Robert Graves “Goodbye To All That” Essay Example
Robert Graves “Goodbye To All That” Essay Example

Robert Graves “Goodbye To All That” Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (736 words)
  • Published: April 19, 2017
  • Type: Review
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The book of Robert Graves entitled Goodbye To All That speaks of the experiences of an Englishman in his 30s during the time of World War I. It is an autobiography or a memoir that was written with the honesty and candor of what and how specific incidents were and, somehow, appeared to be with very detailed and precise descriptions of what goes on during warhow people think, act, and react given the horrifying incidents that go about them.

The story serves is often considered as the greatest memoir of the first World War.Indeed the book possesses a certain degree of greatness but it seemingly lacks consideration of the vital issues surrounding society as the war raged along. Robert Graves, during the time of the First World War, entered military service and arrived at France in 1916 while he was on leave in Engla

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There he experienced frightening acts, scenes and fatigues that can all be kept restrained by means of the Welsh hyms. Then he started to describe how guns and bombs were during the time of war.What were inscribed in the letters of people, and what happened when they lie flat-faced on the ground while a bomb explodes, with Sergeant Jones as the only one that had his feet steady on the ground. A well-detailed trench led to the battalion headquarters, which was also described completely.

There were the fatigue-parties, the dressing station, and the company headquarters, and Captain Dunn who happened to be only two months younger than Graves.Along with Captain Miller, Walker, Jenkins, Price, and Fritz, they worked with the First South Wales Borderers, until Graves encountered the death of a soldiera suicide a

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the back of the head was all blown out.

Nightmares of the gas, the German prisoners, and the trench telephone really affected Graves, and this led him to traumatize, see ghosts and experience nightmares even after he was severely wounded and was sent back home.In the story, the writer was trying to say that there is precisely nothing in war that would benefit men and women in society. Everything that they encounter leads only to nightmares, trauma, death, fatigue, and the loss of life. Yes, these are correct depictions of the war. However, Graves seemed to have left out the more pressing issues with regards to the war. His concentration on the youth wherein he utilized an English Boarding School as the focal point of his discussion did not sufficiently cover the role of the European youth in the war.

In terms of Graves??? characterization of military action in the war, other writers such as John Keegan have provided better analysis and discussion of the said topic. Furthermore, the last portion of the book, which the author devoted to a discussion of his life after the war, is limited in its scope. However, this does not take away the glory of the book as the best memoir of the WWI. But it should remain and only be read as such.In fact, it is better to read the novel for enjoyment purposes rather than to rely on it to understand better the history of the first world war.

Conclusion

In Robert Graves book entitled Goodbye To All That (1929), scenes and events of war have been pictured in detail, and this made the book very convincing to the reader. Graves

message of what the war exactly was has been revealed unmistakably, especially with the use of peoples letters, poems, commands, and the confusion brought about by such turmoil. The disorder of the events behind the war made the reader feel the actuality of the event, and for people who want to know and feel the emotional distress brought by war, the book appears to be worth reading and explicit.

Out of the writing, we get the impression that there is precisely nothing good about war, which is why the writer entitled the memoir with what it should reveal after reading everything: goodbye to all that is in megoodbye to all that is in you goodbye to everything that is sweet and mellow goodbye to us all! Meaningfulness is something that the world needs, yet the incidents brought by war brings everything but the meaningfulness of it. Being filled with scenes of tragedy and the morbidity of all else, the significance only resides in the light of the readers perceptiveness.

Reference

  1. http://www.amazon.com/Good-Bye-All-That-Autobiography-Anchor/dp/0385093306
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