Essay
The Truth of War
War, the thought of it for some is very unpleasant, this is because for a soldier war is a very powerful and when one is put through these experiences they can be affected in many but very different ways. These ways are the objects that change the men that go in war for a very long time or even forever. Items that are relatable to this subject are things such as movies that show the suffering that they must go through and also novels that also include the gruesome sights and death in war. These subjects are important because they all lead to the real thought that people have when the word war is brought to their ears. The image soldiers had before going into battle was glorious, but the truth of war for a soldier is pain and suffering.
Before men go into war they often think it as glorious and something that will make them heroic. In the movie “We Were Soldiers” there was a reporter who imagined war as something that would be exiting and something that would make his life as a reporter fun. This was because he had a mental image that going to war was good and not a problem at all. The reason for this would be propaganda, an example of war glorifying propaganda would be a poster that I found while researching. The poster said “Men 30-50 Step on it, join the military”(Words of the World). By step on it they meant to step on the Nazi symbol and to crush the enemy that they were fighting at the time, and through the poster it was saying that the war was going to be won by America because all they had to do was step on the enemy and our military would crush them with one stroke. This poster can simply manipulate a man’s thoughts on war and how it is experienced; this was most of the cause for his war based assumptions that war was ok. So truly the poster is trying to say that if you are a soldier you will be invincible and that your team would win with ease, it also was trying to make one patriotic so that they would demonize the enemy and be taunted to become a military member. Although propaganda shows war as heroic men are often seriously injured during war.
When men are in conflict during battle they are most likely to be injured by one of many cruel weapons that are used in wars. “On the next floor below are the abdominal and spine cases, head wounds and double amputations. On the right side of the wing are the jaw wounds, wounds in the joints, wounds in the kidneys, wounds in the testicles, and wounds in the intestines.” (Erich Remarque, pg. 262). Here the novel explains some very detailed and gruesome wounds that are caused in the war such as the guns and other objects such as grenades and gas. These weapons take a man’s body and distorts in such a way that that person is then unable to perform their natural duties for they are either disabled or dead. When one experiences this their image before of war being glorious and interesting is shattered for they now see the new physical state of the men that were wounded by the tools of war. While they are in combat they not only experience physical injuries, but mental injuries as well.
Soldiers are put through traumatizing experiences that change their perspective on war permanently. An example of this kind of experience would be from the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. “My state is getting worse, I can no longer control my thoughts. What would his wife look like? Like the little brunette on the other side of the canal? Does she belong to me now?” (Remarque, pg.222). Here the main character, Paul, is being put in a position that changes him forever. This is when he is hiding and trying to survive in a mortar hole when an enemy soldier stumbles into his premises, and because Paul was stressed out and being affected by war he instantly stabs the man. Once the man is dead Paul examines the man named Duval and finds a small note book. And he then sees the innocent mans wife and family. Once doing so he loses control of his mind and goes insane with thoughts such as thinking if the mans wife is now his and what he will do with the family. This affected him mentally because when he killed the man up close and saw what he had just taken away from all of those who were close to him it impacted Paul with a force that he was unable to handle. This changes ones perspective on war because they now are aware that killing the enemy just rips apart another family and affects their memories forever. Men experience mental pain during war, but they will experience the same amount of pain even after they return home.
Once they have returned home, soldiers are less aware of their families, and cannot fit into their old lives. This causes them even more mental pain. A true example of this pain would be in the book All Quiet on the Western Front when Paul returns on leave. “Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless-I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end.” (Remarque, pg.185). This takes place when Paul is on leave and while he is in the area he fells unable to fit in the area that is his home, his birth place and all that he grew up with. The reason for this was because he was so accustomed to the conflict in war and all that he had been through he put all thoughts of his family and friends away from the front out of his mind. Then once returning he did not recognize the area and was unfamiliar with things that used to be close to him. When a soldier realizes that he is unable to fit in with his original home their perspective is changed from the beginning for they now know that the thought of war being glorious and returning home a hero and being happy for ever is ruined.
All of these examples that show the true side of war and how it is so deceiving and how it puts an image in a man’s mind that is false. They are all important because when the men are manipulated and are turned into a soldier the war rips their minds apart and fries it to nothing so that once they have returned, if they ever do, they are technically dead for they have no thoughts of their family. The only thought that is on their mind is war. One must see through the lies that are in the propaganda and the posters that tell a person of the glories in war and that they shall return unharmed and a hero in history. This also relates to present day, for there is still propaganda and men are still willing to allow their bodies to be changes in unimaginable ways and never return the same way. Today we still use horrid weapons and men are still torn from families. These returned men that are so lucky to even return are so powerfully blown that they cannot heal the invisible wounds that surround them. The truth of war that all should see is that if one allows themselves to be dragged in the conflict they will be changed forever in ways that will stick to them for life.
