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.
In the second paragraph of the story, Pirandello crash-lands the reader into a scene of disorder and despair. I believe that the way the author introduces the characters and the scene-from a seemingly peaceful first paragraph, to a second paragraph full of disorder and despair-is precisely the view of the parents when their son goes off to war. Before the son goes off to war, life is calm and peaceful. But after he is called to the front, the parents' lives get shot to hell.
Once the initial shock of loss passes, the parents don masks of stoic bravado in order to hide from their true emotions. As Pirandello writes: "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…" But towards the end of the story, the bundle like woman, who is still in the initial shock of loss, turns to the fat man and asks, "Then…is your son really dead?" At this moment the fat man is stripped of his mask, and is faced with reality. As his walls come tumbling down, he finally realizes that no matter what his son might have done, he was now gone forever.
In conclusion, Pirandello does a fantastic job of portraying a parents' reaction to their son going off to war. I believe that the way Pirandello illustrates his characters reflects their inner-feelings. The author also sheds light on the fact that as much as a parent will say that a son belongs to himself and to his country, the parent will never let go of their parental bond and will always mourn for their loss of life.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The Great Awakening was a religious movement that spread throughout New England during the mid-eighteenth century, from about 1730 to 1745. The Great Awakening sought to make Christianity a deeply personal experience and pulled away from traditional ceremony, encouraging personal commitment and emotional involvement in faith. Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan and theologian; one of the most famous preachers of the Great Awakening. Edwards’ most famous sermon was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, despite the fact that he had delivered the sermon to his own congregation, with little effect, he felt led to use it again when invited to preach at the neighboring town of Enfield, Massachusetts on July 8, 1741. During Edwards’ sermon he used vivid imagery of hell, the wrath of God, and the hope of salvation to reveal his perspective on the reality that awaited those that did not follow Christ.…
- 1132 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful 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 -
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 -
“Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, are two powerful poems with the graphical life like images on the reality of war. It is apparent that the authors was a soldier who experienced some of the most gruesome images of World War I. In “Ducle et Decorum Est” Owen tells us about a personal experience in which he survived a chemical warfare attack. Although he survives, some of his fellow troops do not. As in “Facing It” Komunyakaa is also a soldier who has survived a war. Komunyakaa response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit to Lin’s memorial. Inspired by the monument, Komunyakaa confronts his conflicted feelings about Vietnam, its legacy, and even more broadly, the part race plays in America. Both author used imagery and symbolism as they wrote these poems. Owens describes the soldiers as being crippled, mentally and physically overcome by the weight of their experiences in the war. He compares the young men to “old beggars under sacks”, saying that war turns young men with a full life ahead of them, and optimistic views into beggars that have given up on life and believe that life is never going to get any better (lines 1 and 2). The imagery that he uses allows us to see how gruesome the war really was, and how it was not just something that was glorious and honorable. In the second stanza Owens continues to use similes to show imagery, while ecstasy usually means, an excessive amount of happiness, here it is used to describe how young me are shocked into trying to run for their lives from “Gas! (line1). As where Komunyakaa describes himself as a black person that hides in the darkness of that granite (line 1 and 2). Komuyakaa stands at the memorial realizing that is more that it appears; it is not just cold stone, but something he identifies with on a more deep and profound level. It is this deeper meaning that inspires his emotional response in lines 3-5. These Loading...Manning Page 3 lines show both his…
- 1468 Words
- 6 Pages
Better 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 -
The composer's use of emotive language evokes a sense of nostalgia in responders; "My father's dream was to sit in the sun with the old men...lighting candles in a wind-swept church...sit in the sun of sepia photographs". Then, the truth is slowly revealed, often through the form of letter excerpts from her mother; "She didn't recognise her sisters...winded by the force of time. Finally, there is the final sharp contrasting image; "It was all McDonalds' and pigeon shit". This continues on throughout the text, each time emotions and nostalgia is induced by the composer and each time, it is shattered by the startling contrast of reality. Through this contrast, the composer is gradually finding her sense of identity, while her mother realises that her Italian identity has changed over time, finally coming to terms with it in the final letter excerpt; "All is lost here, the country has changed...young people no longer want to work and the doctors are fools". Although there is some exaggeration and humour, a feeling…
- 680 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
War is a battle of not only the physical but also the psychological. In the text, All quiet on the western front, by Enrich Maria Remarque, and the poem Homecoming, by Bruce Dawe, our understanding is challenged through various representations of war such as innocence, srvivl and grief.…
- 1195 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
