Question

The poem John Brown presents two attitudes to war. Describe the two attitudes. Which one do you sympathise with? Why?

Answer 1

John Brown is a touching song composed by Nobel laureate Bob Dylan. It presents two attitudes to war: the illusion nurtured by the mother and the reality as portrayed by the son.

An American mother sent John Brown to fight in a distant country. The mother was extremely proud of her kid since he “stood so straight and tall in his uniform and all.” “Oh son, you look fifty fine, I’m glad you are a son of mine,” she said to him. Then mother instructed him to obey whatever his commander said so that he would win a bunch of medals they could decorate the Wall with when he came home. She was expressing the opinion of the day that being a member of the armed services was one of the world’s most honorable and noble occupations. Mothers were proud when their sons enlisted in the military since the ideals of the time were bravery, victory, and awards. This mother fostered a beautiful delusion and dreamed of a heroic greeting for her son, arriving unharmed and triumphant from a distance. She was completely unaware of the brutal reality of war.

But she was shocked when the son returned. His hand had been blown off, his face had been shot up, and he had a metal brace around his waist, making him completely unrecognizable. His voice was hardly discernible when he talked, to the point where even his mother was unable to identify him. “Oh Lord, I can’t even identify his face!” At that point, her son shares with her the realities of the battle he endured. He questioned her about whether this was what she had desired. The young soldier discovered how awful and pointless a conflict on the battlefield could be.

John Brown remembered learning from his mother that fighting for the country was the most honorable thing to do. However, he quickly saw that it was not at all honorable. He had to battle fellow humans. “I’m tryin’ to kill somebody or die trying”. “He said with horror that, “when my enemy came close/And I noticed that his face looked like mine”. All the illusions were dashed for him. When he finally realized that he was really a puppet in a terrible performance and had been told to kill people without feeling guilty, a cannonball blew his eyes out through the smoke. The mother was devastated by the harsh reality of the son’s remarks, and her idealistic view of war was totally disproved. It also serves as a type of reality check, shattering society’s preconceived assumptions about conflict. Before leaving, the son brought his medals and handed them to her. This turns into a scathing critique of war. The medals served as a metaphor for the hollow grandeur he had gained during the conflict and the hefty price he had to pay for it.

I firmly believe that war is terrible. Only the conceit and self-interest of the powerful are served by it. It is merely a ruse to encourage youth to fight for a cause. A war is not honorable at all. It does not fix any problem. Innocent lives are being wasted. The poet’s words on the medal, which seem to mockingly inquire, “Was it worth all the suffering he went through?” demonstrate this. The question of war’s realities is harsh.