War in ‘Refugee Blues’ and ‘Disabled’

War in ‘Refugee Blues’ and ‘Disabled’ Title: Explore How Writers Treat the Subject of Wastefulness Of War in the Two Texts You Have Studied. It is ostensible that both texts, ‘Refuge Blues’ and ‘Disabled’, have been influenced by the writers’ own personal experiences as they both accurately replicate the true brutality behind wars. ‘Refugee Blues’ by W. H. Auden is a poem about the harsh realities of war; including themes such as: loss, suffering, and change. ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen is similar in this manner and it also echoes the same message Auden is trying to convey; the wastefulness of war. The title of the poem ‘Refugee Blues’ tells us a lot of what it is about as the poem’s sense of musicality is conspicuous in the title. The definition of the word ‘refugee’ is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. The use of the word ‘refugee’ implies that the poem is about a person or a group of people attempting to escape their country, Nazi Germany, bu t cannot, due to the fact that they do not own passports; leaving them homeless. The word ‘blues’ is a reference towards the sub-genre of jazz; a refrain is placed at the end of each stanza in the poem, customary for a blues song, in order to echo a melancholy tone. ‘Disabled’ exploits the impact of war on those who live through it by analysing the present life of an injured soldier to his past accomplishments. Auden and Owen explore the theme of loss in order to portray the wastefulness of war through the use of: repetition, imagery and emphasis. In ‘Refugee Blues’, Auden uses repetition at the end of the first stanza, when it says,’ We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there’, repetition makes it more poignant as it emphasises the problem that they cannot escape their own country as they lack passports which is later revealed in the second stanza when it states, ‘Old passports can’t do that, my dear, old passports can’t do that’, leaving them homeless. ‘Disabled’ contains vivid imagery which exaggerates the theme of loss such as, ‘he will never feel again how slim girls’ waists are†¦all of them touch him like some queer disease’, and, ‘he noticed how the women’s eyes passed from him to the strong men that were whole’, making the ex-soldier socially isolated. An example of emphasis and exaggeration is in ‘Refugee Blues’ when, in the eleventh stanza, it states, ‘Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors†¦not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours’, a hyperbole is used to highlight their situation, homelessness, creating sympathy for the reader. Owen alternates between using vulnerable language such as, ‘his back will never brace’, when he refers to the present in order to show that he is now weak and defenceless. The juxtaposition of remembrance and the masculine language when he refers to the past such as, ‘he’d look a god in kilts’, abruptly makes the reader realise that he is lost and can never be the man he once was. All of these examples coincide together in the way that they all scrutinize the subject: wastefulness of war. The theme of suffering is evident throughout the two poems in the way that the ‘disabled’ ex-soldier is struggling to live in the present and come to grips with his fate. This is palpable in the first stanza when the, ‘Voices of boys ran saddening like a hymn, voices of play and pleasures after day’. He is dressed formally in a ‘ghastly suit of grey’ which is cut at the waist, showing that he has lost his legs; he listens to the voices of young children which disheartens him, reminding him of something he can never have again. In ‘Refugee Blues’ suffering is indisputable as the whole poem is about presumably a male Jew and his partner being homeless; suffering, desperately trying to find a place to emigrate, but unfortunately cannot as ‘Old passports can’t do that’, this relates, previously, to the refugees being lost. The last stanza of ‘Refugee Blues’ conveys that, ‘Ten thousand soldiers marc hed to and fro: looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me’, once again repetition has been used in order to accentuate that there is a whole army looking for just two people. Furthermore, the repetition could also reference towards the nature of the blues rhythm; repetition. The final stanza of ‘Disabled’ states, ‘he will spend a few sick years in institutes’, implying that he will spend a few ‘sick’, crippled, years attending institutes before he passes away, perhaps. Furthermore, in the last stanza, it claims, ‘how cold and late it is! Why don’t they come and put him to bed? Why don’t they come?’ This is a prime example of double entendre as it references towards the nurses not coming ‘and put[ting] him into bed’, and it refers to death not coming soon enough to take his life as he cannot handle the excruciating suffering anymore. All of the evidence provided, proves that suffering is a common theme among ‘Refugee Blues’ and ‘Disabled’. In addition, the message of change has been thoroughly examined in ‘Disabled’ and ‘Refugee Blues’. The rhyming pattern in ‘Disabled’ is an ‘A, B, A, C, B, C’, for example in the first stanza the words ‘dark’, ‘park’, ‘grey’, ‘day’, ‘hymn’ and ‘him’ all rhyme, however, the rhyming pattern in the last stanza becomes more irregular. This is done to prove how the ex-soldier’s life used to be perfect and regular but has now changed and become irregular. This is in contrast to ‘Refugee Blues’, which contains a regular ‘A, A, B’ rhyming pattern. In ‘Refugee Blues’ the status of Jews were lowered as animals were being treated more humane than the Jewish people when it states, ‘Saw a door opened and a cat let in’, and nature is being proved to be free, unlike the Jews in, ‘Saw the fish swimming as if they were free†¦walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees; they had no politicians and sang at their ease’, this exaggerates how all this freedom is tantalisingly close and that they are trapped by laws and oppressed by Hitler’s commands; this explains the change in their country. At the beginning of the poem ‘Disabled’ the man is portrayed to have had an active and successful interaction with women. He was an attractive young man, exuberant and enjoyed the ladies’ attention. Later on, he was left sexually incompetent and can no longer receive pleasures from the things that he once was comforted with. In the final stanza, the last lines places emphasis on the fact that the man he once was, winning football matches, being proud of a blood smear, is now replaced by a crippled, hopeless shell who pleads desperately and helplessly for someone to come, ‘and put him into bed’; death. The evidence provided proves that Auden and Ow en have exploited the theme of change. The idea in the poem ‘Refugee Blues’ shows how futile intellect is, especially in the face of the mass extermination of Jews during the second world war: this idea has evidently been put across. Likewise, the idea of ‘Disabled’ is to show the true colours behind war and the ineffectiveness of it: Owen has unmistakably advocated this concept. Like each other, ‘Refugee Blues’ and ‘Disabled’ are both dark and chilling poems. They distress the reader in order to present the true meaning behind war. It is interesting, then, to conclude that Auden and Owen have eloquently portrayed the harsh realities of war through themes such as: loss, suffering and change. Various language techniques have also been used such as: rhyming to create an impact; juxtapositions in order to contrast and analyse; and vivid imagery to generate an effect for the reader.

