Three Messages In Stephen Crane's An Episode Of War

Two authors, Yusef Komunyakaa and Stephen Crane, created deep and moving stories about what the feelings are to be in a American war. Even though both stories are very different they both can also be related very easily. Yusef Komunyakaa wrote a poem called ‘Camouflaging the Chimera’ while Stephen Crane wrote a novel excerpt called ‘The Red Badge of Courage.’ One of the major differences are that TRBOC takes place in the American Civil war even though he was born 6 years after. While CTC takes place in the vietnam war. Going over the writing style, theme, and context figuring out the differences and similarities.

There was never a bloodier war on American soil in history than the Civil War. Those short four year took the lives of thousands soldiers and destroyed many infrastructures of America. The war, however, was more than a battle between Lincoln and Davis, North and South, slavery and freeman. The Civil War was a war of ideals. The accounts told by the soldiers shown that, although the two sides did not agree on most topics, the North and the South did held certain ideals. In The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, the eyes of James Longstreet and Joshua Chamberlain expresses the battle between the North and the South as an opportunity to show their major contributions, their loyalties to their troops, and their opinions of the war that shaped them.

Split by different cultures that stemmed from the Union and Confederacy, the United States was forced to resolve such issues with a Civil War. The nineteenth century US Civil War was a battle for power and slave rights. Favoring a stronger federal government, the Union disagreed with the Confederacy’s view on slave rights and economical style. Seeing as their economy and infrastructure was heavily based on agriculture, the Confederacy would take the most impact from an abolishment of slavery and stronger federal government. These two issues alone led to the most deadliest US war to date. Often identified as “the young soldier”, Henry Fleming enlists into the army with a very romanticized view of the battlefield. Within the first three days of battle, Henry’s characterization of a courageous and brave soldier changes dramatically.

Many people say that war is worse than Hell because innocent people die in it. In Beah’s life, this is most definitely true. Throughout the war, Beah goes through many hardships and witnesses the deaths of innocent loved ones, and Beah’s writing reflects how he felt during these times. Beah uses rhetorical strategies like diction, imagery, and detail choice to convey the emotional process he had to undergo in order to survive.

In Confederates in the Attic, the author, Tony Horwitz, gives an interesting, historical, and semi-humorous take on the Civil War, taking us on his journey through places and people that resonate the Civil War, a journey he called the hardcore campaign of his own. Throughout this adventure, Horwitz’s obsession with the Civil War is supplemented by reenactors who call themselves “hardcores,” historians, museums, Daughters of the Confederacy, teachers, and battlefields, along with everyday people who express their views and knowledge of the War. As Horwitz takes his readers through his journey, he brings to light the idea that the Civil War is “unfinished” for many Americans. This idea is explained and discussed through many of his encounters.

Often times war is depicted in a victorious, triumphant manner when in reality war is chaotic; full of destruction and death. In Stephen Crane’s “A Mystery of Heroism” and Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge,” we witness the harsh reality of the war and the common human reaction to the havoc. Fred Collins simply wants water, but the well is on the other side of the battlefield. Peyton Farquhar, a loyal civilian to the South, just wanted to help in the war but instead was hanged for his good-intentioned attempt to destroy the bridge to help the Confederates. Ambrose Bierce and Stephen Crane wrote “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” and “A Mystery of Heroism” to show the natural human condition in adverse situations.

The word ‘War’ can never bring happiness with itself unless used in a sentence along with words like ‘ended’ or ‘over’. For the American Civil War, the terror of this word was just as much, for this war had been one of the bloodiest and most terrifying ordeals to have taken place in the time and era. This war, which took place from 1861 to 1865, brought much destruction and devastation to the people of United States throughout it’s operation. And in it’s wake, it left much to be discussed by the future generations. The debates on what the states were fighting for in the war- Racism, still are of just as much importance. Thus, the people keep on

War has always existed. Although the purpose of war varies, the outcome is the same; many lives are changed and ruined. War is often used to gain power, resources, and land, but it disregards the lives of those fighting the fight. Martin Luther King stated, “The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” In three selections, “Medevac Missions,” “A Journey Taken with my Son,” and “At Lowe’s Home Improvement Center,” readers come to understand the truths of wars’ impact on the lives of those surrounding the soldier. Their friends change, their physical and psychological states change, but the hardest truth is adjusting to life back at home. Soldiers experience many life changes during active

Although the mind is shocked at the thought of shedding human blood, more especially the blood of our countrymen and a civil war is of all wars the most dreadful…” This creates a visual picture inside the reader’s head of how gory and gruesome

In every American war combined, about 1.2 million soldiers have died fighting in battle. Many look past the effects and consequences that going to war can lead to and every soldier is assumed to be a hero. Others believe that killing anybody, whether they are innocent or on a battlefield, is in no way honorable. Writers who protest war use imagery, irony, and structure to explain the negative effects of battle.

A big theme and point in Tim O'Brien’s novel is how many situations hurt the soldiers’ lives. From the beginning, O'Brien starts his work by numbering the many things soldiers have to carry; Knives, guns, pictures, and some feelings and trust issues they had with their family before leaving for war. O'Brien tells us and explains how each soldier was hurting, and how it was for them to get use to the war and the environment they were in, as he says; “Jimmy Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it.” (167). In this quote, O'Brien reveals how tough it was for Lieutenant Cross to have this responsibility in the war. O'Brien contemplated over and over again, trying to decide if he wanted to go to war and if it was for him or not. He has seen it as something he couldn’t do. More the less, they saw the war as irrelevant nonsense at times.

Since the beginning of time, humans have sought after power and control. It is human instinct to desire to be the undisputed champion, but when does it become a problem? Warfare has been practiced throughout civilization as a way to justify power. Though the orders come directly from one man, thousands of men and women pay the ultimate sacrifice. In Randall Jerrell’s “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner”, Jarrell is commenting on the brutality of warfare. Not only does Jarrell address the tragedies of war, he also blames politics, war leaders, and the soldier’s acknowledgement of his duties. (Hill 6) With only five lines of text, his poems allows the reader to understand what a soldier can go through. With the use of Jerrell’s poem, The Vietnam War, and Brian Turner’s “Ameriki Jundee”, the truth of combat will be revealed.

You can hear the shots echo off the oak trees. You feel the cold air against your back, the cold trigger on your finger. You can see the gray uniforms across the forest, the puffs of smoke after every shot. You smell the gun smoke, and it smells of charcoal. You taste blood from your lips. You’ve been biting down on them the entire time. You are standing in a battlefield of the bloodiest and most painful war in American History. This war may have been the bloodiest, but it also may be the most important in the development of the United States. The Civil War was the turning point in a developing America, from 600,000 Americans dead, to the 13th Amendment and the abolishment of slavery, and then the Homestead Act.

This Republic of Suffering: Death and The American Civil War exposes a different perspective of the Civil War that is sparsely discussed and challenges the reader to broaden their views and beliefs of the war. Author, Drew Gilpin Faust, conducted nine chapters, or the new and transformed ars moriendi, primarily focusing on the past and present of the Civil War and its soldiers.

War in modern day prospective has changed from the early time period. Mark Twain, the author of The War Prayer (1905), can justify that to a 21st century reader. This story was written to explain Twains view on the aftermath of the Civil War. Though The War Prayer was not published until 6 years after Twain`s death, he continues to receive full author credibility. Twain`s sarcastic personality and personal life issues played a role in how he worded The War Prayer.