Totalitarianism, Maos China Essay Example For Students

Totalitarianism, Maos China Essay Mao turned China into a complete Totalitarianism state. It was the Communist ideology that ran the country. All social, political, economic, Cultural and intellectual activities were in some way controlled by Mao. Mao set many rules by which the people were to live by making China at the time, a totalitarianism state. At the time of Maos birth, Emperor Yuan ruled China in the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty had been controlling China since 1644 and had never been popular. Members of the Qing dynasty were called Manchus. Many Chinese by no means accept rule from the Manchus and many illegal secret societies were formed to try and weaken the government. A major conflict between these societies and the government was the ?Taiping rebellion led by Hung Hsiu-Chuan. Tens of millions of peasants joined the Taiping armies. They took over most of Southern China and the capital, Nan king (now Nanjing). They would have defeated the government, but the west intervened and supplied the Government forces with arms and soldiers. They did not want China to become strong. The forces beat the Taiping very quickly in one of the largest mass slaughters in History. The Chinese had become convinced that the West was now invincible. China had lost a large amount of national self-confidence. During Maos youth it was time for people to look for new ways to overcome these problems. Mao Zedong (1893-1976), also known as Mao Tse-Tung was born on December 26th 1893, in the small village of Shaoshan in the Hunan province. He came from a peasant family whose father had prospered from hard work. In Maos seventh year in his village school there was a large attempt to drive out all foreigners, which was defeated by an international force of 2100 men. Violence was beginning to move closer Mao. SanYat-Sen, the leader of the Chinese nationalists party (called the Kuomintang) believed that a change within the government system was not possible. He believed that China must not only get rid of all the Manchus, but also the emperors. In 1911 he organized a revolution in the aim of establishing a republican government. In October Mao joined the republican army for six months. Although this is only a short time it showed his determination by enlisting as a private in the regular army rather than a member of a student militia like most men with his education would do. The majority of southern China was now under control of the control of the republican armies. However, Yuan Shihkai, the former commander of the emperors, forces continued to maintain control of northern china. Sun Yat-Sen and Yuan made a deal whereby Yuan would be named the president of the new Republic of China if he persuaded the emperor to step down. On February the 14th, 1912, General Yuan Shihkai was elected the first president of the Republic of ChinaChina was very close to Chaos when Mao graduated from College in 1918. He went on to study Western philosophy and economics at Changshas public library. He was influenced greatly on Marxism based on the theories of German Karl Marx. This saw history in terms of the struggle of workers against Capitalists. It was the philosophy of the revolutionaries, which had recently taken control of vast land in Russia. It is known as Communism. Communism meant the end of power from the rich and privileged; it meant the communal ownership of all property. It would mean an end to the traditional ways of governing and recent experiments of Western style republicanism and democratic thinking. Mao became an assistant librarian at Peking University, the countries leading intellectual centre. Here, he met Chen Duxiu, a literary scholar who had moved from Peking to Shanghai, and Li Dazhao, the university librarian. More than any others, they were responsible for the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. On May 4th 1918 in Peking, Mao witnessed a large student demonstration now known as the May fourth incident. It symbolized the rejection of liberal and moderate western models of development in favour of the radical Marxist-Communist approach. Two months later, Mao wrote, ?The world is ours, the nation is ours, society is ours. If we do not speak, who will speak? If we do not act, who will act While being chased up by the military government of Hunan, Mao was forced to flee where he moved to Canton, the main base of the Kuomintang. There, he became the acting head of the propaganda department and server in the peasant movement institute where they wanted the peasants to rise up the government. He was now fully committed to Marxist Communism: ?Once I had accepted it as the correct interpretation of history, I did not afterward waver? The Chinese Kuomintang, allowed the Communist party to join them after advise from the Soviets to reorganize the Kuomintang and its feeble army. The now allied Kuomintang and Communist parties joined against Feuding local warlords in an attempt to push them out and rule China, it was then Mao became a full-time party worker. Leadership, Citizenship, Commu EssayMao stated ?This army is powerful because all its members have a conscious discipline; they have come together and they fight not for the private interests of a few individuals or a narrow clique, but for the interests of the broad masses and of the whole nation? In 1949 the Nationalists were defeated and the remaining members fled to Formosa now known as Taiwan. They took control of Taiwan and Chiang proclaimed his new capital there. The Communists were not bothered with this. They now held total control of China. Taiwan, Formally FormosaAfter victory over the Nationalists, Mao established the Peoples Republic of China. Mao began to make many changes. Firstly he established Communism by bringing down the power of the rich and privileged and making everyone equal. The government set up mass food distribution. He was bent on changing the traditional ways of China. He allowed Women to own land, making the equal to men and basically abolished the cl ass system. ?In order to build a great socialist society it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production.? He followed the Soviet model of economic development and social change until 1958, then broke with the USSR and launched his Great Leap, which encouraged the establishment of rural industry. The failure of the Great Leap lost him much of his influence, but in 1966 he launched the Cultural Revolution, which lead to widespread terror and chaos. After the failure of the great leap, Mao no longer had as much power as before. He concerned himself, still with the Communist ideology. However, it was the pragmatists, particularly Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping who were setting the overall tone of China. Under the pragmatists, the Communists ideology was not so much being adopted. Factory managers were given wide authority, as their work methods did not have to fit any ideological interpretation as long as they were effective. Mao didnt like this; he came to feel he was forgotten. Factory managers were forgetting ideology and peasants were becoming capitalists and he knew whom to blame. Mao had decided on a world revolution, an attempt to go beyond party rectification plans to eliminate those in leadership who dared to double cross him. In the autumn of 1966 posters began to go around calling people to engage in virtually, another civil war. He labeled the revolt ?Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?. The idea behind was to return to Maos way of Chinese communism. Mao spoke mainly to the countrys youth, the 300 million Chinese who were too young to experience the first revolution. Young people from around the country were organized, fed, and transported to all the important cities by the PLA, led by Lin Biao. These youths were designated as ?Red Guards and given military uniforms and arms. Mao assured them that ?To rebel is justified? told them they had a license to knock down the old. Before the autumn was over, they were raging all over the country. Wherever they went the carried copies of the little red book waving it almost in a religious sense. They attacked anyone they felt was not fit for Maos thought. Intellectuals were the main to be lashed against, and the pragmatists who had taken power from Mao. By the start of 1967 there was no sign from Mao that he felt restraint was needed. The country was in chaos. All schools and universities were closed. The Red Guard had split into 100s of factions and were soon attacking each other. Before 1967 was over, virtually every official with any prominence with the exception of Mao had been denounced. Late in the year, Mao ordered the Red guards to go home and back to school. He called in the army to restore order. China was being run mainly by the military. There had been no real lasting reorganization of society from the Cultural Revolution. There was a shift in personnel and new leaders. Mao had again emerged in China as the number one man. Mao was beginning to look very old and in September 1976 he died. The pragmatists again held the power, not the radicals who followed Mao. In the summer of 1981 the Communist party central committee officially declared that Mao had been wrong in emphasizing a constant struggle and launching the Cultural Revolution. BibliographyBibliography? Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99? Encyclopedia Britannica 99? Cheng J, Mao, Beijing, Beijing Press, 1993? Website: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1927/mao.html? Website: http://zhongwen.com/mao.htm? Website: http://csf.colorado.edu/mirrors/marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/? Website: http://gate.cruzio.com/~marx2mao/Mao/Index.html? Website: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/6132/biography.html? Webstie: http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,114938+8+108483,00.html? Cheng J, China: Communist Revolution, Beijing, Beijing Press, 1991? Poole F, Mao Zedong, USA, Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data, 1982? Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong, Peking, Foreign Languages Press, (No other information)History Reports

