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Literary Analysis: The War Prayer

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Literary Analysis The War Prayer was written by Mark Twain in the nineteenth century Imperialism. Twain uses satire to exploit the stupidity of war. In his prose, Twain explains the ghastliness of war and how people are praying to God for safety of their troops but they do not care if the opposing sides troops die. Twain uses satire in The War Prayer to make fun of the people praying for their side to win the war and the glorification of war. “It was a time of great and exalting excitement (Twain).” Twain sets the scene for“proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them on.” They are cheering them on to war. Kris are in the streets wishing their patriots good luck and God’s aid from the steps of there oratory. These battalions with “gathering momentum, rushing charge, flashing sabers and the flight of the foe, (Twain),” charging a battery inside them to win at all costs. After the huge parade of good luck through the streets, came the “long” prayer. Twain uses satire in this paragraph because the battalions were out in the streets minutes before ready to kill the foe and now they are reciting a “long” prayer for safety and comfort during war. In the “long” prayer, …show more content…

This text is related to many things happening in this world today. As the saying goes, “history repeats itself.” An example of history repeating itself in Today's society is some candidates running for president. Hillary Clinton is running for president and is very hypocritical in what she says. She once said that “students going to public college don't deserve to have student loans.” Saying that is irony because she will not be able to make every student eliminate their student loans. Her statement is hypocritical and false, much like The War Prayer. History sure does repeat

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