In this poem by Thomas Hardy a man is fighting a war and he is thinking about how he is basically killing people that he would probably be friends with or have very similar lives to if they weren't currently fighting against each other in a war. He does kill a man in the war and he tries to justify his killing by saying he was the foe and he had a job to do. He then says that he and this man were probably similar in the fact that they were both out of work and joined the army because they had nothing better to do with their lives. He finds it "curious" and "quaint" that he could be best friends with these men that are getting killed if they weren't in a war and he would probably loan them money or go out for drinks like best friends do. He's making the point that in war you only have enemies you don't have friends, you have one job to kill your enemies before they kill you first.
|
Archives
May 2015
AuthorsFocused, determined, and a whole lot sassy: Mrs. Costisick's AP Literature students want you to delve into the ostentatious world of poetry with them as they augment their own understanding of some of the most famous writings known to us. No Dr. Seuss here. Categories |