Week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 7 - Essay Example The war adventure certainly does not live up to his expectations, as he is wounded on his leg and just when he recovers, he is attacked by a bout of jaundice, that spoils his vacation plans. Finally, he leaves the war behind and moves on to lead a new life. Evidently, fate had something else in store for him. In the earlier times, wars were glorious events, as they signified undying love for one’s motherland and the voluntary ability of sons of the land to surrender their precious lives for their nation. However, today, it has been reduced to mere numbers! Machines and war equipment operate instead of men, though the opponents are men. It is simply not a one-to-one equation and this reduces the sanctimonious characteristic that was once attributed to war heroes! 3. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway in reaction to WWI rhetoric, writes, â€Å"I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, sacrifice and the expression in vain. We had heard them, sometimes standing in the rain almost out of earshot, so that only the shouted words came through, and had read them, on proclamations that were slapped up by billposters over other proclamations, now for a long time, and I had seen nothing sacred and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was done to the meat except to bury it. There were many words that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity. Certain numbers were the same way and certain dates and these with the names of places were all you could say and have them mean anything.† What do you think he means? Do you agree or disagree with his sentiments? The author attempts to convey the fact that for a soldier, after a point of time, the value for life and the very essence