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Not So Quiet Book Summary

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Doing Their Bit: The Women on the Front Lines of World War I Back in the times of World War I, there was no such thing as women soldiers. Because of this, it can be easy to assume that men were the ones who were more affected by the war than women. The novel Not So Quiet… by Helen Zenna Smith (a pseudonym for the author Evadne Price), challenges this idea. Although the story is fictional, the truth is that many women actually experienced what the protagonist of Not So Quiet… Smithy experiences. It is clear, that the assumption that men were further impacted by the war than women is false, as many women who aided the injured soldiers, and were placed in war-torn areas of the world, suffered the war as greatly as the soldiers did, and in such …show more content…

In Not So Quiet…, Smithy is shown to hold two different jobs throughout the war: ambulance driver, and domestic worker. Working as an ambulance driver places her at the center of the war, putting her in direct contact with the men who are injured and killed. As a domestic worker, however, she falls into a pattern of tranquility. Even when air raids arrive, she states, “We are so accustomed to this sort of thing that we regard it merely as an infernal nuisance” (Smith 232). Still, despite not being as directly involved in the war as, say, the ambulance drivers were, Smithy and the other domestic workers are still much closer to the terrors of war than their family who remained at home. The final air raid described in the novel ends in the death of all of Smithy’s friends, showing the reader that, even as a mere domestic worker, she was still not safe. Although she was not as near the front lines, and was not forced to endure the realities of war day in and day out, as she did as an ambulance driver, Smithy still experiences traumatic events. In her article, Lucy Noakes talks of women’s role in the war and in the WAAC, and how the effect this had on them has not properly been explored, especially not in regards to each individual (Noakes 144). In the documentary And We Knew How to Dance, each woman has a unique experience within the war. Sometimes this is due to her gender, sometimes to her role, but overall it is due to the war itself and her closeness to it. The women’s gender, as well as which role they held within the WAAC, should not be ignored. Just as well, however, it should be made clear that anybody who was present in areas overtaken by the war will inherently have different views and experiences of the war than those who spent the entirety of the war in their

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This essay is about how Women’s role has changed during World War II. Women were encouraged by the government to enlist in the Army as nurses or as workers since most men were overseas and this created new opportunities for women. In this essay we’ll discuss about three events, women’s participation in military services, salary increase and why nurses were permitted overseas. Australian women had many responsibilities during World War 2.

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In Jane Addams excerpts from “Women and Internationalism” (1915) Addams discusses men and women and their different feelings about war. She briefly mentions that women experience something completely different in times of war, even if they themselves are not the ones fighting. She explains this by the fact that women are the ones who raise and protect those men from children, and watching them be destroyed is a whole different sensation than just fighting as a soldier. The theme expressed in her discussion is that often the ones fighting the battles, whether it is in war or in everyday life situations, are not the ones impacted the most. For soldiers, the journey that they endure during war is bewildering and often unimaginable, yet the struggle

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Australian women in World War One (WWI) played a great role both behind the front lines as nurses and also on the home front, taking the place of many men who were at the war. Women at this time were split into four groups, 'Ordinary women ', 'working-class ', educated women ' and the 'married working-class ', all of which impacted the soldiers lives whether it be from house hold duties, to working as a nurse at the war. The Australian women involved themselves in WWI leaving a large impact on the soldiers lives. These women were very rarely recognised for their great contribution to war.

