Literary Analysis: The War Prayer

As the United States continues to participate in wars across the globe, more secrecy is prone to show up when people begin to wonder if what they see is truly what meets the eye. In the documentary Dirty Wars, directed by Richard Rowley and produced by Jeremy Scahill, a war reporter who is one of the many that tries to investigate the hidden warfare fought overseas. The documentary follows Scahill as he indulges into these cases as he begins to learn about the JSOC (Joint Specialization Operations Command) covert operations in which innocent men, women and children are eliminated with brutal force but for no reason at all. Throughout the film the viewer follows Scahill’s case about the dark side of wars due to the way the United States does not play by the rules. In the film Dirty Wars, Jason Scahill uses a wide variety of rhetorical appeals to inform the public of how every day JSOC forces eliminate the lives of the innocent while enacting a hidden war that goes against all that is right in terms of war, changing the perception of warfare.

The Tears of War The author Tim O’Brien, creates a novel that talks about many true and unreal war stories to display how much the Vietnam War has physically and emotionally affected each soldier. This book was written by the point of view of a veteran who has experienced the grief and pain these men were put through because they forced to fight in a war that they may or may not have believed in. O’Brien’s purpose for writing this novel is to let people who were not in the war try to understand and experience the feelings and thoughts of the men as they read each story in this novel.

They do not wish for a simple victory without fighting, but plea for horrible things to come to their opponents. In these lines from the messenger we get Twain’s personal view of imperialism. It seems as if Twain is the only one that realizes that everybody thinks that God is in favor for only their side. Due to the controversial aspects of this story, The War Prayer does not fall in line with the other national literature pieces that were read and discussed in class, which is why it is an excellent piece to add to the curriculum. It is its own unique version of national literature that focuses more on the issues of war rather than national

Unlike Adam and Eve’s battle of the sexes, Twain highlights how a group of men in a militia are a slave to their pride and naiveté. They have a preconceived idea that with war comes glory, but they do not consider the truths of it. Instead of understanding war as bloodshed and deadly, the narrator is a “naïve young man whose alliance is less with the Confederacy than with the romance of soldiering itself” (Ladd 45). As young men, they see fighting and war as a masculine act to be part of. Their guns are a phallic imagery that symbolizes their masculinity, but it is the very same object that makes them realize what war truly is when they accidentally kill a man.

Lily Haghpassand English 9 September 20, 2017 In the book, “The Anthem”, the government has found a way to maintain peace and harmony in society by instilling fear into its constituents. The members of this society are taken from their parents at birth and thrown into a world where differences are frowned upon and sameness is put above all other things, brainwashing each child with the notion that everything the government says is true. When children are born, they are denied bonding time with their parents and placed in the “Home of Infants” with other children their age and the idea of sameness is stressed. By doing this, they take away the emotion of love, among other things, and in turn, create a society of seemingly identical individuals.

It is sometimes difficult for individuals to settle the discrepancy between truth and illusion, and consequently they drive others away, by shutting down. Mrs. Ross, in The Wars by Timothy Findley, is seen as brittle while she is attending church, and cannot deal with the cruel reality of the war and therefore segregates herself from the truth by blacking it out. As a result, she loses her eyesight, and never gets to solve the clash between her awareness of reality and the actuality of the world. She hides behind a veil, and her glasses to distance herself from reality. Mrs. Davenport has to wheel her around in Rowena’s chair to keep her awake, so she doesn’t harbour up subconscious feeling within her dreams, which she is unable to deal with.

In John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, he used many literary devices and techniques to bring across a major theme of the book, friendship. Without all of these literary techniques, the novel would have been a mundane and bland read, but instead, he turned the book into an exciting adventure of two friends full of underlying meaning. The first major technique he used is the symbolization of weather, as every season represented something new and different. Mr. Knowles also used the approach of a first person point of view, in which Gene narrated the entire story as a flashback.

Throughout the short story, “The War Prayer,” Mark Twain depicts how one copes with the notion of war. Specifically, this community dealt with the depressing news that their country would go to war through prayer. In this case, prayer was their one defense mechanism and source of therapy during times of trouble. Throughout the short story, the reader is able to understand the harsh consequences that come with war and the thought process that one many go through prior to entering a war. Mark Twain utilizes, tone, satire and logos in order to efficiently portray the immense sense of distress that everyone was experiencing during this difficult instant in time.

“It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half-dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such stern and angry warning” (para. 1). c. “The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside—which the startled minister did—and took his place” (para. 4). Link to Argument: Twain is using situational irony in these quotes because there is a contradiction between expectations and reality. Delineated through the joy that is associated with war even though war is a solemn event without a show of jubilance; exhibited with the austere, judgmental reactions from religious people towards those against war when it is Biblically taught to love everyone no matter what; and demonstrated with the deliberate interruption of the minister where stillness and silence are the expectations during a prayer show the effectiveness of Twain’s situational irony towards his argument.

Like when saying “ if you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it”(Twain). He's explaining how when you pray for something for yourself you can be hurting someone else environment/living. Also when they pray the mention “drown the thunder of guns with the shrieks of there wounded” and “go forth from the sweet beloved firesides to smite the for”. This is saying to show compassion toward the enemy but yet they are in a sacred place where hate is not shown. This shows satire as well because the people are praying in a church for the soldiers to win a war which is something destructive.

The Nature of Mankind How do you react in the face of fear? Do you freeze, not knowing what to do, or suffice and take action? Are you scared stiff or get away from whatever it is? Maybe you’ve never been faced with this kind of situation.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Twain places the reader in a situation that requires much pondering of meaning and deep, intelligent insight into the commonalities performed by leading political

Many a time I had seen a couple of boys, strangers, meet by chance, and say simultaneously, “I can lick you,” and go at it on the spot; but I always had imagined until now that that sort of thing belonged to children only, and was a sign and mark of childhood; but here were these big boobies sticking to it and taking pride in it clear up into full age and beyond. (23) The type of action that the people were engaging in was childish, and in the Yankee’s eyes, it had to be only the young doing it. To conclude, in order to get satiric effect, Mark Twain uses three tools of satire; exaggeration, parody, and

After reading the "War Prayer" it demonstrated the stark contrast of the things that one person prays for may be a curse upon someone else, and also the destructive nature of war. For example, one side is hoping to kill the enemy and win the war. However, on the flip side the person that has been defeated are dealing with “widows with unavailing grief” (10). Our nation strives to defeat the enemy, there are dismal effects that come with war.

During times of war, it is safe to say that life can easily be lost. Twain’s essay features soldiers going to war but praying for their own well being: “merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand” (Twain). Twain is ridiculing the idea that soldiers, who are trained to kill, would expect God to bless them. He mocks such a thought by