Louisa May Alcott, whom was a very detailed and expressive novelist was well known for her excerpt “Death of A Soldier,” as it was based on her experience working as a nurse at the union hospital in Georgetown. Her story was very touching on how she had to face a challenge during one of her rounds as a nurse. The purpose of Alcott writing this story was to get the readers to visually picture what was going on in that exact scene as she witnessed her patient John suffer deeply from wounds after his battle in a war. Alcott provided many details in her writing and showed her compassion and care for another human being. As this sends out a picture to her readers or audience of what happened in that exact moment, what her thoughts and feelings …show more content…
The doctor also stated that John “possesses great vitality; but even his temperate life can’t save him”. From that point on John’s condition was severe and helpless. The doctor then mentioned to Alcott to reveal the news to John since women have a more “comfortable” way of saying things. The nurse then held in her tears and hesitated She immediately found it quite difficult as she contemplated to find a way to tell John that he was going to die. So many things were running through the nurses mind at this point, she begin to hope that he would feel better and found it pitiless to tell a patient that he is going to die. To make matters worst, the nurse was told the patient may only live up to two …show more content…
Although he showed no signs of intense pain as she continued to observe him carefully, she began to notice tears running down his face which is something she has not witnessed before among patients who are suffering. Alcott was touched by this and her fears immediately diminished. Alcott approached the patient and stated “let me help you bear it”. This was the exact moment he needed to be comforted the most. The patient expressed his gratitude towards the nurse by stating that was exactly what he wanted. He was very kind and polite and used his manners by telling the nurse “thank you mam”. From here on out, the nurse cared for him in the most gentle way as they continued communicating knowing that his life was ending very soon. John was a very tough soldier and mentioned he had no regrets for what he has done. He showed how much of a courageous person he really was by stating he will do it all again. Then the pt mentioned “this is my first battle; do they think its my last?”. and this gave Alcott the chance to tell him that he was not going to make it as their eyes locked onto each other. However, John con tuned to show how strong of a person he really was and Alcott wrote a letter to Johns family. Hours passed and John was dying slowly and painfully in front of the nurse and there was nothing that could have been done
After mailing the letter that day, they went to see Mrs. Sharpe in her hospital room. When they get to the hospital
When Paul was in the war he and his Friend Kat ran into a recruit that had been shot and they were debating whether or not to put him out of his misery. "We'll be back again soon," says Kat, "We are only going to get a stretcher for you."We don't know if he understands. He whimpers like a child and plucks at us: "Don't go away--” Kat looks around and whispers: "Shouldn't we just take a revolver and put an end to it?" (Page 34). In the movie Gallipoli, the main character Archy was a runner and he had no idea what he had gotten himself into. But when it was his time to cross the front line he had hesitation and did what he had signed up for. In the poem In Flanders Field it makes you feel sad for all the lives that had been lost. “Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.” this gives you a feeling of sadness for all the people who died and their families that they will never see
For example, in the last line of all four stanzas, the author writes, “And the friendship only lasted a few seconds” (Adams 18-19). By repeating this phrase, Adams is able to emphasize how quick her friendship with one of the soldiers lasts. Through the use of repetition, she highlights the war’s effect on her and the relationship she forms in the war. The author is able to demonstrate that war causes her to never forget about the soldier’s service and that he dies right before her. In addition, Lily Lee Adams uses dialogue to help the readers visualize the war’s distressful effects on an individual. She states, “And he told me/”I don’t believe this/I’m dying for nothing.”/Then he died/Again, the friendship/Only lasted a few seconds” (Adams 20-25). Adams’s use of dialogue portrays an image in the reader’s mind of the soldier telling the nurse that he can not believe he is dying for nothing because he will not be remembered for his service. To further elaborate, the reader is able to envision that the soldier is dying a miserable death since he is dying in vain. Before his death, the soldier becomes hopeless when he realizes that no one will remember his contribution to protecting the people that will never appreciate or remember
"War is hell . . . war is mystery terror and adventure and courage and discovery and despair and . . . war is nasty (80)." When it all happened it was not like "a movie you aren't a hero and all you can do is whimper and wait (211)." O'Brien and the rest of the solders were just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations. They needed to tell blatant lies" to "bring the body and soul back together (239)." They needed to eliminate the reality of death. As ordinary people they were not capable of dealing with the engulfing realities of death and war therefore they needed to create coping skills. O'Brien approaches the loss of his childhood friend, Linda, in the same way he approaches the loss of his comrades in the war as this is the only way he knows how to deal with death. A skill he learned, and needed, in the Vietnam War.
