Essay On War Is Kind And A Mystery Of Heroism By Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane wrote two works about war titled, “War is Kind,” and “A Mystery of Heroism.” He uses similar literary devices to reveal his position on war in both works. The main literary device Crane uses is irony. In the first work Crane describes war as kind; while describing war as anything other than nice and sweet. In the second work, Crane takes a simple task, and turns it into a dangerous mission. Stephen Crane uses irony in “War is Kind,” and “A Mystery of Heroism,” to prove that he is opposed to the war by talking about loss and displaying people’s lives at risk. In Crane’s poem, “War is Kind,” he says that war is a good thing, while describing the horrors of it. Normally the word, kind, is used to describe something that is nice, and has a pleasant connotation. In the poem he repeats the

In the story, a soldier wants to go get a drink of water from the well. In order to go to the well, he has to cross the battlefield, and face flying bullets and bombs. He successfully completes the task until he gets back to the base, and the water spills out. The irony is that he completed what he was trying to do; but didn’t get any of the benefits, and his situation remains the same. Crane describes the soldier as desperate for something to drink. This is confirmed whenever he decides that he is going to take the risk of crossing the battlefield to fill up his canteen. Stephen Crane uses his opinion that people go to war and fight, but nothing changes afterwards, and puts it into this story. People are also desperate enough to fulfill their need to be on the battlefield; that they are willing to put their lives at risk, which Crane sees as idiotic. People are injured and die, and families are torn apart because of war, for the end result to be the same. Crane sees it as more harm done than