Bibliography:
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Ween. All quiet on the western front;. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1929. Print.
The Truth of War
War, the thought of it for some is very unpleasant, this is because for a soldier war is a very powerful and when one is put through these experiences they can be affected in many but very different ways. These ways are the objects that change the men that go in war for a very long time or even forever. Items that are relatable to this subject are things such as movies that show the suffering that they must go through and also novels that also include the gruesome sights and death in war. These subjects are important because they all lead to the real thought that people have when the word war is brought to their ears. The image soldiers had before going into battle was glorious, but the truth of war for a soldier is pain and suffering.
Before men go into war they often think it as glorious and something that will make them heroic. In the movie “We Were Soldiers” there was a reporter who imagined war as something that would be exiting and something that would make his life as a reporter fun. This was because he had a mental image that going to war was good and not a problem at all. The reason for this would be propaganda, an example of war glorifying propaganda would be a poster that I found while researching. The poster said “Men 30-50 Step on it, join the military”(Words of the World). By step on it they meant to step on the Nazi symbol and to crush the enemy that they were fighting at the time, and through the poster it was saying that the war was going to be won by America because all they had to do was step on the enemy and our military would crush them with one stroke. This poster can simply manipulate a man’s thoughts on war and how it is experienced; this was most of the cause for his war based assumptions that war was ok. So truly the poster is trying to say that if you are a soldier you will be invincible and that your team would win with ease, it also was trying to make one patriotic so that they would demonize the enemy and be taunted to become a military member. Although propaganda shows war as heroic men are often seriously injured during war.
When men are in conflict during battle they are most likely to be injured by one of many cruel weapons that are used in wars. “On the next floor below are the abdominal and spine cases, head wounds and double amputations. On the right side of the wing are the jaw wounds, wounds in the joints, wounds in the kidneys, wounds in the testicles, and wounds in the intestines.” (Erich Remarque, pg. 262). Here the novel explains some very detailed and gruesome wounds that are caused in the war such as the guns and other objects such as grenades and gas. These weapons take a man’s body and distorts in such a way that that person is then unable to perform their natural duties for they are either disabled or dead. When one experiences this their image before of war being glorious and interesting is shattered for they now see the new physical state of the men that were wounded by the tools of war. While they are in combat they not only experience physical injuries, but mental injuries as well.
Soldiers are put through traumatizing experiences that change their perspective on war permanently. An example of this kind of experience would be from the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. “My state is getting worse, I can no longer control my thoughts. What would his wife look like? Like the little brunette on the other side of the canal? Does she belong to me now?” (Remarque, pg.222). Here the main character, Paul, is being put in a position that changes him forever. This is when he is hiding and trying to survive in a mortar hole when an enemy soldier stumbles into his premises, and because Paul was stressed out and being affected by war he instantly stabs the man. Once the man is dead Paul examines the man named Duval and finds a small note book. And he then sees the innocent mans wife and family. Once doing so he loses control of his mind and goes insane with thoughts such as thinking if the mans wife is now his and what he will do with the family. This affected him mentally because when he killed the man up close and saw what he had just taken away from all of those who were close to him it impacted Paul with a force that he was unable to handle. This changes ones perspective on war because they now are aware that killing the enemy just rips apart another family and affects their memories forever. Men experience mental pain during war, but they will experience the same amount of pain even after they return home.
Once they have returned home, soldiers are less aware of their families, and cannot fit into their old lives. This causes them even more mental pain. A true example of this pain would be in the book All Quiet on the Western Front when Paul returns on leave. “Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless-I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end.” (Remarque, pg.185). This takes place when Paul is on leave and while he is in the area he fells unable to fit in the area that is his home, his birth place and all that he grew up with. The reason for this was because he was so accustomed to the conflict in war and all that he had been through he put all thoughts of his family and friends away from the front out of his mind. Then once returning he did not recognize the area and was unfamiliar with things that used to be close to him. When a soldier realizes that he is unable to fit in with his original home their perspective is changed from the beginning for they now know that the thought of war being glorious and returning home a hero and being happy for ever is ruined.
