American Literature War Writing

War Themes in American Literature

War is one of the toughest topics for writers to handle. They have to deal with extreme inner demons based on their traumatic experiences in the field, but have to do so without completely isolating their characters from their readers, many of whom have never even been to war. Overall, there is a clear trend that has developed in American war writing. As writers humanize the experience of war, they also have shown how absolutely destructive, terrifying, and seemingly pointless it is.

Writers discussing war face a number of difficult hardships. Essentially, they have to try to make sense of their experiences during the war that have scarred them. They face the daunting task of trying to express their unique pain and grief to an unsuspecting public, many of their readers have not been to war. Thus, writers discussing war have...
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