During tough and trying times, when people’s spirits are suppressed or crushed, the things which usually help alleviate the low emotions tend to be attention from concerned people and their understanding, friendship, compassion, and love. War, revolutions, and political conflicts are just some of the most depressing moments the world experiences every now and then. During these moments, what the world needs the most is sincere compassion and care. War can also be considered as one of the most emotionally high moments when people are filled with negative feelings such as fear, angst, and/or grief. This could be one reason why a lot of people who have lived through a war have also been inspired to express their shattered spirits and frightful experiences in battle through writing or literature. In turn, this literature inspires the readers as they read what the author has gone through. The German poet, novelist, and common foot soldier Erich…
- 2167 Words
- 9 Pages
Best Essays -
By allowing their imagination to overtake their mind, the soldiers are able to dissociate from the horrors of war. A character from Sacks’ article, Tenberken, shares her inputs on visualizing the reality with her mind’s eye without the help of her eyesight. Her vision may be impaired, but that does not hinder her pictures of the world, rather she continues to see the world in overwhelmingly vivid imagery. Tenberken’s artistic imagery allows her to romanticize her own perceptions…
- 1753 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful 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 -
As people live through life they don’t think of what could have been of the people that went to war. In the early 1900’s World War One started which caused a great amount of people to go in to war. The ones who were barely starting their lives and the ones whom already had a life. For the ones that were barely starting there lives, they didn’t have much to go back to they had mom, dad and maybe a sibling or two. For the ones that had lives already they had to go home to a wife and children whom they them selves maybe have to support. Learning about each generation of these men is interesting. First there is the main character. He is the young teenager that only has mom and dad. Then there is the character that has a family back home to take care of. His wife and probably his children. It’s hard having to learn about these things but at the same time I think it’s good because it teaches what we should value in life.…
- 556 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
“Pro patria mori,” in English is to die for one's country. Essentially, in Erich Remarque's…
- 734 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The passage starts out with a tone of easy humor, which then changes into a heavy sense of obligation and irony. An easy, carefree relationship is quickly established through the mother’s words, which hold such pride and hope for her children, coupled with humorous descriptions such as the “blue wig” on her head, or a coat so large “you’ll only be able to see [her] eyes”. This lift in emotions only serves to accentuate the sudden weight that is attached to Rodriguez’ words in the following paragraphs. Words like “tired”, “uncomfortably warm” and “listless”, which, when coupled with a focus on material value in the second paragraph, evoke a sense of obligation instead of joy. This change in tone also serves to show the irony of the situation, for even though the predictions proudly made by the mother had come true, they now carry none of the initial joy they had in the past. These descriptions, when contrasted with the opening paragraph, work to reveal the lost relationship, a change from the carefree past to the present.…
- 694 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
All Quiet on the Western Front, written in 1929 by Erich Maria Remarque, is superficially the story of one soldiers’ journey in World War 1 and his eventual death. Beneath this, however, Remarque has composed a literary treasure which, above all, seeks to illustrate war as that which is engrained in the nucleus of humanity and through the hugely negative effects of war depicted, seeks to question humanities apparent advancement through its need to engage in such a futile exercise as war. Remarque’s Liberal Humanist ideology is given expression through the correlation between war and nature, thus emphasizing the innate position of war within man, the ultimate paradox contained within an advanced mankind engaging in primitive conflicts and the ironic search for an omniscient being derived from man’s reduction to the barest quest for survival. In addition through the examination of the negativities surrounding the social institutions and hierarchies set up in the absence of god, All Quiet on the Western Front becomes much more than an emotive and well constructed piece of historical realism. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the connections between war and the natural surroundings in which it is fought give rise to the position of war the collective psyche of mankind. The military jargon of the ‚the white puffs of smoke from the tracer bullets‛ is followed by the natural imagery of ‚the sun shining on them‛ in order to emphasize the apparent synchronization between war and nature. The colour imagery of white of the bullets and yellow of the sun, being light colours, connote the harmonious relationship between nature and war. Through the proximity of phrases describing both war and nature in an endearing fashion we are led to conclude that war and nature, or that which is primitive, are fundamentally linked. The gaian imagery ‚Earth, with your ridges and holes and hollows into which a man can throw himself , where a man can hide‛ is ironic as it takes a man-made…
- 2090 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Throughout times in history, war has illuminated the greatest trials of a man’s resilience through the cruelty that is endured. In the midst of the horrific events that war allows, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway shows the functions and effects of cruelty and brutality in the perspective of a lieutenant, Fredric Henry. With war came brutality and suffering, along with hope and triumph for the men who fought alongside one another in the Italian army. As events progressed, though, lieutenant Henry was ultimately modified by the crucial and overwhelming cruelty that functioned in the novel. This crucial motivation present in the novel functioned in Henry’s relationship with Catherine Barkley, his psychological well being, as well as his…
- 1103 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays