The Beach:

She looked round her as if to find the man he once had been. There were other women on the beach, women in black and old men and children with buckets and spades, people of the town. They seemed to be glad to be alive. No one seemed to be thinking of the war

Throughout this semester we have seen many instances in which “no one seemed to be thinking of the war”, however, in this short story we also get the statement, “They seemed to be glad to be alive”. Why has the author chosen to use the phrase of ‘seeming’ to be something with reference to the effects of war? And do you think the wounded man is “glad to be alive”?

Moonlight:

Within this story, we are presented with many images and details regarding the comfortability with the ‘Pain’ and suffering of war. For example, the narrator constantly reminds us of her hatred for the smell of freshly mown hay despite her love for the smell of the mud and blood. Do you think this is simply a case of ‘being used to it’ or is there something deeper being said?

Rosa:

In this story we hear of a physically strong man who attempted suicide, but survived a shot to the head. After his initial survival, we learn of the fact that he will be court marshalled and then shot dead for his attempt. We have seen in other texts this semester how making an example of someone mattered more than their life itself, what are your opinions on this and how do you think it impacted the war?

In today’s class I mentioned a poem that reminded me of the idea of ‘doing it for your county’ and not, ’doing it for your country’. The poem was one I remembered really enjoying but had unfortunately forgotten the name of; thank you professor Scanlon for reminding me! But I wanted to share the poem for anyone who was interested or if anyone just enjoys poetry in general like myself.

Although there are very different circumstances between the two soldiers, one from England fighting for Britain and the other from Ireland fighting for Britain, they share the same love for their close knit communities over the whole of Britain or Ireland. We have sort of seen the opposite of this love for home this semester with Paul etc. but I just enjoy this poem from an Irishman’s perspective as an Irishman myself.

~ Reece Anderson