War Like A Hero example essay topic

Tyler Crosby Mrs. Bel court Grade 12 University English Tuesday February 18, 2003 Is War Worth Dying For? Heroism is a title that soldiers are rewarded after a courageous war on the battlefield. The battlefield is where enormous numbers of people fight for justice, or for a cause they believe to be so. "On the Road to Berlin" by Ernie Pyle is an essay that explains the American invasion of Normandy in World War II. Pyle argues that nobody wins in war. "Story of War and Change" by Reza Kiarash is a personal narrative that describes the Gulf War.

Kiarash argues that not everyone who fights for their country should be titled as a hero. These authors present these arguments because of their experiences, beliefs, and the time period they grew up in. Pyle discuses war in a very negative way. He has seen the effect of war and does not belief in its worth. He talks about how " [on] the beach lay, expended, sufficient men and mechanism for a small war. They were gone forever now.

And yet we could afford it" (Pyle 358). Pyle has seen a glimpse of the lives the dead soldiers once lived. He saw the materials they brought ashore such as: pictures of family, paper to write home, diaries, and bibles. He sees war as the end of all these lives. Kiarash's experience was actually in a war. He experienced the pressure and intensity of the battle.

Kiarash saw firsthand who the heroes in that battle were. He was not against war. However, he felt that some heroes should not be named so. An example of this is when Kiarash asks the sergeant, who bragged about his own courage in the war, to help him rescue three other soldiers trapped inside a fire.

The sergeant. ".. refuses. He says that's my [Kiarash's] problem, not his" (Kiarash 364). Kiarash is disgusted with the sergeant especially since "the wounded man is his [the sergeant's] own soldier" (Kiarash 365). After the comment made by the sergeant Kiarash realized how silly he was to have believed the sergeant was a brave hero.

Pyle does not believe in war. He believes that war only causes destruction and despair. He can't see the good in a victory if hundreds of soldiers die. He believes that with all the " [men] and equipment... flowing from England in such a gigantic stream... it made the waste on the beachhead seem like nothing at all, really nothing at all" (Pyle 358-359).

Kiarash, however, doesn't believe that war is wrong. He believes that some soldiers do not deserve their hero title. He believes that some people do not act on their words of bravery. Kiarash is the hero in his story because he does not care about anything else except for saving the lives of others.

When doing CPR he is not concerned with the blood all over the wounded soldier's mouth. He doesn't even hesitate to continue after the soldier vomited into his mouth. He simply tells the ambulance driver to. ".. just drive fast. There is no time to be disgusted" (Kiarash 365). He was the only man who acted without fear.

Pyle is an older gentleman and experienced the fear of war from growing up in an unsettled time period. He created a lot of ideas on war from a young age and therefore has a strong opinion about the topic. Pyle uses sarcasm in the beginning to emphasize war as a horrible action. He talks about men lying all over the beaches of Normandy and then refers to the center of the jellyfish in the ocean where there is "a green design exactly like a four-leafed clover" (Pyle 357). Pyle states " [t] he good-luck emblem. Sure.

Hell, yes" (Pyle 357). He makes this sarcastic remark because he really wants the reader to realize that although the war was won the lives of all of these people were tragically ended. Men will die whether the war is won or not. This point aids in proving his argument that nobody wins in war. Kiarash was growing up in the actual war. He was only nineteen when he was fighting.

This was quite an influential experience for him. Kiarash's time period had taught him that in the position of a paramedic to put others' lives before his own. His time period had impacted him positively in turning him into a hero in his story. By being so young, when the idea of war was introduced to him, Kiarash did not have the chance to make up his own mind about war. He does not talk negatively about the war in the story because of his upbringing. He, through war, learned that all soldiers are not worthy of the hero title.

He explains in the end of his story that "I am proud of myself and glad that I've not changed like that sergeant" (Kiarash 366). War is a life changing event. A person's experience, beliefs, and the time period they lived in affect the way people deal with war. Kiarash dealt with war like a hero but realized that others were not so brave as to live up to their words. Pyle grew a hate for war and its effects after understanding the casualties that war brings.

It is truly sad to think that so many soldiers fought on a battlefield for a freedom they never saw. Was this freedom worth dying for?