Preview

Short Comparative Between Two Short Stories: War by Luigi Pirandello and Family History by Jacques Prevert- Grade 10

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
799 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Comparative Between Two Short Stories: War by Luigi Pirandello and Family History by Jacques Prevert- Grade 10
Short Comparative Between Two Short Stories: War by Luigi Pirandello and Family History by Jacques Prevert

Both War by Luigi Pirandello and Family History by Jacques Prévert demonstrate that people may avoid the reality of tragedies that result from war in order to help themselves cope with the emotional impact. As “Human kind cannot bear very much reality,” (T.S. Elliot) one must face the harsh truths in life for one to truly understand and feel the tragic impact of war and death, no matter how devastating the situation may be. If one does not face the realities of life it can cause ones values or moral beliefs to become askew. Readers are given two different view points on this by the different characters of each story/poem. In War, the character referred to as the ‘fat man’ discusses the loss of a son at war and social responsibility versus personal sacrifice. In Family History, the characters’ values and morals are completely askew as the realities of a tragedy are never faced. Different views on this can be expressed through the similarities. In the beginning of Pirandello’s War, the fat man disregards the other travellers’ states of distress and readers are able to notice a flaw in his values as he mentions that it is a natural thing for a son to love his country more than his parents and die for the country stating, “Now, if one dies young and happy, without having the ugly sides of life, the boredom of it, the pettiness, the bitterness of disillusion…what more can we ask for him? Everyone should stop crying; everyone should laugh as I do…or at least thank God—as I do—because my son, before dying, sent me a message saying that he was dying satisfied at having ended his life in the best way he could have wished. That is why, as you see, I do not even wear mourning…” (Pirandello, 69). The fat-mans values have totally become askew as he does not face the reality of the situation. One can notice that this is an unnatural thing as parents’

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    “All Quiet in the Western Front” is a social commentary on how soldiers are effected emotionally and socially throughout the war and are conflicted on how to readjust to their lives after the Great War. Soldiers are conflicted by their character and do not know whether to pick back life up as a youth or as adults who have endured hard circumstances. The book does not focus on battles and it does not focus on a specific time frame, it rather evaluates what goes through the minds of a soldier. These men are literally being bombarded in the war front by explosives and in the home front by misinformed public who want to know the extremity of the war. Bystanders set High expectations for soldiers to be tough and to know how to behave in order to survive, yet those who did not participate in the Great War could only speculate what was going on in the soldier’s minds. The Great War damaged these soldiers physically and mentally, however certain elements gave the survivors the ability to pull through the war. The youth shifted its mentality and lost its innocence in the Great War. Therefore, Remarque did not focus his book on the combat that took place during the Great War, rather he presents social issues, which does not belittle his experience rather it presents a different view of the…

    • 1709 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Contrary to other literary history works, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Remarque Erich Maria is so unique because of the way it displays such a realistic view of war and the associated loss of humanity, innocence, and emotion that accompany it. Throughout this novel, Remarque proves his point that war is unnecessary, and dishonorable. The novel really emphasizes on the accumulating body count everyday, showing every aspect of how war is absolutely gruesome and such a waste of pure lives. Also, “All Quiet on the Western Front” shows how the position of being in war can change a person dramatically preventing them from returning to their previous lives, and scarring them permanently.…

