Thesis on "Mark Twain the War Prayer"
Thesis 3 pages (1064 words) Sources: 0
[EXCERPT] . . . .
War Prayer by Mark Twain is a short story that uses irony and hyperbole to critique the zealous militarism gripping the hearts and minds of a community about to go to war. The first paragraph is a kind of stereotypical portrait of a nation preparing for conflict, during which war is viewed with "great and exalting excitement." The atmosphere before soldiers have died is more like a parade than preparation for death: "the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering." Twain opens the story with cascading, long sentences that release a flood of imagery and impressions of the coming of war as a joyous event: "on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by." For readers who are familiar with Twain's well-known novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the undifferentiated nature of these masses of people is surprising. These people might be 'anybody,' which is Twain's point in The War Prayer. Every community, he suggests, prepares for war in a similar fashion.Also in contrast to some of his previous works, Twain does not satirize authority as much as ordinary people's attitudes. The people listen to "patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts" and pastors who invoked the "God of Battles" but the focus is upon the people, rather than upon negative images of authority. The fact that
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The final 'punch line' of the story is when an "aged stranger" appears in a church, and witnesses the preacher praying for victory and the deliverance of the young soldiers going off to battle: "With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, 'Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!' " The old man, with equally inflated, although wiser rhetoric states: "I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The old man points out that both the opposite side as well as the… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Mark Twain the War Prayer" Assignment:
Please write a paper in which you analyze Mark Twain's "The war Prayer."
Things to consider: (include most but not all)
1. Is Twain criticizing war itself, or people's attitudes toward war, or both?
2. In order to achieve his effects, how does Twain use
a. hyperbole
b. irony
c. vivid imagery
3. Is Twain's premise valid, that prayers of this sort have an unuttered part?
4. What is the effect of the last line of the story?
5. Do you consider "The War Prayer" an effective story? Why or why not?
6. Could it have relevance to the world situation today?
The only source needed to complete this assignment is the story "The War Prayer". No bibliography is needed.
How to Reference "Mark Twain the War Prayer" Thesis in a Bibliography
“Mark Twain the War Prayer.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2009, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/war-prayer-mark-twain/463757. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.
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