Wilfred Owen s Poem Anthem For A Doomed Youth And ...

Wilfred Owen’s encapsulates the authentic experiences of the soldiers from war which creates a strong sense of relation between the poems and the responder. The composer expresses their suffering through contradictory interpretations of war’s brutality and the futile sacrifice of youthful soldiers. In the poems ‘Anthem For A Doomed Youth’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ the theme of the brutal reality of the deaths in war, brings the word of Owen’s poems to flesh for the reader. This evokes an emotional response from the responder, engaging with and creating a sentimental relationship with the reader. By the use of powerful imagery and emotive language, Owen evokes realism to the responder, placing them into the front lines of war, making them empathise the reality and brutality of war. Hence, the audience feels guilt and sorrow towards the youthful soldiers, therefore the poems do not let the reader view the soldiers’ experiences fro m a comfortable distance, rather manifesting the reality of war from the composer to the reader In Owen’s poem, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori’ Owen uses a pattern of anti-heroic and gruesome imagery to challenge the notion that it is â€Å"sweet and becoming to die for one’s country;† he seeks to expose the indignity of death and the lasting psychological effects of watching countless men die in battle. Owen highlights the authentic,typical horrific death of the soldiers. Owen begins to tell his story, indirectly addressing the audience that heShow MoreRelatedWilfred Owen1266 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is Wilfred Owen’s attitude towards WW1 and how is this shown through his poetry? Wilfred Owen was a soldier during world war one. Many of his poems were published posthumously, and now well renowned. His poems were also heavily influenced by his good friend and fellow soldier Siegfried Sassoon. Wilfred Owen was tragically killed one week before the end of the war. During the war Wilfred Owen had strong feelings towards the use of propaganda and war in general, this was due to the horrors heRead MoreThe Most Enduring Phenomena Spawned The Great War Created A Literal Response1564 Words   |  7 Pagesaware that as time passes, our imaginative existence has changed dramatically by a number of traumatic experiences. We, are ALL Wilfred Owen. One of the most enduring phenomena spawned The Great War created a literal response which evoked from its immediate participants, the soldiers. Owen writes with intense focus on war as an extraordinary human experience. The poems also document other experiences, such as human cruelty and suffering which are carefully structured to convey meaning, and throughRead MoreDulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth915 Words   |  4 Pageswere used to achieve this. In the two poems, Dulce et Decorum est., and Anthem for Doomed Youth, both written by Wilfred Owen, the author’s main purpose was to expose the true horrors of World War II and to challenge the romanticized view of war that poets such as Rupert Brooke held. To achieve this, Owen used familiar imagery techniques of similes and personification, and sound devices such as onomatopoeia and alliteration. In Dulce et Decorum est., Owen used the techniques of similes, †BentRead MoreWilfred Life Of Wilfred Owen914 Words   |  4 PagesWilfred Owen Poetry Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was an English poet and soldier, whose renowned compositions were distinguished in their delivery of a tenacious condemnation of the First World War. Born, 18 March 1893 in Oswestry, Shropshire, Owen commenced his poetic endeavours through his adolescence, and after having completed his schooling, soon became a teaching assistant and aspired for vocational pursuits. However, these were soon disparaged with the eminence of the Fist World War, and inRead MoreWilfred Owen s The Sentry And Dulce Et Decorum Est1100 Words   |  5 PagesWilfred Owen poems ‘The Sentry’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ contain a myriad of both shocking and realistic war experiences on a microscopic level. Wilfred Owen a company officer talks about his egregious exposure to war and how war contaminates life and existence of humans. In both poems the 1st stanza implies the threats and life in war, which then springboards us to the physical effect of one specif ic soldier and the thirds stanza he relives the inescapable experience and ends the poem with a bleakRead MoreThe Fury Of Aerial Bombardment1332 Words   |  6 Pages Onyekere 1 Chinelo Onyekere Julie Rea Eng 112 31-7-2014 â€Å"The Fury of Aerial Bombardment†, â€Å"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner†, â€Å" Anthem For Doomed Youth and â€Å" Dulce Et Decorum Est† Denotation and Connotation Denotation refers to the concrete meaning or dictionary definition of a word or words, while Connotation refers to the emotional implications and associationsRead More Comparing the poems Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth2221 Words   |  9 PagesComparing the poems Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth, comment on the poets use of language and poetic technique showing how successful he is in conveying his message. Comparing the poems Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth, comment on the poets use of language and poetic technique showing how successful he is in conveying his message. Comparing the poems Dulce Et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth, comment on the poets use of language andRead MoreThe War Of The World War I1593 Words   |  7 Pagesimportant in today s society as they provide representation for the disadvantaged and foster a sense of hope for change in the world. During his life Wilfred Owen, the famous war poet, lived under many titles: he was a son, a brother, a student, a teacher, a fighter, an inpatient, a war poet and most importantly, an advocate. This essay addresses his most eminent poems, contrasting the ways in which war was promoted versus the true reality of war, as well as the ways in which Owen gave a voice to theRead MoreThe History of The Old Lie and Poetry of Wilfred Owen2490 Words   |  10 PagesThe History of The Old Lie and Poetry of Wilfred Owen Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori is a Latin saying that was expressed by the roman poet Horace. It means It is sweet and fitting to die for your country. When Owen wrote his poetry based on his experience of the Great War he did not agree with this saying; he wrote poetry that was full of horror yet told the truth. Therefore he called this saying the old lie. Owen called it this because war was no longerRead MoreAn Analysis Of Wilfred Owens Poetry1017 Words   |  5 Pagesas Owen now saw it, was to warn; to see and, speaking, to make others see† - J.Boshell, ​The Pity of War ​ Wilfred Owen challenges the rampant propaganda of war through his poetry as he shines light on the nature of war through his personal view and experience of it. This is represented in his poetry, on the truth of war allowing for the reader to further understand the atrocities committed during this time. This is a salient point in his poems Anthem for doomed youth, and Dulce et decorum thus

Wetback Essay - 780 Words

â€Å"Wetback† Through my life I have usually been on the receiving end of racist comments, such as wetback fieldworker etc. In seventh grade I had to go to a public school because of moving reasons and that is where the comments started. I can honestly say that it was the worst experience of my life. There were only two Mexican in my class; I was one of them. The other student was also Mexican, but the catch was that he was a well know soccer player. I also played soccer, but I was not the all-pro player. Since he was so good and so well know no one ever said a word to him. The first day at school everyone was nice to me. The first couple days were great, Everyone was friendly and willing to accept me. Going into my second week of school I†¦show more content†¦I turned and Chad was standing there. Chad said â€Å"I warned you, you cotton piker.† I naturally backed off because it was not worth fighting about. From that point on everyone considered me the â€Å"Wimp who can not stan d up for himself.† For the rest of the year my life was a living hell. The only time anyone talked to me is when someone would make a racist comment. Half way through the soccer season I had to quit because I was treated like an outcast from my fellow members and the coach. Later on the year a kid named Matt Flyn made a racial comment. I was in such a bad mood so I punched him in the face. The fight was broken up right away, and we were both sent to the principal ‘s office. When we got there, I was the one that was punished and Matt was left off with no punishment. I found out later that week that the principal was racist against Hispanics. I had no idea what to do, so I just left it and told no one Both my parents and the school guidance counselor noticed that I was having some problems. I refused to tell anyone what was matter with me, and told everyone to just leave me alone. That was first time I felt worthless thing in the world. Just because I dated a white girl, a nd because I was Mexican they demoralized to me. About month a later, I looked at everyone that picked on me. I noticed that the kids. I went to school with were never taught what discrimination can do to someone, mentally and physically. In the world today, there are a variety ofShow MoreRelatedThe Second Documentary Was Called Wetback Essay1859 Words   |  8 Pages The second documentary was called â€Å"Wetback†. It was about the Latin or South Americans and the difficult journey to sneak into America. This documentary was also tied in with symbolic interactionist perspective. The first term that refers to the documentary â€Å"Wetback† is