Have you ever wondered what life is like in the shoes of a soldier, or what impacts war could have on a soldier? The effects of war are not confined to physical pain and suffering, but can also be psychological, emotional, and medical impacts. War has caused many issues and has had a rather large effect on people and civilizations throughout history, while mostly negative and in some cases is found to have positive influence on society.
Through the story of Three Day Road written by Joseph Boyden, you follow the experience of two Cree friends, Xavier and Elijah. These two boys end up leaving their northern village home to fight in the deadly trenches of World War I. The story tells of Xavier’s struggles with his new morphine addiction (from a war injury) as well as his recovery. In The Red Badge of Courage written by Stephen Crane the story of a boy by the name of Henry Fleming who joins the American Civil War to help him on his way to manhood. The effects of war on Henry Fleming are reflected in great detail, describing the physical and psychological impacts of war on the Henry and the other soldiers. The effects of war have not changed a lot throughout history as reflected in both of these novels which span two different historic wars.
While the effects of war are endless. Many people think that war is typically just physical injuries (ie. Getting shot) however that is not accurate. In the beginning of the novel Three Day Road, Xavier had gotten off a train after his time fighting in World War I, while he is healing from his injury. War has made him addicted to Morphine. This ruins him, as Morphine is an extremely addictive drug and it becomes very hard for Xavier to function without his Morphine injections. Morphine was given to Xavier for the fact that his leg was blown off during his time in battle. Physical injuries are usually a result of war, and were extremely more common in World War I. This was something that was inevitable if you