Comparing War Is Kind And A Mystery Of Heroism

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The Comparison of “War is Kind” and “A Mystery of Heroism”
Stephen Crane was someone who knew the tragedies of war, whether that be by interviewing soldiers or their families. He wrote about these facts he learned. “War is kind” is about the families whose brothers and sons were fighting and the effect it had on them, while “A Mystery of Heroism” was from a soldier's perspective and how it either broke them or desensitized them to the horror that was war. In this essay I am going to go over the differences of each and their similarities
First “War is Kind”, this poem is one big sarcastic masterpiece, at first you think Crane is being honest with what he’s saying you quickly learn that it's the far opposite from the initial thoughts. It’s actually a take on the true effects of a soldier's families. Maybe it's to bring comfort to those hurting or bring awareness to those who don't know what it's like, or it's both. Either way it is done beautifully. Maybe it's lack of discernment to just one topic is its biggest strength, but much like the poem itself. Its open to interpretation …show more content…

Blood, gore, and the soldiers lack of reaction. This story is mainly focused on one man and his journey just to get water. On his journey he sees a man with one arm, countless bodies, and men completely broken. Yet none of it affects him anymore. He has seen things like this so many times that now he is desensitized to all the horrors of war. Crane shows these horrors as simply common occurrences because to the man they are, he uses this to show not only the true dark side of war but the effects on soldiers. No one truly knew what soldiers saw except the soldiers themselves, this story was one of the first glimpses into a soldier's