from a story of war and defeat to a tale of peace and triumph in romantic literary tradition (McCarron and
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The structure of the text is very simple- there are 9 lines in a single paragraph. These lines are to the point and very short. There is a repetition of “This” in almost every line, but there is no sign of what the “this” means or is. There is also a repetition of “This is my weapon” without any reference to any weapon and so creates confusion in the minds of the readers. The motif is of war and fights which can be seen through the various ref...
The main idea of the two story’s is that war can tear people and family’s apart.These story’s prove how if war never begain then the family never would have lost a brother and the strangers might of become friends. War ruens lives and family’s. If people never fought then one day enemy’s have the chance to be
In the painting, the yellow faded coloring of the sky draws straight into the yellowing and tarnished look of the men’s uniforms. A symbol of just how long the war had been going on and the exhaustion felt by the men from rough terrain and the many battles they faced along the way. When looking at the men’s faces and body language, weakness, desperation, and a battle to keep moving forward is seen. Two rows of men are seen being led through a field of fellow brethren. Some are being held up as they struggle to keep forward momentum. A depiction of the brutality seen in war; devastation to both mind and body. The war never
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Within democracies there is great dilemma between security (keeping the country and citizens safe) and liberty (honoring individual rights and freedoms). Many would attest that having both is vital to having a democracy. However, during specific periods, the government may value security above liberty or vice versa. In the particular scenario where a country goes to war, the true significance of the debate between security and liberty unveils. More specifically in a situation where a country orders a draft and enacts laws ordering those who protest against the war to be thrown in jail. In this situation, the government is placing the value of security above the value of liberty. Security is necessary, especially in times of war, but ignoring liberties jeopardizes the principles in which democracy was built. In addition, a lack of liberty can cause a country to be divided and citizens to become disloyal. All of which is a recipe for disaster during wartimes. While at the same time, it is important to respect people’s liberties, giving to many liberties threatens the security of the country by allowing citizens to protest and rebel against the government. Thus, a society must decide the right amount of both. People in a society with restricted liberties might begin to feel fear, anger, and resentment. This leads to protest, revolts, and mutinies such as it did in the scenario. Therefore, while security is imperative, undermining citizen’s liberties threatens the structure of democracy by restricting freedom, creating chaos and generating disloyalty in citizens.