Where Have All The Flowers Gone

People do not realize the tragedy in the cyclical pattern of life because of how normal it is deemed to be. In the ballad, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" the tragic overtone of the pattern is brought to light. By examining the ballad characteristics, historical connections, and the connections to the Middle Ages and today, the tragedy that is overlooked will be explained.
The two ballad characteristics that are evident in "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" are tragic subject matter and question and answer format. In the ballad, it is asked where have all the flowers gone to, which is given a series of explanations. It is said that the flowers have been picked by girls for the graves of fallen soldiers; the explanations then get the response of, "Where have all the flowers gone?" dictating that there is a cycle going on. Tragic that even with the facts of where the flowers are going, no changes are made to break the cycle. Question and answer format takes place throughout the entire ballad with the starting question of, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" followed by an answer and a new question based off of that answer. Suspense is created by the facts of the ballad that are given little by little from the answers to the question.
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" was a very popular political ballad of its time; it focuses on the protest of the Vietnam war which was a popular event at the time. Anti-war marches and protests were put on by Students for a Democratic Society and other peace activists that believed in social equality. Martin Luther King Jr. supported the protests saying he was against war based on moral grounds. The ballad helped highlight the tragedy of the loss of young love and how avoidable it could be to prevent unnecessary death. The cycle of war and suffering didn't have to