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Rhetorical Devices In Stephen Crane's War Is Kind

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What sets one work apart from another? What makes a paper, book, or poem, amazing, rather than just okay? The answer to that question is rhetorical devices. To be more precise, it’s how the author uses rhetorical devices. Anyone can toss alliteration or rhyme scheme into their work, but using rhetorical devices to better communicate one’s message to their audience, using rhetorical devices to develop the theme, takes skill. Stephen Crane possesses this skill, and it is evident in his poem, ‘War Is Kind.’ In ‘War Is Kind,’ Stephen Crane effectively uses imagery, irony, and repetition to establish that war is barbaric, horrific, and cruel. To begin, Stephen Crane effectively uses imagery to establish that war is barbaric, horrific, and cruel. In his poem, Crane states, “Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom- a field where a thousand corpses lie” (Crane). This conjures an image of the metaphorical god of war looming over the battlefield, as well as the sight and smell of a field of dead bodies. This portrays the battle-god as the leader of the dead. This establishes that war is powerful, and that war inevitably leads to the death of many people, many of whom leave behind families that grieve …show more content…

In his poem, Crane states, “Do not weep. War is kind” (Crane). This is ironic because war takes people away from their families, and from the lives they might have led if they had not died in battle. It contrasts with the theme of the poem, which garners the attention of the reader. This beckons readers to ask, ‘War leads to death; what is kind in that?’ The contrast between what is said and what Crane means makes the theme of the poem easier for the reader to see and understand. It brings his message into plain view; war is not kind, but horrible. Moreover, the quote could be viewed as repetition, because it is repeated several times throughout the poem for

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This does not show anything about war being sweet. For example, Owen makes us picture a soldier’s “hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin” (20). This clearly shows us how the man’s face is burning off. The final way authors protest war is by demonstrating structure. In “ The Yellow Birds” Kevin Powers does not use any complete sentences.

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This portrayal reveals the shared humanity of the soldiers on both sides and how in war beauty and horror

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Within his short story, Chickamauga, Bierce is able to depict a realistic version of war and the devastation it creates through the application of imagery in his writing. The author administers imagery, which the literary diction defines as the use of “figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical sense,” (LiteraryDevice Editors) in order to visually represent the gruesome reality of the culture at the time. More precisely, the ghastly illustration of the soldiers, behavior of the child, and comparisons of mankind to animalistic forms, add to the detail of the story and solidifies Bierce’s assertion that war is not glory, but destruction. In representing the story in such a way, Bierce illustrates how even the most innocent of creatures can enact cruelty by representing the little boy as the embodiment of both childish curiosity and ignorance.

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He also, shows them how soldiers could become desensitized fighting ‘machines’ throughout the Civil War. Stephen Crane uses irony in “War is Kind” and “A Mystery of Heroism” to prove that he is opposed to the Civil War by showing the reader how soldiers became desensitized to the war, while he also, informs the reader about the hardships the Civil War caused. The Civil War just like any other war there ever was has caused many soldiers to become desensitized. Making the soldiers believe that they were just “...born to drill and die.”

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The author portrays the cruelty of the time period in a powerful and emotional way, leaving a lasting impact on the reader. the reader hears many small and big things about the war throughout the book. it is made known that this war is a long-lasting and brutal event. The readers often will question how people are able to hate one another based on a religion. The main thing to take away from the message the author is giving about cruelty, is to never allow people to change one another or

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Powers and Crane had both used structure in their pieces, however, Crane had mostly used irony, as his document was almost entirely flipped, having the center of the text, “War is kind”. What Crane did not add was the scattered text, which Powers used incredibly. The reader mostly, if not completely speechless having read it. Powers uses imagery to paint a picture of an intense feeling of guilt and trauma, almost like a short, mild recap of what actually

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First, this particular poem shows an abundant amount of sarcasm throughout the entire piece. The tone is considered sarcastic because throughout the poem Crane says that war is kind, but if you look at the stanzas, Crane doesn’t use facts to support his assertions .The title of the poem is an ironic choice of words that immediately shows that sarcasm is sprinkled out everywhere in the poem, including the title. The speaker indirectly tells people to not weep after describing in detail the death of their loved ones. In the poem, Crane writes,“your lover threw wild hands toward the sky”.

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Traditionally, war and gore alike are not taken lightly in literature. Writing commonly uses death as a device to convey sorrow and fear. However, author Stephen Crane exemplified gore in war by using a neutral tone and avoiding directly addressing death (a common subject within the poem). He paints scenes that implicate someone has been killed such as someone throwing their hands up in a desperate attempt at surrender or a horse who has just witnessed the murder of its rider “Your lover threw wild hands toward the sky and the frightened steed ran on alone” (Crane). Forcing the reader to address death in a passive tone and not allowing them to sympathize with the victims creates the illusion that the readers themselves are dehumanizing the

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/ War is kind,” to showcase the fact that war is ugly and painful not only for those who perish in it (the men whose deaths are described), but also for those who grieve because of it (the women whose lives are forever changed by war). Additionally, verbal irony can be found in stanzas two and four, in which Crane chooses words that, taken literally, speak of the glory of war in order to highlight the shame of it. For instance, Crane writes, “These men were born to drill and die / The unexplained glory flies above them / Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom – / A field where a thousand corpses lie” (Crane 8-11).

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Crane uses the storyline to expose Henry to the harsh realities of war, which requires bravery he does not posses. Henry knows that the regiment is marching in Virginia, home ground for the Confederates, and they

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In "Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind," the first example of a paradox is "War is kind" (Crane 5). War and kindness are exact opposites, as war results in the loss of millions of lives and the destruction of even more families, and kindness is associated with positivity and light. Therefore, linking war with any positive connotation is absurd. By characterizing war as kind despite its mass death, Crane's paradox demonstrates how it can be covered with glory, as the two concepts of kindness and glory are closely linked. The phrase "Great, and his kingdom—/ A field where a thousand corpses lie" (Crane 10-11) is used again in the first poem.

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The poem aims to glorify soldiers and certain aspects of war, it goes on to prove that in reality there really isn 't good vs bad on the battlefield, it 's just a man who "sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call, And only death can stop him now—he 's fighting for them all.", and this is our hidden meaning.

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