The trail on the true identity of Martin Guerre has drawn the interests of scholars and historians for centuries, allowing for details of the case to be preserved right up to the present. Popular interest was rekindled in the tale of Martin Guerre through the work of historian Natalie Zemon Davis’ book The Return of Martin Guerre, which interpreted the primary source literature in a new and original light. This interpretation has drawn sharp criticism from fellow historians such as Robert Finlay, who sees Davis’s work as misinterpreting and manipulating the evidence to allow for her original interpretation of the events. It is my opinion that Davis’s account of the case of Martin Guerre is unfounded and fabricated, and that Finlay’s criticism
In If I Die in a Combat Zone, author Tim O’Brien argues that the Vietnam War was unjust by expressing his disapproval of the war through his own moral beliefs, sharing the descriptions of deaths in Vietnam of the innocent citizens, and by describing how much the war impacted himself and others negatively. In the beginning of the book, O’Brien openly stated his beliefs on the war. He believed it was wrongly accepted and unjust, but he battled his own opinions with society’s views anyway (18). Constantly, O’Brien discussed within his own head about the true definition of bravery and courage (147).
During the course of the semester in my History 395 class we have read three historical monographs that covers a wide range of ordinary people in history. The first monograph we read was The Return of Martin Guerre by social and cultural historian Natalie Zemon Davis. The book covers a historical event about a 16th century French man named Martin Guerre who had his identity stolen by Arnaud du Tilh, and the reactions of the village and “his” family. The second monograph we read was Neighbors by political historian Jan T. Gross. The book is about a massacre in the small Jewish town of Jedwabne, Poland during World War II.
Chandra Manning expresses her interpretations in What this Cruel War was Over through analyzing soldiers’ journals and letters home. Throughout the content of the book, Manning effectively establishes why each soldier fought. She clearly defines the differences each confederate, white Union and African-American Union soldier believed and how those beliefs changed throughout the war. Manning also efficiently defines the similarities with the soldiers by using the commonality of liberty and patriotism, and what those ideals meant to each solider. Manning describes the Confederate troops’ initial motive as protecting manhood, family concerns, and self interests.
Ambrose Bierce's “Chickamauga” is a work of fiction, but the story is genuine realism sort due to the cruel truth of the ferociousness and gory brutality that followed throughout the historic Battle of Chickamauga in the Civil War. Ambrose describes the soldiers in a way I could picture them in my mind. They slinked around on their hands and knees. They tired their legs and used their hands to move about. They used their knees only, their arms droopy slothful at their sides.
In The Return of Martin Guerre, Natalie Zemon Davis uses her sources through Jean de Coras to recreate and analyze the trials of Arnaud du Tilh, Martin Guerre, and his wife, Bertrande as a microhistory to gain a perspective and a glimpse of life for the average peasant during this time period. Natalie Zemon Davis’ sources are of diverse bases. Her main source, however is from Jean de Coras. Coras was a judge in part of the case in Toulouse. He was present, and his credibility enables him.
If I Die in a Combat Zone, author Tim O'Brien argued that the Vietnam War was evil through his depictions of the harmful actions against the Vietnamese, first hand experiences of the soldiers, and lastly, his opinion throughout the war. O’Brien demonstrates the mutilation and murders of the innocent Vietnamese people by explaining how the soldiers belittled the orientals. The soldiers captured three old men and decided to tie them up (130). These old men were treated poorly by the soldiers because they were being gagged and restrained. Most of the company wasn’t concerned about the old men’s physical condition, since they were prisoners.
Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game was published in 1985 and brought about many opinions and views. One such opinion turned into an essay by a person named John Kessel, who published Creating the Innocent Killer in Foundation, The International Review of Science Fiction in 2004. John Kessel detailed how Card created Ender for the purpose of garnering the audience’s sympathy to distract them from Ender’s bad deeds. But Kessel’s argument provides many facts and statistics from different qualified people, so whether people agree with him or not, he makes several true points and arguments that nobody can disagree with.
In “Father Comes Home from the Wars,” Suzan-Lori Parks thoroughly examines the dehumanising effects of enslavement that systematically strips away the identities of the enslaved, rendering them devoid of autonomy, agency and dignity within the oppressive system of slavery. This is conveyed through the interactions between the Colonel and Hero, where the Colonel interrogates Hero about his worth. The Colonel’s question “how much did I pay for you?” serves as a reflection of the Colonel asserting his power and control over Hero, thereby reducing him to a mere commodity to be bought and sold. This ultimately underscores the transactional nature of slavery, reflecting a system that prioritises the economic benefits and profits derived from the
He reveals the actions and intentions behind the everyday confederate soldier who suffered and lived through this horrific and costly war; their youth gone up in a whirl wind and lost forever. He does a magnificent job of hashing out the thoughts running through most of the men’s minds. For example, when describing the battle of Shiloh, “I had heard and read of battlefields, seen pictures of battlefields, of horses and men, of cannons and wagons, all jumbled together, while the ground was strewn with dead and dying and wounded, but I must confess that I never realized the “pomp and circumstance” of the thing called glorious war until I saw this. Men were lying in every conceivable position; the dead lying with their eyes wide open, the wounded begging piteously for help, and some waving their hats and shouting to us to go forward. It all seemed to me a dream; I seemed to be in a sort of haze, when siz, siz, siz, the minnie balls from the Yankee lines began to whistle around our ears”
The harsh and brutal side of the military and war is clear through Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. From the detailed descriptions of the soldiers’ procedures to the shocking twist shows us the heartlessness that war (in this case the Civil War) can hold. In the exposition of this story, the sentinels are described as being in a “support” position, “a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body” (21). This not only sets the scene for the reader, but it shows us the respect with which the soldiers seem to be treating Farquhar’s hanging. However, Bierce then calls death a “dignitary,” who is treated with “formal manifestations of respect” (22).
1. What was fresh about Cranes approach to writing about war was the realism with though and feelings on the battlefield. The youth Henry Fleming goes through the path of self discovery. I believe while writing this story Mr. Crane focused on violence and confusion on the battlefield. He focused on the effects the war had. This novel was filled with fear.
In conclusion, the book, The Slopes of War by N. A Perez, portrays multiple conflicts faced in the Civil War. Perez uses excerpts from passages of the novel to demonstrate various difficulties faced by both armies and Bekah, both a civilian and Union soldier’s
Narrative point of view is one of the devices used to put in Ellie’s perspective of how the war has changed her own life as well as her friends’ lives. Instead of having the book written in third person, Marsden had used one of the characters, Ellie, to reflect her point of view on how she felt while dealing and coping with the situations she and her friends were put in. The book starts off with Ellie recording what they have done, in words, on paper, it had to be their way of telling themselves that they matter amidst a war. Since they were forced into war and become guerrillas hiding in Hell, they lost their innocence and had to face increasingly complex adult situations. Although it was a way to reminisce their importance, it could also
What role do we play in the universe? Do we even have agency over our own lives, or are we influenced by some larger entity? These profound questions have plagued humanity for centuries, resulting in perspectives ranging from religious fanaticism to the resigned Dadaist movement. In his 1895 novel, The Red Badge of Courage, author Stephen Crane provides a unique viewpoint of these concerns through the character of Henry, a private fighting in the 304th regiment in the Union army during the Civil War. Seminally, Crane addresses and interacts with the confusing-and as one can see in the text, paralyzing-existential fears that are precipitated by the raucous environment of the battlefield.
