Who Is the Face of War:

In the darkest of times, and the most desperate of measures, there is no question; we refer to war. It has been traced back to the beginning of time; dispute is a natural occurrence that cannot help but to arise from time to time. But the end result is what we as a society fear and don’t consider. Who is the face of war? Is the face of conflict the people, the country or the emotions holstered in the barrel of the soldier’s gun. When conflict brews it stems from the doers, to the entire population of the world. Consequences aren’t just for the first man to pull the trigger.

 

In the poem War by Langston Hughes he asks the question of who is the face of war. “Brown, black, white- Your face and my face”, in the world when hostilities arise, political leaders, religious protestors, and racists put on a mask of selfishness to confront issues. Thepoet is saying that no matter the color of ones skin, the feeling of anger,sadness, passion or remorse is universal. Regardless of who started the fight,it doesn’t end with just those two parties. Communities at large feel the pain or opinions that created from a war. Pointing fingers at others causes more conflict because as a society at large everyone is at fault for standing by or participating. The domino effect or chain reaction is massive and catastrophic.Looking at the photo of the United States meeting with Afghanistan villagers you see a fearful young child, it’s gender not defined but symbolic of the innocence one comes from but then corrupted and raised into the opinions of theelders that surround and influence us. Humans are self-destructive and programmed to be miserable, a natural hate for something in life is easy to pass on into another generation, which creates more of a debacle to what an individualis truly fighting for in life. People are capable of getting swept up in the nature of war, taking it as far as needed, and taking lives. And seeing more percussions towards their actions, as reflected in the...