    • 114 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    During the first half of the 20th century, humanity experienced two consecutive world wars that were among the deadliest in history. This was a new type of warfare that the world had never seen before. It had Napoleonic-style battles but, instead of muskets and swords, they used machine guns and tanks; which produced countless more casualties. This horrible period of tension and war left over seventy seven million people dead and countless wounded or lost. However, the few soldiers that survived were sometimes able to channel their postwar trauma into great works of art that show us the pure truth about war. Two good examples…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In reading the segment on War and Power we can see the effects of war in many different ways but one of the most prominent and noticeable effect is how the family and friends of those involved in the warfare react to having a loved one involved and in harms way. The effects and consequences of war are far-reaching and extensive. The family of those in war is affected by war just as much as those actually in the war. In reading Antigone, Gas, and the Apology you get a chance to see how the families and friends are changed and in some instances torn apart. War has a tendency to control peoples lives and push them till they are worn out and hanging on to sanity by just a thread. War is not selective,…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War has a tendency to bring out both the worst and best qualities of human beings. These conflicts and their resulting effects on people are often depicted in literature. One of the best examples of war literature is Erich Marie Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. All Quiet on the Western Front depicts the everyday struggles of German soldier Paul Baümer and his comrades. Throughout the war, the servicemen maintain a strong bond between with each other. However, this bond even extends to the enemy on occasion, showcasing the universality of humanity. Two key themes in All Quiet on the Western Front are comradeship and the universal nature of mankind, and Remarque often demonstrates this.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A soldier’s suffering holds no refrain from anyone, no matter what title or identity they have. In both the worlds of soldiers in those in the poem entitled “losses” by Randall Jarrell and at Devon school in “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, there are several relationships that they share. Both center around the lives of soldiers and soon to be soldiers during the cruel time of the second World War which was happening in Europe. Jarrell experiments with multiple identity in the combination of several speakers united in one, all wasted even before they could be conceded into the real experience of war. In the book World War II symbolizes many themes related to each other in the novel, from the arrival of adulthood to the triumph of the Evil…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    War is a very controversial topic for many people. Depending on the person’s outlook on the war, it can be depicted as something good or bad. War brings destruction wherever it goes, whether it is on a place or the people, and it ultimately is inevitable. War also protects a country from having further destruction and keeps the people at home safe from any danger. As a person can see in many recordings of war, there are many comparisons and contrasts that are expressed through soldiers, veterans, and civilians. Some comparisons seen in many of the testimonies given by effected people are dehumanization, dislocation, and alienation; but they also have contrasts that can be seen through nationalism, technological advancements, and the coming home for many…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    War is often viewed as one of the most dangerous and brutal events ever created. It utterly destroys the humanity and mental state of soldiers fighting in the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, a world renowned war novel by Erich Maria Remarque, the epigraph states that this novel “will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” Staying true to this quote, Remarque tells of the horrors of World War I and fittingly describes the effects that war has on humans through the eyes of the protagonist, Paul Bäumer. In his epigraph Remarque says, “this book is to be neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure.” Except for a few notable exceptions,…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Literature? This form of entertainment had been around for ages, whether be in a form of a Poetry, a Drama or a Short Story. This Type of literature had been used by Poets and Authors to convey their deepest desires, feelings, Ideas, amazing imaginations which makes us, whoever we want and an escape to daily normal life and with this making it humorous and lively. Everyone definitely have been exposed to a genre of literature in their life at one point. It comes from the French language and is used to identify types or categories of literature. (Clugston, 2010). This can be further classified or in such a way, be selected by the readers by type they can relate into. One might consider reading short stories quietly or pronounce a poem loudly to get into the climax, bringing such poems rhythm into life. A novel, A short story, A tragic or splendid drama and poems that entice every that hears it, these different types of literature brings the authors work into life for the readers to see, feel or hear.…

    • 2136 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading Carol Ann Duffy’s poem the “War Photographer”, I feel pitiful for the war photographer, knowing that he cannot that he would not be able to lead a normal life once the memories from the battlefield haunts him. I also feel that we as society are glad to keep a distance from the harsh realities of war while being just superficially sympathetic to the sufferers of war.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hemmingway

    • 2452 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In “A Farewell to Arms”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, and “The Sun Also Rises”, Ernest Hemingway uses damaged characters to show the unglamorous and futile nature of war and the effects it has on people. Hemingway wants readers to know that war is not what people make it out to be; it is unspectacular and not heroic. Hemingway also feels that war is futile by nature and that most goals in war have almost no point. He also shows readers that military conflict often causes people to have thin values and to hide their pain for their own protection.…

    • 2452 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poem Comparison

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” by: Wilfred Owen and “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” by: Alfred, Lord Tennyson demonstrate images of war in many different and similar ways. War is a subject that often relies on many emotions with those directly or indirectly involved in the countries at war. It usually brings tears and memories of suffering, loneliness, struggles, or victories. Such disturbance of peace has injured and killed many souls. It is on the battlefield we see the most horrific side of human nature, for every soldier's only objective on the battlefield is to survive and win.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Is Terrible

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Saying that ‘war is terrible’ is such a simple statement but makes us think of the emotional stress and physical pain. There is a wide variety of texts that explore the ideas about war. Various composers agree that war is a terrible thing and isn’t necessary. There are some composers however who believe that war is necessary and that people should do their duty and fight for their country. These can be shown by a range of techniques. The war poetry of Wilfred Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, conveys the horrors of war and of Wilfred Owens experience of war rather than the account of the experience itself. This is conveyed through the language and poetic techniques of imagery, repetition, metaphors, similes and even irony. “Tomorrow When the War Began” examines the war on a more obvious scale. “Trumpet Calls” looks at war as a noble thing and demonstrates the idea that people must support war and do their duty for their country. This is shown through colour, size, layout and framing.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In "War" by Luigi Pirandello, the author writes about peoples' reaction to war though the eyes of the main characters. The setting of the story takes place in Europe, in a stuffy and smoke filled second-class train carriage. The main characters, a bulky woman-almost like a shapeless bundle-and a fat, red faced man among others, talk about their children at war, and the right to grieve about them. But because of past denial, the characters discover that when confronted with death, they are stripped of their masks and confronted with reality.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others...” (Dostoevsky). It is said that one of the worst things a person can do to themselves is to live in a state of denial. The act of denial is normal, as it is a person 's nature response to pain and despair. But by constantly lying to yourself, as expressed by Dostoevsky, a person can loose touch with reality and leave them more vulnerable to emotional turmoil. This is perfectly demonstrated in the short story “War”, by Luigi Pirandello. In “War”, the character called the fat traveler or old man gives testament to the effects of denial. Upon analysis, it is revealed that he is a dynamic character; through Pirandello 's usage of characterization and his eventual transformation.…

    • 1630 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays