Suicide in the trenches

The message portrayed in the poet's 'Suicide in the trenches' is that war is not how it is percieved, before you go you know nothing of the hardships and aft you are changed forever but those who dont go could never grasp the reality of war. This message is effectively conveyd with tremendous force through the poet's used of poetic language and to the point sentences. The message is brought to the audience the image of this simple soldier boy who 'grinned at life in empty joy' meaning he didnt know how good he had it until it was taken from him. The poet then went on to state 'he put a bullet through his brain', a simple and impactful sentence that leaves nothing to think over, nothing to the imagination. His finishing phrase 'sneak home and pray you'll never know, the hell where youth and laughter go.' by this the poet is telling the audience that the crowd who greets the soldiers is just like the simple soldier boy, looking at life with empty joy, not knowing anything, not a glimpse of what war truly is.

Gallipoli Practice Introduction

Young men go to war because it provides them with the opportunity for adventure.

To what extent is this borne out by Peter Weir's film 'Gallipoli'?

Most soldiers in the movie 'Gallipoli' were predominately influenced to go to war because it provided them with the opportunity for adventure; however, soon every soldier realised that war, although an adventure, was not like they had previously envisaged. A majority of young soldiers joined war, even faking their ages like in Archie's case, because of the sense of adventure, to be able to travel and meet new people and fight for their country. Although, there are others who join out of pressure or patriotic duty, there are those who have half a clue of what to expect, but even those men were shocked at the harsh reality of what was to come. War is thrilling and exciting, spontaneous and unorganised but it is also brutal and lonely, grim and depressing - none of the soldiers new what to expect before they went, committed to take part in a living nightmare.