Two Soldiers Movie Rhetorical Devices

Short Story/Film Script Analysis

Novel and Theme: One of the main themes Timothy Findley identifies in The Wars is that children lose innocence as they mature. There is great value in overcoming challenges and obstacles because that is how true character is developed.

Summary:

Two Soldiers, by William Faulkner, is about an eight-year old boy, leaving home to join his brother in the army. During World War II, a little boy experiences dangers on his way to Memphis to find Pete, his idol. During the journey child begins to understand the realities of the world. The author’s message is that children have to leave their comfort zones and learn how to handle difficulties in order to grow into autonomous adults. This message is revealed in the

The title is ironic because only Pete is a ‘real soldier’ fighting in the war. The child is sent home. The author might have used “two soldiers” because he little boys fights internal battles on the way to Memphis and home again. Rather than winning an armed international war the boy gains maturity through experience. This helps clarify the theme. It is a bildungsroman tale about the maturing of a young protagonist and the irony of it being a war and the metaphor of him being a soldier enhances the central idea. A second rhetorical device is the simile “He laid there, hard and still as iron in the dark,” (Faulkner, 36). This comparison reveals what Pete is going through before the war. He seems to be scared of leaving home and joining the war; he may never see his family again. Pete starts to ignore his little brother and stops talking to him; he is silent and cold like a piece of metal, which illustrates the growing distance between them. This device gives a sense of how isolated Pete feels and how he is protecting

The little boy arrives at Memphis and asks for Pete. The soldiers there think he is joking when he says he wants to join the army. One of the registrars says: “Go on. Beat it.” The narrator takes out his pocket-knife to defend himself. He cuts the man’s hand which demonstrates his sincere wish to join as a soldier. This warns the other recruiters. Back in Jefferson the boy receives no punishment except to cut firewood. He lacks the maturity to explain how much he wants to join the army but he shows them all how brave he truly is. “I just taken the shikepoke egg, because it was the best un, and dropped it up good into a matchbox and hid it and the slingshot under the corner of the barn” (Faulkner, 39). This passage shows the child’s preparations to leave for war. He is willing to accept anything he has to in order to find Pete in Memphis. His naivete is as surprising as his courage. It foreshadows that he will face a lot of obstacles because it is the first time he has left home