Effects of War
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English 9 Pre-Ap
6 February 2013
War
What is war? Many of us have no idea and haven’t been directly affected by combat. For a lot of people, war is a lonely, cold, dangerous time, where family members are lost in a tragic battle. War splits families and friends, causes physiological damage to those in battle, and kills innocent citizens caught in the middle. In the personal essay, Internment, author Margaret McCrory indirectly shares the theme of war by providing us with her story of how she, her family and innocent neighbors were caught in the middle of a bloody civil war battle. For instance, “ I was only thirteen at the time, but thinking about the day still brings back the knotted feelings in my stomach.”(McCrory 238) McCrory refers to her horrible experience in the middle of a battle. This is a form of physiological damage because thinking of this day haunts her, years later. Another example, “Ten men died that night, all from our street. Father Murphy had been shot dead while giving a man the Last Rites. And when another man went to help Father Murphy, he had been killed as well.”(McCrory 240) In a single, small neighborhood, ten innocent civilians were killed in a battle they were not fighting. In combat, there is no respect for the innocent, their lives are taken too lightly, especially when they’re not soldiers and fighting is brought into their own neighborhoods. This shows the theme of how families are split apart and lives are lost, over a conflict that’s not theirs to fight. In the fiction story, Cranes by Hwang Sunwon, the same theme of how damaging war is physically and mentally, is also implied. “’I’ll take the fellow with me.’ Tokchae, his face averted, refused to look at Songsam. They left the village.” (Sunwon 222) Here the character of Tokchae is facing a fear that he will be shot by his friend, since they’re on opposing sides of the war. This relates to the universal theme between both stories
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English 9 Pre-Ap
6 February 2013
War
What is war? Many of us have no idea and haven’t been directly affected by combat. For a lot of people, war is a lonely, cold, dangerous time, where family members are lost in a tragic battle. War splits families and friends, causes physiological damage to those in battle, and kills innocent citizens caught in the middle. In the personal essay, Internment, author Margaret McCrory indirectly shares the theme of war by providing us with her story of how she, her family and innocent neighbors were caught in the middle of a bloody civil war battle. For instance, “ I was only thirteen at the time, but thinking about the day still brings back the knotted feelings in my stomach.”(McCrory 238) McCrory refers to her horrible experience in the middle of a battle. This is a form of physiological damage because thinking of this day haunts her, years later. Another example, “Ten men died that night, all from our street. Father Murphy had been shot dead while giving a man the Last Rites. And when another man went to help Father Murphy, he had been killed as well.”(McCrory 240) In a single, small neighborhood, ten innocent civilians were killed in a battle they were not fighting. In combat, there is no respect for the innocent, their lives are taken too lightly, especially when they’re not soldiers and fighting is brought into their own neighborhoods. This shows the theme of how families are split apart and lives are lost, over a conflict that’s not theirs to fight. In the fiction story, Cranes by Hwang Sunwon, the same theme of how damaging war is physically and mentally, is also implied. “’I’ll take the fellow with me.’ Tokchae, his face averted, refused to look at Songsam. They left the village.” (Sunwon 222) Here the character of Tokchae is facing a fear that he will be shot by his friend, since they’re on opposing sides of the war. This relates to the universal theme between both stories