A Comparison in the Presentation of the ‘Horrors of War’ in Birdsong and A Journey’s End

| In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. (pg. 67)

The first three words of the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” are, “This is true” (67). Although Tim O’Brien begins this chapter with such a bold and clear statement, throughout the chapter he has the reader thinking and confused when he contradicts himself by stating things such as, “In many cases a true war story cannot

“The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell is able to accomplish so many thing with so little lines-mainly through the use of metaphor and diction. It explains the terrors of wars in gruesome detail and explains the ways in which wars, in a sense “breed” and “birth” death. To some, this poem is seen as the ultimate poem of war, and rightly

As with any genre, all novels termed ‘war stories’ share certain elements in common. The place and time settings of the novels, obviously, take in at least some aspect of at least one war or conflict. The characters tend to either be soldiers or are at least immediately affected by the military. An ever present sense of doom with punctuated moments of peace is almost a standard of the war novel. Beyond the basic similarities, however, each of these battle books stands apart as an individual. Charles Yale Harrison’s World War I novel, Generals Die in Bed is, in essence, quite different than Colin McDougall’s Execution. Coming years earlier,

The Wars, written by Timothy Findley, is a story about World War I, and consists of many shocking images passed over to the reader. Findley accomplishes to pull the reader into the narrative itself, so that the reader manages to feel an impact upon him/her-self about what is read. If it was not for this specific skill, or can also be seen as a specific genre, the novel would not have been as successful as it is now. Also, something that helps the book be so triumphant, there is the fact that Findley never overwhelms the reader with too many gruesome details about the World War I. Instead, he breaks the book down to help the reader calm down from everything that is happening. Throughout the essay, there is going to be some commenting on a

was not the truth. This book showed the harsh reality of war that most people

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

‘The Yellow Birds,’ written by veteran Kevin Powers, narrates the experiences of John Bartle in the midst of the Iraq war. Subsequent to witnessing demise of his war associate Murph, he endeavours to disclose the situation by discarding his corpse into the Tigris River and claiming he never found him. The story changes back and forth each chapter, between the battle in Al Tafar, Iraq and his post-war life in the USA in order to portray the powerlessness and inner enslavement felt by Bart. The novel details his internal struggle to reconcile the veracity of the situation with the perceived inevitable outrage from Murph’s mother. The utilisation of evocative and graphic language in order to bolster the reoccurring theme of brutality is prevalent whilst the author simultaneously upholds a sense of beauty. Powers strikes this balance through the use of imagery, juxtaposition and through referring to the surrounding environment and landscape.

In “How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, the main protagonist of the tale takes the reader on a captivating and riveting journey. A journey that is filled with guts, gore, and love. O’Brien demonstrates how war can be complex and a paradox in itself. Through O’Brien’s eyes the reader captivates what it is like to be present in a battlefield, and endure the hardships of war. The point of the story is gradually unveiled before the reader’s eyes, as O’Brien guides his audience through a forest of mysticism and doubt.

All humans possess an innate inclination toward the uncomplicated. The simpler a task is, the easier it is to accomplish, so many attempt to apply that notion throughout life. Unfortunately, however, life is never simple. Just as there is no black or white answer to life’s trials, there is no set truth to a story; the veracity of an account is in the opinion of the reader. Through the contrasts between life and death and ugliness and beauty in the The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien would consider both the film Fury and the short narrative An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge to be true war stories.

Journeys End was written with the intention of “letting the war speak”. The lives of the officers on the front line during 1917 are examined. A key theme that is explored throughout the play is the reactions of the mind and body, under the stress of the war. Each character represents the weakness of the human being in an individual way, but the character on which frailty is mainly focussed is Stanhope.

The entire story is a metaphor for war, as can be seen in many lines.

The simile ‘whining like hounds’ is used to simultaneously emphasise the sorrows of war by personifying the planes as being able to feel and express sadness through whining, and also depicts the beginning of the imagery of dogs as having the ability to feel human emotion. This imagery of hounds is again used when the planes arrive in Australia, and ‘the howl of their homecoming rises’ throughout the country, which is of particular importance in helping the reader identify with the grief and sorrow felt by the families of the dead. Furthermore, it highlights the dehumanisation of war and the lack of recognition soldiers receive for making the ultimate sacrifice with their life, as it appears only their dogs are able to feel and grieve their loss. The dehumanising nature of war is again developed in the poem through Dawe’s use of consonance to strip the dead soldiers of their names and personalities. They are instead described as ‘curly-heads, kinky-hairs, crew-cuts [and] balding non-coms’, where the hard C sound is representative of the mechanical, machine-like process of preparing the bodies for transport back home.

The speaker lets the reader know right away about the reality of war. The invincible, fearless soldiers that are envisioned by the reader are quickly transformed into

Storytelling helps other people to emotionally connect themselves to the author so that they know they are not the only ones who are experiencing a painful or exciting experience, and are able to share the same emotions. It often helps other people to know what they should do in order to get over it when it comes to a painful experience. Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings explores the life of Maya Angelou and the struggles she has been throughout her childhood to her adulthood. Richard Wagemese’s Indian Horse explores the life of Saul Indian Horse and the struggles he has been through after departing from his family. The power of storytelling can unfold questions which ask the audience of how and why are the events are unfold the