stereotype. This is basically when someone assumes you are like others of the same race, gender, age and other descriptive labels others can give you. In this film, the two main characters where Nayo and Milton. They are two menRead MoreRhetorical Analysis: Border War: Battle over Illegal Immigration1024 Words   |  5 Pagesim migration is through the eyes of the immigrants, and the reasons why they might be trying migrate to another country. The documentary Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary focuses on the issue from this point of view. This documentary uses pathos and logos to show the lives and hardships of those people who are trying to migrate to a new country. Although Wetback used many examples of pathos and logos to show the struggles of the migrants, Border War did a better job showing pathos by following theRead MoreImmigration Policies During Mexican Immigration Across The Border From The Mid 20th Century Into The 21st Century1627 Words   |  7 Pagesend. Operation Wetback (1954) Due to the ineffectiveness of the initial Act and the continuous influx of immigrants, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service initiated the Operation Wetback Program in 1954 in order to minimize the number of illegal Mexicans with the partnership of the US Border Patrol to discourage immigrant entry into the US. In order to cross the border from Mexico into the US, Mexicans would be found swimming across the Rio Grande river (hence the term â€Å"wetback†), so authoritiesRead MoreEssay on Bracero Program692 Words   |  3 Pages Wages paid to legal contracted braceros were low. As well, these workers often encountered poor substandard living conditions. Many braceros left contracted work to return to home or to find better paying jobs. These braceros became known as â€Å"wetbacks. Farmers and ranchers became dependent on a low-cost, docile, illegal labor force. The search for jobs began to move the illegal immigrants farther north into Texas and California. However, there were still many braceros that continued to work underRead MoreCulture And The Culture Of Immigrants984 Words   |  4 PagesCulture/pg. 34: the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that characterize a group and are passed from one generation to the next. In the video documentary called Wetback, the culture of immigrants was very thoroughly seen. All of them struggle to find work at their home country, and they want nothing more than to provide for themselves and their family. They manage to live off of very little, but it is not enough and is obviously not the best way to go throughRead MoreSummary Of Ruth Gomberg Munoz s Labor And Legality1187 Words   |  5 Pagesundocumented workers. If any of these undocumented workers were picked up, they’d be sent back to Mexico â€Å"where Department of Labor officials were waiting to process the deportees and send them back to work as braceros† through a campaign called â€Å"Operation Wetback† (Gomberg-Muà ±oz 2011). Cheap labor was incredibly appealing, and the U.S. wanted laborers to flood in as much as possible, only on their terms of course because then visas were now much, much harder to get. There was much hypocrisy in the laws andRead MoreIf You Cross The River You Are A Criminal2191 Words   |  9 Pages† In my opinion, it is criminal that we waste money on the deporting system versus helping to civilize the southern countries. In The Harvest, immigrants in the U.S faced the risks of making incomes like $64/week and not getting paid. The film Wetbacks showed the perspective of the people South of the U.S borders. Families in the Latin America s average up to $70/month. Two dollars a day won t buy one person a day food, let alone a family. Almost everything is done by hand; breaking rocks, transportingRead MoreIllegal Immigration From Latin America Is On The News All1095 Words   |  5 PagesOperation Wetback in 1954 with the goal of deporting residents who did not have the right to legally reside in the United States (Phillips, 2014). Due to the wording of the operation, many people were deported after having their civil rights violated by officials; becaus e of this, there has been no similar measure passed by congress to actively seek to deport individuals since. In recent time the closest legislation that dealt with illegal immigration that has been passed since Operation Wetback was theRead MoreTheu.s. Obama And Donald Trump1339 Words   |  6 PagesAmerica should be made up of different races, religions and nationalities. (Tichenor, page 215). Another extremely interesting and relevant point in American history is Operation Wetback. The illegal immigrant debate was a big topic in the late twentieth century as it is today. In 1954, Eisenhower led Operation Wetback, a huge military and police roundup of undocumented aliens. It resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans. However, two decades later, a similar operation was ruledRead MoreMexican Immigration And The United States1676 Words   |  7 Pagestell† agreement between employer, employee and even authorities, allowing for the poor circumstances in wh ich these men lived to persist. The term â€Å"wetback† was coined to these undocumented workers. In order to address the increasing numbers of illegal immigration initiated, ironically, by the Bracero Program, U.S. border patrol introduced Operation Wetback from 1943 to 1954. (Hernà ¡ndez, 2006) A rather large number of U.S. border patrol officers were given the task to seek out, detain, and deport unauthorized