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Likewise, Bruley strengthens the argument that ‘One of the ironies of war is that women on whole emerged in 1918 healthier and enjoyed a higher standard of living than in 1914’. Bruley’s view has limited validity because women proved that being employed helped them mentally and physically as work occupied their mind and not their husbands. This helped them build communities of support for their love ones in war. Women were unifying as unmarried mothers, who were usually shunned away in society, were allowed to return to work, although at Woolwich children of these women were cared for in a separate nursery from children of married women. This shows that within society their status now affected them rather than their gender as ‘war made them see women’s traditional roles as wives and mothers as even more

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Even some women would go so far to gather money to put clothes on the soldier’s back or sew their clothes. Others would travel with the men, whether it is camp followers, who were women who washed, cooked, nursed, sew, gather supplies, and even in some cases be sex partners or spies. Women dressed up as men and changed their name to fight as a soldier, or General’s wives who just wanted to be with their husbands like Martha Washington or Caty Greene. Not only do we see the point of the war through the women’s eyes that resisted British rule, but also from the eyes of Frederika von Residesel whose husband, Fritz Residesel, who fought for Britain. Indian women also felt the effects of the war, because they thought that “if America won their social roles would be changed and their power within their communities diminished” (Berkin.107).

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She describes the front as, “a city of the dead” (79). This statement is key because it shows the importance of how this war has affected the whole community. Women sacrificed their service in the war, while leaving behind their own family. She explains that as a nurse, she has to care for other mother’s sons, while she also has her own kids at home to feed. Even though all women may not have been war combatants, many still experienced the devastation and trauma of the war.

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Whether it be serving on the battle field, cleansing and healing wounds, or dealing with the war on the home front, running families and supporting the soldiers, Australian women have stood by the soldiers of World War One, serving their country in different ways. The war had greatly impacted and affected the women in Australia and the ones who were away to serve. Since everything in their lives at the time revolved around the war, their lives had changed drastically to cope to this new way of life. These women provided comfort, support and help, where ever they were located, to the men who were fighting at in the front lines. Nurse and medical attendees played a very important part in World War One.

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During World War I, many women started to protest in groups and form political organisations against the concepts behind war, as women believed war to be “[...] Another version of the strong oppressing the weak, and thus an empathic for of patriarchy” (Gilchrist, 2014). An example of these anti-war organisations was the ‘Women Peace Society’, founded by women for women, which lasted from 1915 to 1919. They openly campaigned on the streets and in newspapers against the conscription movement in Australia (Gilchrist, 2014). This shows that the women on the home front were determined to express their opinion and make sure it was taken seriously in consideration.

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Wives, mothers, and daughters, of Patriot soldiers were left to operate businesses and keep up with the duties of farms. Other women followed their soldiers to the battlefield. Though their presence around the army men was oftentimes controversial - they were commonly regarded as nuisances - having women around to clean and cook, along with being companions, benefited the American army. Women that wanted to fill the boots that their husbands left, or step up to the plate on their own, would disguise themselves as men so they could participate in battle. Post-war women’s roles were seemingly regarded the same as they had been before.

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Women were well suited for providing nourishment and necessities for the army due to their skills obtained by their accustomed housework. “...the American army often recruited the many female camp followers to fill these jobs” (Brooks 2013, para. 17). They had slowly began to achieve recognition in society, especially war. It was then, that woman had begun to silently “protest” on having the same equal opportunity as men. During the war, women created a role for themselves to side amongst the male soldiers: a secret soldier.

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A female becoming a soldier or a spy or any kind of person that helped throughout these battles was unheard of. But there were so many women that did, some disguised and some not. The role that women held in the American

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In the book written by (Gavin, 1997) it was cited that “As women took over from their absent men in hundreds of new and challenging occupations, many of which had previously been considered inappropriate”. From the beginning of the World War 1, the German women were participating a great deal. They contributed to half a million-people working on the munitions manufacturing alone (Gavin, 1997). It also mentioned in the book that over in the U.S, the men in charge refused to let the women participate up until April 1917 (Gavin, 1997). The U.S government never formally authorize the enrolment of women, despite Army officials repeatedly asking for such personnel’s.

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Even during major events and wars, they were expected to assume roles that were merely supportive of men. However, despite all the boundaries that society set for them, women did not stand, watching the ongoing cycle of life from their windows; they fought and worked hard to achieve a reassessment of the traditional

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