The Affect of War on Ones Innocence - 1099 Words

The simple definition of war is a state of armed competition, conflict, or hostility between different nations or groups; however war differs drastically in the eyes of naive children or experienced soldiers. Whether one is a young boy or a soldier, war is never as easy to understand as the definition. comprehend. There will inevitably be an event or circumstance where one is befuddled by the horror of war. For a young boy, it may occur when war first breaks out in his country, such as in â€Å"Song of Becoming.† Yet, in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† it took a man dying in front of a soldiers face for the soldier to realize how awful war truly is. Both â€Å"Song of Becoming† and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† are poems about people experiencing the monstrosity†¦show more content†¦Time has passed since the battle, but the soldier is unable to get the image of his dying comrade out of his head, and worst of all, he knows there is nothing he can do to h elp the dying soldier. An experienced soldier like the speaker was naà ¯ve until he witnessed the horrific death of his comrade, and only then did he acknowledge the physical and mental agony war creates. The speaker questions how people can continue to call for war and urge young men to fight for personal glory and national honor. He realizes that they are innocent–they have not experienced the emotional trauma that he is going through now. This soldier was naà ¯ve as he took on the challenge of war, and like many other soldiers, it took a scarring experience and the inevitable death of a fellow soldier for the speaker to be stripped from his innocence, as he realizes that he cannot save the life of this man. He is no hero–no man fighting in war and killing other human beings is a hero. The speaker cannot control death or save lives, and this fact of war will continue to haunt his no longer innocent self. The poems â€Å"Song of Becoming† and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† both focus on the loss of innocence caused by death and war. War is appalling, gruesome, and shocking, no matter ones age or experience. Whether someone is a young boy or a soldier does not indicate their level of experience in war. In â€Å"Song of Becoming,†Show MoreRelatedArchetypal Critic on John Knowles’ A Separate Peace1163 Words   |  5 Pagesthe archetypes of the Fall from Innocence, the Unhealable, and the Crossroads in â€Å"A Separate Peace,† John Knowles was successful in establishing the theme for the novel which implies that the guilt which is begotten from one’s deceitful actions would remain as an irrecoverable wound overtime. The Fall from Innocence is the loss of one’s innocence, or purity as the result of maturity or newfound knowledge. Mason Cooley, an American aphorist, once said, â€Å"Innocence is thought charming because itRead MoreAnalysis Of Wake Me Up When September Ends1088 Words   |  5 Pagesup in the song are war, natural disaster, and cancer. All three affect millions of people everyday, and the strife and misery in consequence to these issues are recognized beautifully and interpreted easily from the lyrics of this piece and the visuals in Green Day’s music video. First and foremost, this piece of music was intended as an anti-war protest song hence the line ‘the innocent can never last’. The sociological problem is that war takes away the nation’s innocence and turns it into fightingRead MoreAll Quiet On The Western Front1395 Words   |  6 Pageslong time. Imperialism of rivalries and nationalism were two of the main reasons that most countries joined WWI, ‘the war to end all wars†. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque illustrates a group of young boys whose lives have been dehumanized by the trench warfare. Paul Baumer, a teenager and also the narrator of the book, discloses stories and experiences of war imagery. The soldiers construct a powerful comradeship and proceed day by day, risking the lives and future to protectRead MoreEthics, Art, and Natural Science1353 Words   |  5 Pagesand natural sciences? To understand how ethics affects both natural science and the arts, it is important to have an understanding on the topic of ethics. Ethics as defined by Aristotle reaches down into the unfathomable world of the human psyche. The first step to understanding ethics begins with understanding that ethics stems from moral judgements. A moral judgement is simply a determination of what a person believes is right or wrong. However, one’s moral judgement only scratches the surface ofRead MoreThe Unglamorous Side of War Depicted in Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front838 Words   |  4 Pagesmillion men just because two countries can’t agree with each other? War is devastating to countries and most indefinitely to individuals and soldiers. A war can ruin families, friendships, education, economy, and the minds of innocent people. Most young men, who were just approaching manhood, were pulled of their innocence of childhood, and thrown into a world of rage and destructi on. Soldiers that luckily survive a horrific war often find their lives turned completely upside down since they enlistedRead MoreAnalysis Of Liliana Hekers The Stolen Party794 Words   |  4 Pagesthat cardinal dictum to real life situations and tend to discriminate each other. Liliana Heker is an Argentine writer who writes fiction and journals; also, she is known for her subversive protests against state violence in the duration of the Dirty War. Not only is Heker known for her protests, but she is also known for her literary accomplishments which includes â€Å"The Stolen Party† and â€Å"The End of the Party†. When she writes, figurative language, especially symbolism and metaphors, is frequent inRead MoreHolden Caulfield Trauma Analysis895 Words   |  4 PagesCaulfield tells the story of how a past trauma leads to the overall disinclination to function as a normal 16-year-old boy. Holdens trauma originated from the death of his younger brother, Allie; a deat h which sparked Holdens drive to preserve innocence, his refusal to grow up or mature, and his ultimate spiral into depression. Trauma is inflicted in many ways, but to Holden, his trauma was losing his brother. Allie’s death can be used to mark the start of the deterioration of Holden’s mentalRead MoreCoping Methods in the Things They Carried Essay875 Words   |  4 PagesCarried to cope with the psychological impact of his experience in the war? In â€Å"The Things They Carried† Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tellRead MoreThemes In All Quiet On The Western Front1397 Words   |  6 Pagesloss could be a loss of innocence, loss of close ones, or a loss of a sense of direction in life after a tragedy. Specifically, these deals of great loss were brought together in the novel, â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† by Erich Maria Remarque. The novel exemplifies all the loss that war has to bring to a young boy, and his fellow comrades. Paul Baumer, the main character in the novel, joins the war at nineteen years old with his fri ends from school, thinking that war would be a great honor andRead MoreHow War Has Major Psychological Effects On Children1183 Words   |  5 PagesHow Are Children Affected By War By: Diego Murillo Period 6 Advanced Placement Psychology Mr. Cuetara 6/04/2015 â€Æ' Abstract This paper reflects on the concept of how war has major psychological effects on children within its sphere of influence and how it can alters a child’s state of mind and behavior. When compared to the influence and impressionability that child have compared to adults in times of war show that children are much more susceptible to these levels of influence and later