Adrienne Rich on Power in Society Free Essays

Adrienne Rich on power in society Introduction The theme that interested me most in the poems by Adrienne Rich was the inadequacy of language as a means of communication. Rich shows that the reason for this lies in the way language expresses power relationships in society. Often this means the unequal relationship between women and men, but also between the powerful and the powerless. We will write a custom essay sample on Adrienne Rich on Power in Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now This theme is touched upon in almost every poem we studied, from Rich’s early poems to those written later. To illustrate how Rich explores this theme I will look in detail at â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers†, â€Å"The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room†, â€Å"Our Whole Life†. Paragraph 1 In â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers†, Rich creates a fantastic image of the aunt’s nonverbal communication through her tapestry. The poem opens with a vivid picture of the colourful, energetic alive world depicted on the tapestry. The aunt infuses the world of the tigers with many of the attributes she misses in her own life: a sense of being truly alive and in tune with the environment, and a state of fearlessness: â€Å"They do not fear the men beneath the tree/ They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. The ee- sound in these lines introduces a note of terror that heralds what is to come. Indeed the phrasing suggests a reason for fear from men. The feelings that the aunt is projecting into her artwork, her own fears and desires are developed in the middle stanza. Her shaking, fearful hands â€Å"fingers fluttering† are very vivid and the fact that they find the â€Å"needle hard to pull† suggests physical weakness and contrasts very much wi th the tigers. Paragraph 2 The reason for this weakness is â€Å"Uncle’s wedding band/ Sits heavily† on her â€Å"hand†. The possessive â€Å"Uncle’s† suggests that this is a one-way marriage that drains all life out of the aunt. Her hands come to represent her person in this poem and it is the hands that do the ‘talking’. The Uncle’s power over her seems to continue in death â€Å"When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie/ Still ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by. † However, her unspoken, yet very articulate legacy remains: â€Å"The tigers in the panel that she made/ Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid. The tigers represent happiness, confidence and thereby beauty. Interestingly, this image of self-determination and sense of entitlement to the world is projected into the jungle, i. e. outside of society. This is where freedom exists and Aunt’s art gives expression to this. Paragraph 3 In contrast to Aunt Jennifer’s indirect communication, â€Å"The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room† is the dramatic monologue of a wealthy , powerful man. He speaks as a representative of the ruling class looking out at a group of discontent working people. These people have neither wealth nor power. They have gathered outside his big house to express their anger at this inequality. The uncle’s attempt to convey confidence and reassurance to his family is undermined by the images of anger outside. The poem’s sound expresses this threat. O- sounds and S-sounds dominate: â€Å"Standing sullen in the square [†¦] Some have held and fingered stones. † As the poem develops, the Uncle’s own fear becomes clear. The image of â€Å"glass† echoes and comes to symbolise â€Å"class†. He admits that the â€Å"frailties of glass [†¦] Lead in times like these to fear/ For crystal vase and chandelier. † Even his reassurance â€Å"None as yet dare lift an arm† achieves the opposite – the suggestion of an uncertain future, â€Å"arm† in fact has two meanings in this context! Paragraph 4 In fact the two most vivid images in the poem are the angry crowd outdoors on the one hand and the terrified forefather (indoors – like this family) on the other: â€Å"When our grandsire stood aghast/ To see his antique ruby bowl/ Shivered in a thunder-roll. Despite his attempts to reassure, the Uncle admits to deep unease at the end of the poem regarding the precarious position of his class as â€Å"We stand between the dead glass-blowers/ And murmurings of missile-throwers. † In terms of the theme of language, the