Martin Guerre Research Paper

In the story ‘’Young Goodman Brown” the protagonist lives in a Paritan community and is married to his wife Faith of 3 months. In the time period the story takes place there was much speculation about witch craft and the devil causing harm throughout the village.

The people of Artigat had not seen or heard from Martin Guerre for eight years. Unknown to the citizens and family of Guerre, Martin fled to Spain after the birth of his first son Sanxi. Guerre joined the Spanish army, fought against the French King, lost his leg, and gained a prominent position in a Spanish monastery. Despite two men living the same life with the same name, both Martin Guerre and Arnaud du Tilh were exemplary in their skills of adaptability. Martin Guerre left the life that was governed by his father and the social constrictions of marriage to Bertrande du Rols and became a member of the Spanish monastical life.

The conflict between Martin and his son, Gabriel, is that Gabriel wants to join the Continental Army but Martin does not want him to. Martin is a veteran of the French and Indian War and he does not want his son to be involved in the dangers of war. Gabriel did the right thing by listening to his heart. He was able to serve his country by fighting for them. Gabriel was also able to fight right beside his father which

The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are

The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis offers a detailed narrative of the famous story of Martin Guerre’s turbulent and unique life. At the center of this story lies Bertrande de Rols and her relationship with both her real husband Martin Guerre, and his crafty imposter Arnaud du Tilh (Pansette). Up until a certain point, Davis appears to be writing a straightforward retelling of the basic occurrences in Martin’s story (whilst citing various sources), devoid of any personal contentions. However, when Arnaud arrives under the guise of Martin Guerre, Davis begins to bring about an allegation of sorts. She casually begins to assert that after a certain point, Bertrande must have known that Pansette was certainly not Martin. While this

In the Basque country, families often lived together, as the author notes, "When a household is set up with two generations of married folk, it is not the Basque combination of the old heir and the young heir, but a widowed parent, usually the mother, with one of her married children" (Davis 11). Even when Martin's uncle married, he moved nearby to another house, and lived close to his relatives. Martin returned with his bride to his father's house after they married, and lived with his family under one roof (Davis 18). Since their main concern was survival and perpetuation of the family, this indicates how important family life was to the peasants.

Martin Guerre takes place in 16th century southern France, in a village called Artigat where the Guerre family is highly respected and is one of the leading families. Davis takes the story first of when the Basque Guerre’s arrive in Artigat and their quick assent in the village society. Davis explains that Martin’s father, Sanxi, arranged a political marriage with another high end family, the De Rols. The marriage occurred when Martin was just fourteen and Bertrande was ten. Davis does point out that even in the 16th century that was young. Davis shows the reader what life was probably like. She moves through their lives of Martin running away, his return twelve years later, and finally the imposer 's trial and execution.

There are several reasonable explanations the first is it was harder to identify people with photos, identification, or similar means. Therefore only flawed memory could serve the purpose of knowing what Martin looked like among peasants too poor to have considered portraiture. Second, the Basque tradition which Martin Guerre grew up placed a powerful emphasis on the importance of family and seeing him return would have been, even after a less than honorable exit nearly a decade before, a nearly joyous occasion. Finally, Davis points out what is the truly amazing about Arnaud is that he had, "a memory an actor would envy (35)." Though this mechanism alone, Davis believes, Arnaud is able to tap into a myriad number of stories which he is able to consciously able to craft into a believable mask of Martin Guerre--one that would, seemingly, fool Martin Guerre's friends, family, and his wife for several years. Even more amazingly, when much of his family was certain that Arnaud was not actually Martin, he would nearly deceive several magistrates.

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war has an idealistic and romantic character.  The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm.  In the course of war, though, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope"  (Remarque page #).

Kristin's use of folk magic during childbirth is a clear example of this blending of Catholicism with local customs to solve everyday problems. This blending of Catholicism with local customs reflects the pragmatic approach many characters take when confronted with practical issues, drawing on the cultural heritage of folk beliefs to navigate life's

The text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

When people think of the military, they often think about the time they spend over in another country, hoping they make it back alive. No one has ever considered the possibility that they may have died inside. Soldiers are reborn through war, often seeing through the eyes of someone else. In “Soldier’s home” by Ernest Hemingway, the author illustrates how a person who has been through war can change dramatically if enough time has passed. This story tells of a man named Harold (nick name: Krebs) who joined the marines and has finally come back after two years. Krebs is a lost man who feels it’s too complicated to adjust to the normal way of living and is pressured by his parents.

Although Martin’s family faces dilemmas, the love in the family remains evident. Initially, the devotion that Martin shows towards his children illustrates his good nature. Martin views his children’s faces as “radiant as flower petals, equally loved” (103). Moreover illustrating his love for his children, Martin “kissed the tiny hand that lay palm-upward” (103). Furthermore, Martin’s hope to hold his family together exhibits his affection for his family. Martin constantly attempts to calm his wife in order to avoid displays of anger(101). “Please go upstairs,”(101) Martin begs of his wife so the children do not get upset seeing their mother frustrated. Lastly, the physical and emotional desire for Emily that Martin has, further shows how he cares for his family. Comforting his wife, Martin exhibits his love for her(104). Martin watched Emily as she slept and his “old anger vanished”(104).

The book “Dear Hanna” by Alois Zimmer introduces us to Martin Zimmer : a pacifist father and husband that was unwillingly sent into war to fight alongside the Nazis. Martin Zimmer was a young man when his older brother was killed in war fighting for the Germans. Because of this and Martin’s personal morals, war was inconceivably

Ernest Hemingway “Soldier’s Home" is an outstanding short story that shows the tragic impact of war on the life of a young soldier who returns home. The story paints a vibrant picture of a soldier’s life after coming back from a shocking experience. Hemingway shows impacts of war on a soldier with the main character being Harold Krebs, who faces hostility in his hometown after his return from fighting in the war. The main character in the story is Kreb with the author making usage of repetition, characterization, and symbolism to bring out the message in the story.