Question

The idea of fighting in a war and winning medals is apparently glorious but underneath this superficial glory lie its horrors. Discuss the statement with reference to bob dylan's john brown.

Answer 1

Whenever there is any talk about wars and dying as a soldier, there is a lot of glorification associated to it. People, like John Brown's mother, is proud to tell everyone that their children have gone to war and fight for the country. Blinded by the pride and glory of seeing their medals and showing off them to others, they forget to see the horror behind it- the merciless killings, the pressure and stress, physical pain and hardships, and so on. Forgetting these superficial glories and prides are a group of young citizens living their lives away in the worst of conditions, too late to turn back.

Answer 2

John Brown is a song written by Nobel prize winning American singer-song writer Bob Dylan. Written in 1962, it brings out the horrors of war and how a mother who sees her son go off to war - a heroic figure, come back home, broken both physically and mentally.

 

The mother is proud to see her son in uniform as he prepares to leave for war. She wastes no time in letting everyone know this and even bragging about how good her son looks going for ‘good old-fashioned war’. Is there a trace of arrogance in her, especially towards those mothers whose sons do not serve in the army?

 

Very soon the letters from her son on the warfront stop coming and after a long time she gets to know her son is coming back and goes to meet him at the train station. She is shocked by the sight that meets her. Her son is badly injured. Having lost a hand and wearing metal brace around his waist, he can hardly speak or walk. In a whisper he tells her about the horrors of war and how he saw that the enemy’s face was just like his. In a telling gesture, as he walks away, he drops his medals into his mother’s hand.

Using arms, fighting and killing may sound brave and heroic but what has to be borne in mind is that those calling the shots, live in safety and luxury, far away from death and destruction of war.