Quote:
“You heard these words: “Grant us the victory. O Lord our God!” That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words” (Twain 323)
Summary:
From the story “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain, these words are said by the stranger who entered the church in the middle of the “long” prayer. He is referring to the fact that the prayer people are making to God has two sides, and both sides are included in praying for victory.
“You heard these words: “Grant us the victory. O Lord our God!” That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words” (Twain 323)
Summary:
From the story “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain, these words are said by the stranger who entered the church in the middle of the “long” prayer. He is referring to the fact that the prayer people are making to God has two sides, and both sides are included in praying for victory.
Response:
In this story, I find the irony of war, because while people in one side are praying for victory, they want to ignore the means it will take to achieve this victory. Plus, on the other side, the “enemy” army will also be praying for victory. So I believe both sides use God to their convenience. War was a human creation; still, people rely on God whenever there is not other hope left. However, what does God has to do with people wanting to kill each other? It is pretty clear that people will create an image of God that best fits them, before realizing that they are the ones responsible for their own actions.
I think this is part of Twain’s message with this story, because, he claims that people are praying for victory and are not considering the fact that this victory will bring disgrace, suffering and unhappiness to everyone, especially to the enemy. Moreover, this quote unravels one characteristic of human nature, since we not always think about the consequences of our acts and sometimes hide behind ideas that will help us feel good about ourselves. Furthermore, the people represented in the story are self-centered, they feel they should be the ones winning victory and they should be the ones protected, but who is to say who is right? I consider this story a very clear criticism to war and not to religion, it is a criticism to people for praying nonsense to a God that has nothing to do with war. Nevertheless, it is normal to do that if they are scared, but either way, the stranger tries to show them the truth about war, and people consider him crazy. In other words, they want to remain ignorant to the truth, because they cannot accept it.
In this story, I find the irony of war, because while people in one side are praying for victory, they want to ignore the means it will take to achieve this victory. Plus, on the other side, the “enemy” army will also be praying for victory. So I believe both sides use God to their convenience. War was a human creation; still, people rely on God whenever there is not other hope left. However, what does God has to do with people wanting to kill each other? It is pretty clear that people will create an image of God that best fits them, before realizing that they are the ones responsible for their own actions.
I think this is part of Twain’s message with this story, because, he claims that people are praying for victory and are not considering the fact that this victory will bring disgrace, suffering and unhappiness to everyone, especially to the enemy. Moreover, this quote unravels one characteristic of human nature, since we not always think about the consequences of our acts and sometimes hide behind ideas that will help us feel good about ourselves. Furthermore, the people represented in the story are self-centered, they feel they should be the ones winning victory and they should be the ones protected, but who is to say who is right? I consider this story a very clear criticism to war and not to religion, it is a criticism to people for praying nonsense to a God that has nothing to do with war. Nevertheless, it is normal to do that if they are scared, but either way, the stranger tries to show them the truth about war, and people consider him crazy. In other words, they want to remain ignorant to the truth, because they cannot accept it.
2 comments:
20/20 Don't know who this guy Goldenrod is....If a friend or acquaintance, fine. If a random blogsurfer, you may want to block him/her.
Anyway I find your Masters/Doctoral thesis style quite satisfying. Because yes, there is indeed a "professor...looking over your shoulder" -- namely ME :)
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