Uncle uses it to express his position as a powerful wealthy man. Although his fears still become clear, it is still a useful tool for him. The workers outside do not have a voice, their language is not verbal: â€Å"sullen stares†, â€Å"bitter tones† and holding â€Å"stones†. There is no common language between the powerful and the powerless. Paragraph 5 â€Å"Our Whole Life† was written later. There is a stark change in terms of form to the previous two poems. It is written in free verse and uses no punctuation whatever. This in itself indicates Rich’s thinking about language and the ability to express truth. Here, she strips it of its traditional appearance. In terms of theme, â€Å"Our Whole Life† explores the shocking gulf between the powerful and the powerless at a new level. Language has failed the powerless completely. Language is used to manipulate people’s thoughts about the world, â€Å"rendered into the oppressor’s language†. In an incredibly vivid image Rich depicts language as a violent and self-destructive wild animal: â€Å"and now a knot of lies/ eating at itself to get undone/ Words bitten thru words†. The biting and eating is enacted in the abbreviated spelling â€Å"thru†. People’s actual lives and experience cannot be told: â€Å"meanings burnt-off like paint/ under the blowtorch/ All those dead letters/ rendered into the oppressor’s language†. Paragraph 6 This poem places one shocking image after the other and language has become an instrument in a very violent world. The vision goes much further than in â€Å"The Uncle Speaks†, it encompasses the whole world and is in essence apocalyptic. The image of the burning Algerian walking away from his village to a doctor with no words to describe is pain is haunting: â€Å"his whole body a cloud of pain/ and there are no words for this/ except himself†. The absence of punctuation and in particular of a concluding full stop suggests the ongoing nature of the problem. Language has completely and disastrously failed its purpose as a means of communication between humans. In conclusion, Rich has opened up for me a way of looking at language that in some ways coincides with my own thinking and experience. However, she takes it unflinchingly and with amazing honesty and courage to a final analysis. She creates in her poetry unforgettable images for how women and all the powerless have been deprived of a means of expressing themselves. Language is an instrument of the powerful. Although Rich’s poetry is a reflection of radical feminism and political struggle in the USA during the 6os and 70s I feel that what if conveys is as true now as it was then. How to cite Adrienne Rich on Power in Society, Papers Adrienne Rich on Power in Society Free Essays Adrienne Rich on power in society Introduction The theme that interested me most in the poems by Adrienne Rich was the inadequacy of language as a means of communication. Rich shows that the reason for this lies in the way language expresses power relationships in society. Often this means the unequal relationship between women and men, but also between the powerful and the powerless. We will write a custom essay sample on Adrienne Rich on Power in Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now This theme is touched upon in almost every poem we studied, from Rich’s early poems to those written later. To illustrate how Rich explores this theme I will look in detail at â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers†, â€Å"The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room†, â€Å"Our Whole Life†. Paragraph 1 In â€Å"Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers†, Rich creates a fantastic image of the aunt’s nonverbal communication through her tapestry. The poem opens with a vivid picture of the colourful, energetic alive world depicted on the tapestry. The aunt infuses the world of the tigers with many of the attributes she misses in her own life: a sense of being truly alive and in tune with the environment, and a state of fearlessness: â€Å"They do not fear the men beneath the tree/ They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. The ee- sound in these lines introduces a note of terror that heralds what is to come. Indeed the phrasing suggests a reason for fear from men. The feelings that the aunt is projecting into her artwork, her own fears and desires are developed in the middle stanza. Her shaking, fearful hands â€Å"fingers fluttering† are very vivid and the fact that they find the â€Å"needle hard to pull† suggests physical weakness and contrasts very much wi th the tigers. Paragraph 2 The reason for this weakness is â€Å"Uncle’s wedding band/ Sits heavily† on her â€Å"hand†. The possessive â€Å"Uncle’s† suggests that this is a one-way marriage that drains all life out of the aunt. Her hands come to represent her person in this poem and it is the hands that do the ‘talking’. The Uncle’s power over her seems to continue in death â€Å"When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie/ Still ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by. † However, her unspoken, yet very articulate legacy remains: â€Å"The tigers in the panel that she made/ Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid. The tigers represent happiness, confidence and thereby beauty. Interestingly, this image of self-determination and sense of entitlement to the world is projected into the jungle, i. e. outside of society. This is where freedom exists and Aunt’s art gives expression to this. Paragraph 3 In contrast to Aunt Jennifer’s indirect communication, â€Å"The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room† is the dramatic monologue of a wealthy , powerful man. He speaks as a representative of the ruling class looking out at a group of discontent working people. These people have neither wealth nor power. They have gathered outside his big house to express their anger at this inequality. The uncle’s attempt to convey confidence and reassurance to his family is undermined by the images of anger outside. The poem’s sound expresses this threat. O- sounds and S-sounds dominate: â€Å"Standing sullen in the square [†¦] Some have held and fingered stones. † As the poem develops, the Uncle’s own fear becomes clear. The image of â€Å"glass† echoes and comes to symbolise â€Å"class†. He admits that the â€Å"frailties of glass [†¦] Lead in times like these to fear/ For crystal vase and chandelier. † Even his reassurance â€Å"None as yet dare lift an arm† achieves the opposite – the suggestion of an uncertain future, â€Å"arm† in fact has two meanings in this context! Paragraph 4 In fact the two most vivid images in the poem are the angry crowd outdoors on the one hand and the terrified forefather (indoors – like this family) on the other: â€Å"When our grandsire stood aghast/ To see his antique ruby bowl/ Shivered in a thunder-roll. Despite his attempts to reassure, the Uncle admits to deep unease at the end of the poem regarding the precarious position of his class as â€Å"We stand between the dead glass-blowers/ And murmurings of missile-throwers. † In terms of the theme of language, the Uncle uses it to express his position as a powerful wealthy man. Although his fears still become clear, it is still a useful tool for him. The workers outside do not have a voice, their language is not verbal: â€Å"sullen stares†, â€Å"bitter tones† and holding â€Å"stones†. There is no common language between the powerful and the powerless. Paragraph 5 â€Å"Our Whole Life† was written later. There is a stark change in terms of form to the previous two poems. It is written in free verse and uses no punctuation whatever. This in itself indicates Rich’s thinking about language and the ability to express truth. Here, she strips it of its traditional appearance. In terms of theme, â€Å"Our Whole Life† explores the shocking gulf between the powerful and the powerless at a new level. Language has failed the powerless completely. Language is used to manipulate people’s thoughts about the world, â€Å"rendered into the oppressor’s language†. In an incredibly vivid image Rich depicts language as a violent and self-destructive wild animal: â€Å"and now a knot of lies/ eating at itself to get undone/ Words bitten thru words†. The biting and eating is enacted in the abbreviated spelling â€Å"thru†. People’s actual lives and experience cannot be told: â€Å"meanings burnt-off like paint/ under the blowtorch/ All those dead letters/ rendered into the oppressor’s language†. Paragraph 6 This poem places one shocking image after the other and language has become an instrument in a very violent world. The vision goes much further than in â€Å"The Uncle Speaks†, it encompasses the whole world and is in essence apocalyptic. The image of the burning Algerian walking away from his village to a doctor with no words to describe is pain is haunting: â€Å"his whole body a cloud of pain/ and there are no words for this/ except himself†. The absence of punctuation and in particular of a concluding full stop suggests the ongoing nature of the problem. Language has completely and disastrously failed its purpose as a means of communication between humans. In conclusion, Rich has opened up for me a way of looking at language that in some ways coincides with my own thinking and experience. However, she takes it unflinchingly and with amazing honesty and courage to a final analysis. She creates in her poetry unforgettable images for how women and all the powerless have been deprived of a means of expressing themselves. Language is an instrument of the powerful. Although Rich’s poetry is a reflection of radical feminism and political struggle in the USA during the 6os and 70s I feel that what if conveys is as true now as it was then. How to cite Adrienne Rich on Power in Society, Papers

Capitalism and Modernity free essay sample

