An Analysis Of A Cruel Society In Stephen Crane's 'War Is Kind'

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing,” Simon Wiesenthal writes. This quote represents how harm can be present to even those who see themselves as good. Everyday, man suffers inescapable tragedies that society flings at them that will live the individual in doubt of a better future. A cruel society harms the individual most when it creates unfortunate events that ultimately influences the character negatively. Whether it is through war, compulsory bigoted laws, and even the strength of its own city; one cannot escape the harm that comes with society. In the poem “War Is Kind” by Stephen Crane, the author skips back and forth between comforting messages and harsh realities. Beginning with an easy-going tone in his poem,

Okita makes a hard hitting reaction by placing it to be an epistolary poem. This creates it to be in the form of a letter and makes it even more grasping is that it is in the point of view of an innocent child who cannot understand why she is being treated so harshly. She is naive to the world as Okita describes her further, “I am a fourteen-year-old girl with bad spelling/ and a messy room,” (6-7). She is only a child still who goggles over boys, still learning how to use chopsticks, and has a messy room. Yet, she faces the worse in her life as society turns its back from her and causes hatred to rupture in her existence, where even at school she is upset as Okita writes, "You're trying to start a war," she said, "giving secrets/ away to the Enemy. Why can't you keep your big/ mouth shut?" (18-20). Society plays such a vital influence on the individuals that inhabit it that if it begins to feel negatively towards one group, those surrounded in it began to feed off of what is given. In this case, numerous people began to segregate the Japanese Americans as segregation grew, especially with the laws and executive orders being issued

In “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, the audience reads how such an interesting city it can be. However, it is duly noted that there is wicked included in the brightest corners of Chicago, as Sandburg writes, “They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I/ have seen your painted women under the gas lamps/ luring the farm boys,” (6-8). Chicago is a city filled with wonder and interest such as it being the HOG butcher for the world or the stacker of wheat, it can be hard to miss the harms that may come with a city so adventurous and brave. Although this poem may have a proud tone, it also focuses heavily on everyday realities that an ordinary person may face in the streets. As an individual continues into their day to day basis, it is hard to miss the destructive reflections that comes with being in a