Your Death Would Be Mine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Your Death Would Be Mine - Essay Example The book offers a glimpse into French life and times, and also reveals how the character of rural France was changed forever. One of the most important details the book looks at is the, altering of the bucolic rural lifestyle. The war claimed the lives of the men who tilled the land, and the women were alone to manage the family farm, and look after the children, as in the case of Marie, a sick infant. In France, the military is seen more as a â€Å"social and political institution† (Bell & Marta) and stories dealing with time of war, concern themselves more with the changes wrought by war in the social sphere, than its military operations. The Great War as WWI is at times known, as a catastrophe of unimaginable proportion, leaving behind in its wake a decimated population, an economy in shambles and all around misery for the general populace. Yet, the French soldiered on towards victory, which research has proved, was not so much the result of military accomplishments, but the tenacity and stoicism of the ordinary French civilians (Marta & Bell). Paul and Marie, were a young newlywed, peasant couple who lived in the southwest of France during World War I. Ever sincethen, Paul had to stay away from home since he had to serve in the army from 1914 to 1919. Martha Hanna paints a vivid picture revealing a very powerful and personal perspective of the devastating war. Hundreds of letters exchanged between the couple, helped both the combatants and civilians experience a sort of emotional commitment, which brought untold misery and pain suffered due to the absence of their loved ones. While Paul vividly narrated with great intensity and poetic clarity, about the atrocities and brutality of war and its impact on them by way of fatigue and their dietary needs, Marie enumerated about the difficulty of working on the family farm why looking after the sick infant at home. She