â€Å"To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world and, at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are. † – Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, (Verso, London, 1988 p. 1). Drawing on a variety of sociologists writings on modernity explain the idea of modernity as both positive and negative. Modernity is defined in the Collins English Dictionary as the quality or state of being modern. (Hanks 1979) This state of modernity, as described by M. Berman, is one that has positive and negative influences on both the private and public spheres. The modern world in which we live is one that is heavily influenced by the havoc of war and the ongoing process of capitalism. In order to understand the complexities of modernity, one must weigh its pros and cons. Ex-Cambridge Lecturer and sociologist T. Bilton pinpointed the origins of modernity to be during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. He discusses the slow industrialisation, new attitudes towards capitalism, and mass urbanisation. These attributes of modernity saw positive growth in wealth and the creation of bigger and more fluid markets. The trends that originated in 1780s England were to soon spread globally, with an increasing concentration of workers in larger workplaces, in tandem with deteriorating work conditions and an increase in the formation of unions. Thus, despite the periodic economic advantages of the modernisation in the workplace, there was a significant degradation of the social structure that supported the workforce as a whole. The growing distance between employee and employer, in addition to the sharpening gender and age difference, was a ‘disadvantageous’ consequence of a capitalist economy gone so right. Modernity had seen grand economic ‘advantages’ throughout the Industrial Revolution, in both England and the rest of the world as colonialism and exploration catalysed the process of globalisation. However, both the social life and political structures began to change in a ‘disadvantageous’ fashion. The so-called ‘rational’ bureaucratic system that was born from the process of modernity posed a serious threat to the social structure of any nation that had endured the Industrial Revolution. As T. Bilton asserts: â€Å"These systems of rational thought and organisation can be inhuman or dehumanising, and, ironically, in some circumstances they can be irrational and inefficient. † (Bilton 2002) Thus, it was the process of modernity, especially that of the growth of capitalism, that saw both ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’ in communities worldwide. The extremities of these economic and social advantages and disadvantages of capitalism can find their sources in the process of modernity itself. This point is illustrated by the Marxist scholar E. M. Wood with her statement: â€Å"In the evolutionary process leading from early forms of exchange to modern industrial capitalism, modernity kicks in when these shackled economic forces, and the economic rationality of the bourgeois, are liberated from traditional constraints. † (Wood 1997) Hence, modernity had created some fantastic capitalistic opportunities, however, socially and politically the world was not ready for these changes. Even today’s modernised global society, multinationals and other capitalist figure-heads have blindly sought wealth at an ever increasing social cost, not only within the developed OECD countries, but also within (and more recently prominently) in the developing third worlds nations. This process of globalisation has seen the economic stimulation of many corners of the globe, and simultaneously a degradation of social structures within third world countries. On a political scale, many countries, especially those of the developing world, are not capable of facilitating large economic growth and the housing of huge amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI). Economist Chandan Sengupta illustrates this point by arguing that these social consequences, as a result of the globalisation phenomenon, are because the third world is blindly following in America’s footsteps, in an effort to develop their economy. He emphasises the importance of regulation and government control over how fast an economy is growing, in order to counteract the disadvantageous consequences of the dominance of capitalism in the developing world. â€Å"In the 10 years from 1988 to 1998 almost all governments in the world, regardless of ideology, downsized their activities while private sector expanded theirs thus gradually replacing governments as major economic players on the world scene† (Thompson 1999) Hence, the slacking of political institutions was (and currently is) the reason behind the social degradation within developing nations, who have blindly adopted a first world economic system to a third world political and social structure. In fact, political economist argues that globalisation is not ‘advantageous’ to the third world at all, alluding to the economic conditions in both China and India. He states, â€Å"†¦despite all the sound and