War By Ira Claffey Summary

Just as Ira Claffey paid attention to small details like plants, the author made sure to go into detail when it came to the horrors of the camp to show how truly dedicated some people were to the war. Others were numb when inhumane things happened. Some prisoners relied on memories to cope. Whenever a new prisoner would be introduced, they usually had a lot of flashback memories of families, or boyhood, life before the war that they were confined in. I think this connects largely to how Ira Claffey copes presently because he used to be a soldier in the Mexican American war. I believe that the author is using Claffey as one of the possible images of how soldiers post-war will try and manage with everything that has occurred. That in turn affects the country as a whole. How is something that became so violent and separated going to go about become united again, after both sides have been so devastated? He knows the destruction it can bring and always reflects on it when he’s alone. One instance was on his birthday as he thought, “Fifty years stuffed with woe and work and dreams and peril” (Kantor 9). He did not like to think about the war when around his wife and daughter but it was

There wasn’t much that could be worked with but the land right next to Claffey’s was an option because they had railroad transportation there (Southwestern line from Macon to Americus and Albany) that had become a military necessity, good drainage, and good water supply. Claffey said he didn’t want a prison in that peaceful place and considered going to Richmond where he had known the President seventeen years ago and take a stand. Money was an obstacle, but he also knew the current power wouldn’t have done much to help anyways. It must’ve been pretty disheartening to know not even the person in power was doing