Many soldiers who come back from the war need to express how they feel. Many do it in the way of writing. Many soldiers die in war, but the ones who come back are just as “dead.” Many cadets come back with shell shock, amputated arms and legs, and sometimes even their friends aren’t there with them. So during World War I, there was a burst of new art and writings come from the soldiers. Many express in the way of books, poems, short stories and art itself. Most soldiers are just trying to escape. A lot of these soldiers are trying to show what war is really like, and people respond. They finally might think war might not be the answer. This is why writers use imagery, irony and structure to protest war.
A certain matter-of-fact quality pervades the descriptions of the wounds inflicted and received by soldiers; the face-to-face attacks with rifle butts, spades, and grenades; the sounds, smells, and colors of death and dying in this book.
It is inevitable when dealing regularly with a subject as brutal as war, that death will occur. Death brings grief for the victim’s loved ones, which William Faulkner depicts accurately and fairly in many of his works, including the short story “Shall Not Perish” and The Unvanquished. While the works differ because of the time (The Unvanquished deals with the Civil War while “Shall Not Perish” takes place during World War II) and the loved ones grieving (The Unvanquished shows the grief of a lover and “Shall Not Perish” shows the grief of families), the pain they all feel is the same.
Through the stories of 5 womens lives throughout the time period of the Vietnam War, Moreau helps the reader to grasp the way they are feeling by interpreting the voices of the other family members. (Moreau, 35) She uses words and phrases to express the need they need for their fathers and how life at home isn’t the same without them there. One can picture the emptiness and loneliness they feel inside. Also writing the autobiographies in first person point of view, lets the reader know every feeling, every movement and expresses the empty hole in their stomachs having to take care of an entire family alone (Hales). What Moreau was trying to grasp with this concept, is to make the reader feel and almost experience what it would be like if it were them in one of the wives position. Although only a few actually got to experience this feeling, we should all understand what it’s like to be in a situation like that and have our sympathy for them. Letters were written very few times, but when the time came to be able to write, th...
After an event of large magnitude, it still began to take its toll on the protagonist as they often “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die” during the war (O’Brien 1187). The travesties that occurred with the brutality of war did not subside and began to affect those involved in a deeply emotional way. The multitude of disastrous happenings influenced the narrator to develop a psychological handicap to death by being “afraid of dying” although being “even more afraid to show it” (O’Brien 1187). The burden caused by the war creates fear inside the protagonist’s mind, yet if he were to display his sense of distress it would cause a deeper fear for those around him, thus making the thought of exposing the fear even more frightening. The emotional battle taking place in the psyche of the narrator is directly repressed by the war.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
One of the hardest events that a soldier had to go through during the war was when one of their friends was killed. Despite their heartbreak they could not openly display their emotions. They could not cry because soldiers do not cry. Such an emotional display like crying would be sign of weakness and they didn’t want to be weak, so they created an outlet. “They were actors. When someone died, it wasn’t quite dying because in a curious way it seemed scripted”(19). Of course things were scripted especially when Ted Lavender died. It had happened unexpectedly and if they didn’t have something planned to do while they were coping they would all have broken down especially Lieutenant Cross. Cross...
Unending exchange of bullets coming from rifles of the soldiers, a mother lamenting for the death of her young boy who goes to war, and great toll of loss life both of the soldiers and civilians- all these are not enough to describe the horrors brought by the war, but, these are enough to illustrate the price, expensive price, paid in war.
Louisa May Alcott shows a great deal of herself throughout the novel, Little Women. She shows many parallelisms between the fictional character Jo and Louisa May Alcott. The novel is an example of their similar personalities, appearances, and life experiences. Louisa was very dramatic and comical throughout her life time. Jo March is the perfect character for Louisa to portray. She exemplifies how life was during the 19th century in America. Through the characters of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott illustrates her struggle as a woman writer in a male dominated society.
In “The Wound Dresser,” Walt Whitman describes his experiences as a caretaker to the wounded during the civil war, and the pain and suffering he witnessed. He shares graphic images of what he observed when caring for the wounded. Much like healthcare workers today, Whitman was a servant who with humility cared for those suffering and in pain. “Devotion, sacrifice and compassion” is how Whitman described the way one needs to care for the suffering. This is applicable to h...
In this poem Owen uses defamiliarization to make the reader question the death of a solider at war and how this compares to the death of a person at home. He uses comparisons, metaphors and similes to bring out the defamiliarization.