All of these examples that show the true side of war and how it is so deceiving and how it puts an image in a man’s mind that is false. They are all important because when the men are manipulated and are turned into a soldier the war rips their minds apart and fries it to nothing so that once they have returned, if they ever do, they are technically dead for they have no thoughts of their family. The only thought that is on their mind is war. One must see through the lies that are in the propaganda and the posters that tell a person of the glories in war and that they shall return unharmed and a hero in history. This also relates to present day, for there is still propaganda and men are still willing to allow their bodies to be changes in unimaginable ways and never return the same way. Today we still use horrid weapons and men are still torn from families. These returned men that are so lucky to even return are so powerfully blown that they cannot heal the invisible wounds that surround them. The truth of war that all should see is that if one allows themselves to be dragged in the conflict they will be changed forever in ways that will stick to them for life.
Bibliography:
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Ween. All quiet on the western front;. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1929. Print.
Project Description
During the Truth of War project the main focus for the class was learning about WWI and WWII, through these we took evidence that showed what the conflict was doing to soldiers and all around them. There were very interesting topics on how the war was affecting people, however a very interesting one was the Fire Bombing of Dresden. this was when a small defenseless town in Germany that had no defense systems whatsoever was mercilessly and without warning destroyed. This was of course because over 770 planes flew over it and dropped fire bombs on the whole city, through this we began to realize for ourselves what the truth of war truly was. As we continued propaganda was brought up and through this our thoughts on the truth of war was cleared out even more. This was because we were shown how propaganda will put a mans direction in the way the government would want one to see it. In other words they would take the truth and shatter it with a total lie of war being great and something that is really good, while of course truly war is an unstable and brutal moment of humanity. Through these each classmate was to find out the truth of war that they believed was from their perspective. So after i had learned about the Fire Bombing of Dresden and Propaganda I decided that there was only one explanation. i came to believe that war is glorified at first as something great and true so that it would deceive one to join a war based program, while of course when one is truly introduced to the conflict they realize that war is an ongoing manslaughter of death and destruction wherever and whenever.
Project
In this project I believe that I mostly supported all of my research and related topics with evidence. Evidence is a large part in the projects that we do because it fits in with the schools motto PAPER. This stands for Perspective, Advocacy, Perseverance, Evidence, and Refinement. However my strongest strength from PAPER would be Evidence because with it the audience is allowed to really feel what my paper is trying to say and what emotions the soldiers are experiencing when they go into battle. Also evidence shows the hard work that people put into their work because it showed that I did lots of research and confident in my paper. There are also different kinds of evidence and I used both visual and verbal evidence. Certain evidence would be things such as movies, for example the movie We Were Soldiers was one that I used in my paragraphs for it showed the true meaning in all of my examples. Through the evidence that I was showing in all of my paragraphs they were more clear and people were able to feel the emotions from the detail that was put in them. The result of this ended in a great paragraph and also lots of people at the exhibition were glad that I had really showed them what was going on in the past and in the present of my paper.
Essay
A large revision that I made in my project was that I restarted it in the middle of the time period because I met with my teacher and we revised it to the point where it seemed flawless. I redid it by changing my examples and keeping on track of the topic, this was because I seemed to stray of and keep going on my evidence until it made no sense and people that read it were wondering what was going n and why things were so confusing. So to fix this I solved my problem and revised it so that the topic was clear and the result were satisfied and impressed people. This revision was not the only thing for I also had to make many revisions on my visual evidence. My visual evidence would be the Photoshop project that I had done, the reason for this was because at first I began to clutter my open space and it was hard to see what was going on. The reason for this was because I once again tried to put in too much evidence and made the poster look like it was just a bunch of random pictures that made no sense. So to fix this I changed the format so that there were just enough pictures to show just how deceiving the truth of war is for them and what a soldier has to go through. I also had to change my quotes so that they were much more descriptive and had more detail in them so that the audience was fully pleased and were able to understand the message. The result of the time that was taken to fix and revise my poster were very intrigued and very interested people who were amazed by the way that I viewed the project and how it turned out.
Extension
if I had another week to work on this project I believe that with the extra time provided I could have made some major changes in my poster. I say this because sense there was a large rush for me at the end I decided to be careless and made three spelling mistakes on my board. The result of this was a large decrease in my grade and even my pride in the work that I had completed. I also would try to make my paragraphs much more longer and with a little but not to much detail that it intrigued the audience to the point were they were blown away. However when I did complete my essay the evidence was just enough to impress the audience with what I had. The extra week would surely help with what I had hoped my project overall would look and sound like.