Literature of War and Peace Essay

Sir Winston Churchill British statesman, orator, and author who was elected prime minister twice in 1940s and 1950s. He is regarded as one of the finest military leaders in history and is credited to rallying the moral of the British people during world war two and leading them from the brink of defeat to victory against the axis powers. How he did this was not only though his leadership but arguably through his speeches as well, one of Churchill’s greatest assets was his words and how he used them to inspire and motivate his people. Despite having a lisp throughout his career He was known for his excellent speaking, the speeches he made throughout his life in particularly dark times for the British were always inspiring, while presented in a way that made them understandable to any person no matter whom they were. Now this was seen particularly in Churchill’s speech â€Å"the defence of freedom and peace† which he presented in October 16th 1938 near the start of world war two in an appeal to British and Americna public to prepare for the strong possibility of war against Nazi Germany. In the speech the defence of freedom and peace Churchill uses a variety of persuasive yet simple literary devices such as allusion, rhetorical questions, imagery and Tricolon and wording to arouse, influence and encourage American and British listeners to ready themselves for a possible war against Germany. Now prior to this speech Britain’s foreign policy regarding Nazi expansion was one of appeasement. British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain believed that Germany had been unfairly treated by the allies after its defeat in the 1st world war. His view was that Germany had sincere grievances that needed to be resolved; he also thought that by agreeing to some of the propositions being made by fascist powers Germany and Italy such as the Munich agreement than Europe could potentially avoid the outbreak of another world war. Meanwhile in the United States a combination of events such as the great depression and the losses suffered in world war one had pushed the American opinion and policy towards isolationism. Many Americans argued that the United States shouldn’t intervene in European conflicts or politics that did not concern them. Churchill however believed that not only did Nazi Germany and Facist Italy pose a threat but that the rights, traditions and fundamental beliefs of western civilization were in jeopardy and so he made it his mission to ready the British people for war and appeal to the US for aide against this threat. Now in his speech the defence of freedom and peace Churchill utilizes a number of literary devices the first of which is Allusion. Allusion is a figure of speech that makes reference to a place, person or event real or imaginary and can refer to anything which includes artist paintings, opera, mythical figures and bible passages. Churchill uses this to grab his audience’s attention and engage them into the subject while also getting his message across to them without having to go through tedious details. The first example of allusion is when he states â€Å"he (meaning Hitler) must blood his hounds and show them sport or else like Actaeon of old, be devoured by them†. Here he is referring to an ancient tale in Greek mythology Actaeon was a man who was punished by the goddess Artemis for boasting that he was a better hunter than she as a consequence she turned him into a stag, and his hounds turned on him and killed him. What Churchill is trying to get across to his audience is that if Hitler does not constantly lead his allies and soldiers to victory, they will eventually turn against him, taking his power for themselves. Allusion was further demonstrated when Churchill states to his audience that the American people wash their hands of the whole buissness.