Justification for Torture

Torture is a scenario that dates back to the old government ages. Is government torture ever justified? This answer is can be answered by this quote,†Torturing the terrorist is unconstitutional? Probably. But millions of lives surely outweigh constitutionality â€Å"(Levin 1). Who would not save the lives of fellow citizens If the only option to solve the issue was torturing an individual for his crimes? Many people would see the situation as a sacrifice for the better of the people. The lives of Americans should be the most important priority of a nation. Torture is justified as long it is for the safety of the people and not for the mere cause of violence. Torture is the considered to be a harmful mentally and physically to anyone. It is a very well known method in the time of war. There have been many cases where it used on children and women. The course of torture can range from physical abuse to sexual abuse. Those are without a doubt an international crime. Using torture on innocent human being is completely out of the question. The use of torture in terms of water boarding on terrorist can be another matter. Torture without a doubt is a cruel treatment for an individual but it must be a nation policy (Falbaum 15). Saving innocent lives should be a governments priority in a â€Å"ticking time bomb † scenario. The scenario states, lets say an officer, got control of a terrorist planning an attack on hundreds of people. It is highly likely this terrorist will be interrogated by other officials to obtain information about the attack. Torture should be an option if the individual refuses to give the data to save hundreds of lives. Falbaum also mentions that 9/11 attack could been prevented if the United States had torture as part of their system. If the US policy was more strict at those times the terrorist would have feared their policy or would have captured their leader and gained details about the whereabouts of the attack. A poll shows that majority of registered citizens prefer harsh techniques that can keep America safe (Bauer 27). The society should support inhumane behaviors like torture if it is seen as last hope for innocent lives. Successful interrogations can keep America safe for the future. The world revolves around information and if your country is lacking information, terrorists can take advantage of the situation. Using torture on terrorists to gain information will benefit in prevention of future attacks on the country. Marc A. Thiessen goes into detail how many terrorists that have been interrogated provided them with reliable information that ended up saving thousands of American lives. â€Å"Thiessen believes that terrorist suspects will talk if pressured in the right way† (Thiessen 36). Some people may argue that torture does not provide the right detail because the victim will say anything to stop the deadly act. A statement said by the terrorist Abu Zubayah explains that captive terrorist tends to resist as long as they can, if they fail to do this they are given permission by their religious belief to tell what they have known. â€Å"The job of the interrogator is to safely help the terrorist do his duty to Allah, so he then feels liberated to speak freely â€Å"(Thiessen 40). It leads to show if the US practice and enhance their torture techniques it will lead to a safer nation. What techniques can be considered torture? Water-boarding is the act where the victim is drained water on his head to stimulate the pain of drowning. Water-boarding to Joseph Farah is not considered torture. He states that the technique is relatively safe with the right management. Not only that he argues that United State also practice this technique on their own soldiers as training (Farah 82). According to him while water-boarding is very abhorrent it is not as bad as cutting of a hand or anything gore. The truth is Water-boarding is very effective and most of the time the result are given in less than a minute. The success stories range from learning about al-Qaida's top plans. It is said that the terrorist agents resisted normal interrogations for hours and hours but gave into water-boarding sooner than the word can be said. This scenario can happen anywhere in the nation. Lets say an al-Qaida member was captured by the CIA and found whereabouts of bombs being placed around a city. They hire the top of the line negotiators to spoil the information. The real question still remains. Will they be able to make the terrorist member talk before it's too late? Then again we could resort to the use of water-boarding and save their lives before it is too late. It is not like we have torn their limbs off to order to get the information. â€Å"But a few seconds of dripping water on a prisoner's face? That's not torture to me â€Å"(Feah 85). Some believe that torture disregard true American standards. Patrick J. Buchanan gives a great insight about this issue. He states that torture is viable as long as it fit to save the American people. It is just like how murder is seen unethical yet you see soldiers and cops given the permission to kill as long as it fits the right scenario (Buchanan 55). Would a war hero that killed twenty men in order to rescue 2,000 citizens receive a death sentence? Just because he murdered 20 men, no. He would be honored as a hero he so deserved to be. There are doctors that inflicts pain to many soldiers in the war field by cutting of parts of their body. This saves their life by preventing death by decay. These are one of the exceptions that torture should be given into. Take for example someone's son or daughter was captivated by a terrorist group. One of their remember was found, he would not spoil or hint any information by simple conversations. What will a parent would want from the government to do? It does not matter if they oppose torture or not, a parent would choose water-boarding compared to the death of their child. Torture is not to be taken lightly but should be considered an option if the situation arise. Torture should the last option if it ever to be used. It a very sensitive topic for many people. There are groups that strongly rejects torture in any situation and there are people that support torture if it leads to saving lives. Ultimately saving lives should be the priority of any government. If it result in agreeing to an â€Å"harsh techniques † like water-boarding to stop future 9/11 attacks, the majority will agree. It is very hard to come to a conclusion about this specific topic because both sides can provide very good viewpoints. It will be one of those controversial topic that will go on for decades.

