Question

Discuss the following in groups of three or four, with reference to the poem ‘Survivors’.

1. Why do people go to war?
2. Has a war ever served any purpose? Substantiate your point of view.

Answer 1

1. People may go to war to defend their country, resist an invasion, protect others, or pursue political, territorial or ideological aims.
2. The Second World War, for instance, ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany, an important purpose in resisting aggression. Yet war also causes immense loss of life, destruction and lasting psychological harm, as Sassoon’s poem shows. Its survivors may carry the conflict within them long after it ends. War can sometimes prevent a greater injustice, but its costs are so severe that peaceful solutions should always be sought first.