How often does the average person hear the truth about war? Do you see the destruction and the lives it takes? Does the media show the bodies lying on the streets lifeless and dismembered? Or is it only those who fight wars and are on the front lines who have to experience the pain and destruction that is war? Every day our society is bombarded with images of war. From ages five to six, children are shown movies, television shows, and video games that tell them that war is glorious, that it is fun, and that it is an honor to fight a war against another country for the honor of your own. Village. The highest-grossing games in the video game market in twenty-seven years are those that include guns, blood and violence. In essence, children who engage in and experience violence from a young age become adults who glorify and instigate war because their morals and beliefs develop in a culture of war. In a New York Times Book Review article referenced on the back of Brian Turners Here, Bullet, one reviewer said that "on the day of the first moonwalk, [his] father's college literature professor told his class, ' Someday they'll send a poet, and we'll find out what he's really like'" (New York Times Book Review). Therefore, Turner's experiences, expressed in his poetry collections, give readers a realistic perspective of how gruesome war is, while the media often over-glorifies aspects of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Turner's idea that reality is very different from the media's glorification of war is so evident in his collection that it comes to fruition before the collection officially begins in Turner's forward "A Soldier's Arabic." Here, the speaker describes war as "a language made of blood" (1), meaning that war is gruesome, bloody, and something not to be taken lightly, a sentiment present throughout the collection. Then, in the lyric poem "The Day of Repatriation," the author includes three three-line stanzas in which the speaker expresses his desire to die among his peers in a hospital where "they will write [his] name" (27 ) instead of dying in the war and being lost and forgotten by his loved ones. To bring out the reality of war in this poem, the speaker describes in the first stanza how “the skeletons rest in their boxes / twenty years later still gaping, / as if amazed at their own deaths.” (27) This explains how quick and shocking the idea of death is even for those who go to war knowing that there is a good chance of dying. This idea of being surprised by death is very different from the media idea that death is an honor, as exemplified in various types of media. An example are films like "Top Gun" and "Black Hawk Down", films in which the death of a soldier is considered honorable, as is a soldier killing someone on the enemy side. the speaker wants to “lie among them / be wrapped in sheets like the flag” (27). From this quote we can deduce that the speaker is tired and worn out from his time at war. It is as if the speaker is saying that dying is the only way to get the rest he is seeking and that he would rather die and be buried with "the colors of his nation" (27) than continue fighting. This is the opposite of what citizens expect from a soldier because the media, including propaganda spread by branches of the military, tell society that being a soldier will give you an adrenaline rush and give you a new purpose every day. Likewise, on "Repatriation Day",the lyric poem "Sadiq", written in a nine-line stanza, deals with the aspect of death. Initially, the form in which the poem was written stands out to readers. It's not often that a poem is written in one stanza. Turner uses the form of this poem to mirror the way people diethe hand of weapons in war is killed with one long, painful motion, turning the poem into one long stanza with few complete breaks in the narrative. The way the speaker in Sadiq positions killing is the opposite if the mass media describes weapons and their role in war. war. In a newscast, MSNBC's Brains Williams described the war as "driven by the beauty of our weapons." This description of war and the use of weapons implies that the destruction caused by weapons is also "beautiful". In Turner's poem Sadiq the speaker counters Cohen's glorification of war by stating that using a weapon to kill someone should "strand you in a wilderness / of irrevocable desolation, the consequences / burned into the vein" (56). If this reality were what the media conveyed instead of the glorification of war, our culture would be much less reluctant to engage in wars than it is now. Furthermore, the culture of movies and video games would be much less violent, leaving fewer pro-violence ideals in the minds of young and old. However, instead of addressing the desire to die, like other poems such as "The Day of Repatriation", Sadiq's speaker explains what it feels like to end the life of another human being in a war situation. The speaker describes the effect of killing by saying that it should make the killer "tremble and sweat" (56) and that "it should break your heart to kill" (56) another living being. It is this idea that is lost in the glorification of war by the media.When a soldier kills someone, it is seen through the media as if he or she is defending their country and honor While they should be seen as taking another life. the lyric poem "What Every Soldier Should Know" is not about death in war but about what a soldier must know to successfully experience a war. Written in fourteen bifilar stanzas, the structure of this poem indicates that it is not intended to be just one poem but also a list containing instructions that explain to soldiers how to overcome the war unscathed since war is an unpredictable and very dangerous situation. In the first stanza of the instruction list that is “What Every Soldier Should Know,” the speaker tells readers that in war “if you hear gunshots on Thursday afternoon, / it might be for a wedding, or it might be for you.” (9) The speaker is simply telling the readers that just because there is gunshots does not mean it is enemy fire, it could also be for a celebration so don't assume quickly and respond to the gunshots immediately. On the other hand, video games and movies tell both soldiers and society that to protect themselves they must respond immediately to gunfire because all gunfire is intended to kill. Furthermore, the speaker says, especially in the Middle East war "o-guff! Tera armeek is rarely useful. / means stop! Or I shoot. / Sabah el Khari is effective. / means good morning." (9) Through these two stanzas, the speaker tries to say that positivity and kindness play a greater role in bringing about change than violence and threats. When a soldier comes into contact with people in a war-torn country, they will begin to trust him more than when they use force. Often films and video games, as well as the media, show war as a soldier making his way into cities, killing or wounding all of its people and" 7, 2017.
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