Personal Moral Essay

The personal moral that has the most impact on how I go about living my life is self-respect. Self-respect impacts my life in such a way that has guided me in the right direction and will continue to assist me in the positive direction as I go through life. Establishing self-respect resulted in creating my own identity that has been a foundation for my lifestyle. When I established that strong foundation of self-respect, I began to carry myself as a leader amongst my peers and not give in to common mistakes that come through acts of peer pressure. A sense of self-respect has also resulted in me effectively using my common sense and avoiding preventable and unnecessary errors. By valuing my self-respect, I can respect others and treat them with a sense of worth, as I would expect people to treat me. In order to be successful as a FBI agent, I must respect the multitude of diverse people, opinions, and circumstances that are present in the world. My self-respect has directed me to choose to surround myself with like-minded people who also have positive genuine attitudes, positive traits, and are working to establish and achieve their goals. Self-respect has assisted in my decision-making and problem solving processes. Because I value my self-respect, I have pride and dignity in everything I do. Self-respect is needed in my life’s journey towards independence. Self-respect is not an option for me but is a mandatory principle of my life. It allows me to be open to accepting various viewpoints and constructive criticism from others so that I can become mentally and morally secure and empowered. The enhancements that self-respect adds to the overall outcome of my life’s lessons are the significant influences that increase the gained benefits of my life’s experiences.

Thw Cold War Essay - 588 Words

The Cold War as it is called was a war that started because of tensions between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. The tensions that developed were primarily over military, political, cultural and social ideas that varied greatly between the two nations. Each Nation and its allies developed a distrust that would last for many years and introduce new military and political methods that would shape our future. The Cold War was not a war as we would think with destruction and loss of life. What the Cold War became was distrust between Nations that caused conflict and tension between these nations. The two major countries involved in the conflict were the United States and the Soviet Union. Both of these†¦show more content†¦Stalin thought the USA and Britain had not helped the USSR enough in World War II. They charged the United States with practicing imperialism and attempting to stop revolutionary activity in other countries. Both nations were somewhat correct in their fears. The United States was trying to encourage Capitalism, and the Soviet Union was trying to spread communism, but they both believed it was the politically, socially and militarily correct thing to do. Because of these strong beliefs the tensions between the two nations grew stronger, and negotiations grew further apart. The tensions between what was often referred to as the West (United States) and the East (S oviet Union) grew stronger. Espionage, spying and the development of nuclear weapons was on the rise. Each nation was counter acting each others moves to be stronger and stay ahead of the other in the field of military operations. Propaganda was on the rise to raise awareness of the others actions and build encouragement for their respective views. The distrust that was developing was growing stronger as the war carried on. However, each nation knew that a real war involving the loss of men and destruction of property was not a solution. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were equally strong, some with large armies and others with weapons of mass destruction. Each nation was trying to match or overtake the other in both these areas which leadShow MoreRelatedFort Bliss Is A Military Base For The United States Army1752 Words   |  8 Pagessands missile range which is 25 miles near the mcgregor complex which hhad traingin for the air defense team its wanting to become the pr emiere military base. Fort bliss was mainly established to maintain order and law in newly gained southwest of thw us o protect ithe border and Californian settlers form the indins, at the time its budget problems for fort bliss were marking problems which caused it to close several times. fort bliss is on of the 16 instalments under the mangemert of tradoc itsRead MoreMergers and Acquisitions in Tea Industry16715 Words   |  67 Pageschanting so far, had not gone well with the Indian counterparts. But fortunately, that doesn’t remain the prerogative anymore. The war-averse domestic companies are shedding their inhibitions. The roles have undoubtly changed. And, after fighting in out in the global commodities arena, it is time now for a global teacup. Taking a plunge in the global tea war in the year 2000 was India’s corporate tea giant Tata Tea. Though it was not an easy decision to make, that to when the competitor was