Reaction Paper 2 and 3

The topic of war is easily a more popular topic that both local, and well taut writers base short stories upon. Though many stories have been written, only few have been able to effectively portray the theme of the effects of war on the human mind throughout a story. An example of the successful and failed attempts are shown within the short stories An Episode of War, by Stephen Crane, and War, by Jason Austin, because though both authors use certain methods to display the theme, one author was more effective than the other
    Though both stories contain one character that the whole story revolves upon, one of the stories actually demonstrates the impact the war has had on him, while the other story failed to do so. In Stephen Crane’s short story, the protagonist, who is not given a name, clearly shows an overwhelming physiological breakdown while attempting to get help for the wound on his arm and when he finally returns home from combat, only to be seen as a completely different man. In the story by Jason Austin, the theme is not nearly as effectively portrayed as it was in the last story. Instead of describing character emotion, both through description and dialogue, the author chooses to solely tell the reader what action is occurring, and what the character is going through, making a valid connection between the reader and character virtually impossible, rendering them clueless to any change or effect that the war brought upon the character.
    As opposed to Austin, Crane was very effective in describing his protagonist, and his supporting characters, though they were not assigned a major role, to further intensify the feeling of emotional distress the reader experiences from the situation. He portrays the protagonist’s feelings particularly well when describing his facial expression during the examination of his wound, “He wore the look of one who knows he is the victim of a terrible disease and understands his helplessness.” (Crane, page 1) With a visual image put into the head of the reader, accompanied with an intensely described feeling of sorrow and pain, it is easy to relate with the pain of the character and see exactly what the war has done to him. Meanwhile, Austin wasn’t as creative with his approach, mainly focusing on solely on the action that the character was in, disregarding his feeling about what was occurring. Though both stories mentioned family and the effect that they had on the characters at war, the use of dialogue made the connection between the effect of the war and their family stronger, “When he reached home, his sisters, his mother, his wife sobbed for a long time at the sight of the flat sleeve. ‘Oh, well,’ he said, standing shamefaced amid these tears, ’don't suppose it matters so much as all that.’ “ showing the traumatic effect, not only on the main character, but on his family as well.
    Though both stories are different in their levels of applying its theme, nevertheless, each story contributed its own feeling and attitude. An Episode of War produced a more dramatic mood by describing the fear within the lieutenant’s men, and the dull, lifeless attitude of the lieutenant himself, while in War, though the character doesn’t express much feeling, there is still a feeling of intense, life threatening combat, mainly shown during the protagonist’s close call with the musket, and his eventual death or capture during his experience with a roadside bomb. Though both stories captured a strong feeling, the feeling within An Episode of War was more on point with supporting the theme.
    In conclusion, though the topic of war is an alluring subject for many short story writers, some writers are simply better at displaying a theme better than others. With the stories, An Episode of War, and War, there is a clear difference in which some writers are able to put forth a theme when describing a certain event. The writing style and themes may seem unconnected, but are actually intertwined within every story, no matter what them a writer is writing for.