“The Charge of the Light Brigade” relates the heroic actions of a military unit during war. The error was made by the higher-ranking officers, but the lower-ranking cavalrymen had no real choice but to obey the order. The men’s commitment to the military code of conduct was essential to all military operations. For any man to refuse to obey would have been a dishonorable action. If one individual or just a few men had refused, he or they could be punished. If all the men refused, it would constitute an act of insubordination or even treason. This perspective is encapsulated in the now-famous line, “Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die." However, along with Tennyson’s praise of the fighting men and the value of their sacrifice, there is a touch of irony, as he implies that the overall military enterprise demands too much of the soldiers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
"Mistaken Identity" is an amusing anecdote recounted by the famous author Mark Twain about an experience he once had while traveli...
-
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
De Gouges's Declaration of the Rights of Woman was enormously influential. We can see its influences on early English feminist Mary Woll...
-
As if Hamlet were not obsessed enough with death, his uncovering of the skull of Yorick, the court jester from his youth, really sets him of...
-
In both "Volar" and "A Wall of Fire Rising," the characters are impacted by their environments, and this is indeed refle...
No comments:
Post a Comment