fury of globalisation, India’s share of FDI is miserable. † (Ambirajan 2000) According to his statistics, India was receiving only $169 million when the nation was in the midst of FDI in 1990. This is far from the amount required to deal with the social issues and wealth inequality that now plague the country. Ambirajan continues his argument against globalisation, highlighting the environmental degradation in India and other developing countries, and its impact on the health of the populous. â€Å"By making even hazardous waste a tradable commodity, poor countries are induced to accept it with grave consequences for their well being. † (Ambirajan 2000) In this state of modernity, capitalism and globalisation have been predominately a disadvantage for the third world. The developed economies have reaped most of the benefits from the FDIs with huge boots to their production sector as a result of cheap international labour. This unbalanced global society is as a direct result of modernity and its influence on the dominance of capitalism in modern society. Ambirajan continues his examination of modernity, linking the effects of capitalism on society to the causes of war. â€Å"Such churning in society creates enormous tensions that result in conflict. † (Ambirajan 2000) The havoc of war is a complex aspect of modernity, which rarely provides an individual or even a nation with an ‘advantage. ’ As Chandan Sengupta asserts: â€Å"[It is the] certain global processes of modernisation such as the effects of global environmental degradation and nuclear war that have given rise to a risk society. ’† (Sengupta 2001) Not only does war and its raw destructive power pose a great ‘disadvantage’ to the global society, it also reveals many disadvantages within the process of modernity. Indian journalist Arundhati Roy explores the socio-political side to war, and how the process of modernity is changing not only the way modern conflict is fought, but also the ever-increasing manipulation of free thought by politicians and congress. Roy uses the current ‘War Against Terror’ and examines the concept of terrorism in tandem with US politics in order to illustrate these ideas. Roy introduces the reader to the modernisation of war, by stating: â€Å"Here’s the rub: America is at war against people it doesn’t know, because they don’t appear much on TV. † (Roy 2001) This dehumanises the idea of war and categorises it as a means of political gain, and a social disadvantage. She goes even further to say that the American people are being told by the government who the enemy is, and why they are fighting them, calling it â€Å"two leaps of faith. † It is this ‘modern’ type of war that forces the public to really question the purpose of conflict and the behaviour of their government in this period of modernity/ post-modernity. Additionally, Roy examines the modern phenomenon of terrorism, comparing it to the modern evolution of capitalism, cleverly saying: â€Å"Terrorism has no country. It’s transnational†¦terrorists can pull up stakes and move their â€Å"factories† from country to country in search of a better deal. † (Roy 2001) The ‘modernisation’ of war and capitalism are very closely related, and Roy emphasises this theory with her thoughts of American foreign direct investment: â€Å"Any third world country with a fragile economy and a complex social base should know by now that to invite a superpower such as America in would be like inviting a brick to drop through you windscreen† (Roy 2001) The impact of war is as much, if not a greater, ‘disadvantage’ to individuals and nations, as capitalism is capable of being. Modernity has changed the reasoning and the ways in which conflicts are resolved, making war of a more ‘disadvantageous’ nature. Like globalisation, war wreaks havoc in the countries that take part in, or are victim to, the sources of conflict. However, due to the ever-growing global community as a result of modernity, nearly every nation and individual is unfortunately brought into war. Marxist writers Ziyi Feng and Lijun Xing strongly believe that: â€Å"Capitalism is necessarily connected with modernity. Modernity developed in the capitalist society is not only a result and outward exhibition of capital logic, but is also a prerequisite and an inner mechanism of it. † (Xing 2006) Also, the development of war throughout the periods of modernity has seen an ever-increasing ‘disadvantage’ on a socio-political scale. Both capitalism and war are undeniable offspring of modernity, however neither provide an economic advantage that outweighs their social or political disadvantage. Modernity has influenced many aspects of the globe in a positive way, however its negative effects on capitalism and war are putting our global society at a disadvantage. Governments, firms and individuals globally should be rethinking the paths that these two aspects of life are taking, in order for the global society to be at an advantage as a result of modernity.