Thomas Hardy, Article Review Example

Thomas Hardy’s, “The Man He Killed,” Jack Johnson’s, “Sleep Through The Static,” and Joshua James’s “Crash this Train” and “Dear Darcy” all portray one side – the ugly side – of war.  Each writer has a point.  Hardy’s character laments that he has killed a man he might otherwise have bought a drink fore. He guesses that perhaps the man simply enlisted because he could not find other work. This is the real tragedy of war – that often those who die are those who do not deserve to. In Dear Darcy, Joshua James shows how heartbreaking and frustrating war can be for military families, who never know when and if their loved ones will return home. Meanwhile, Jack Johnson points out how poorly troops are sometimes equipped when he writes that they were designed for crash testing and suggests that they wear “wool sunglasses.” But the writers are all condescending and judgmental, unable to take any responsibility for the creation of the problems they see with war, while taking advantage of the safety war has secured. What the authors do not mention is what war can stop and has prevented.

For instance, suppose the United States had not gone to war against Germany.  Consider the great atrocities that Jews, homosexuals, twins and other minorities had to face under the Nazi regime. Consider also the terrifying acts of Sadam Hussein – his gassing of the Kurds, his shredding of people. Think of his sons’ brutality to women. Remember the mass graves of those who were buried alive by the Iraqi regime. Consider also the fate of political protestors who had their genitals drilled open and acid dripped inside. Some things may be worse than or at least comparable to a quick death by gunfire. Neither Johnson, James, nor Hardy acknowledges this, though each man seems content enough to live under the protection of the military.