In Anglo-Saxon Literature And Most Likely In Anglo-Saxon Times, Men We

In Anglo-Saxon literature and most likely in Anglo-Saxon times, men were measured by many of the same aspects of life that men are measured by today's standards. Men of that time period were godless, fearless, fame seeking and most of all, courageous. Everyone was in search of these qualities and they achieved them by completing daring deeds, withstanding harsh conditions and they loved beating the odds. These qualities still live on in us. Beowulf not only killed a terrifying monster, the monster's mother and also killed a huge dragon too, achieving fame and showing kingdoms how much strength, courage and fearlessness he had. It also seemed that heros of that time had to boast about their deeds to other kingdoms and villages. Acquiring such qualities lead to boasting. People love to boast when they have beat the odds and have shown the world their will-power. Boasting when drunk is still very existent is every part of the world like it was part of the Anglo-Saxons culture. In Beowul f, when Beowulf greets Hrothgar, he says, Hail, Hrothgar! I am kinsman and thane of Hygelac. In my youth I have set about many brave deeds (*) How many times have you introduced yourself to someone and say, When I was younger, I accomplished many great things? It wasn't enough for a man to show just his people of his accomplishments, he had to make it know for everybody to see. The same can be said about our us today. If someone has acquired lots of money through his accomplishments; he/she lets everyone know by buying expensive cars, houses, jewelry etc to state their success. In the Wanderer, the author says, Men eager for honor bury sorrow deep in their breast. (Wanderer, lines 16 & 17) In most Anglo Saxon literaure, this macho is present. The wanderer also states, No man is living....to whom I fully unlock my heart. (Wanderer, lines 10 he will bear away my bloodyt

Free Essays on If I Die In A Combat Zone

I have chosen a book called â€Å"If I Die In A Combat Zone† written by Tim O’Brien for my book review. This book is about Tim O’Brien’s experience as a foot solider in the Vietnam War. He spent a year in combat in My Lai, Vietnam. Since this is a fictional book the names of the characters have been changed. Chapter one describes a day in the life of Tim O’Brien. He is talking to a man named Barney when Captain Johansen gave the order to move on and check one more ville for that day. They came across Vietnamese that they nicknamed Charlie. After this place was secured as good as it could be they bedded down and tried to sleep. They slept in holes in the ground called foxholes.The next day they ate C rations and got ready to move on. Chapter two tells about Tim O’Brien growing up. It tells about his parents and about the town that he grew up in. He talks about the things he did in school and how he was trying to decide if God was real or not. He graduated high school and went away to college. Chapter three tells how Tim O’Brien was drafted into the war in 1968. He had a hard time trying to decide if he would go or he would run away to Canada. He did not want to die. He finally made up his mind to go to war even though he thought the war was wrong. Chapter four tells how the soldiers spent their nights looking out over rice paddies. They had a scope that allowed them to see in the dark. They kind of played games with it and let their imaginations run away. Chapter five tells how Tim O’Brien made a friend named Erik and how they got through the first months of army life together at Fort Lewis. He did not like this training. It tells of the things that he kept his mind on just to get through it. Erik liked poetry. All the soldiers at Fort Lewis were homesick for their families. Their drill sergeant was a man named Blyton. Everyone thought he was evil. When basic training was done Erik got to go to ... Free Essays on If I Die In A Combat Zone Free Essays on If I Die In A Combat Zone I have chosen a book called â€Å"If I Die In A Combat Zone† written by Tim O’Brien for my book review. This book is about Tim O’Brien’s experience as a foot solider in the Vietnam War. He spent a year in combat in My Lai, Vietnam. Since this is a fictional book the names of the characters have been changed. Chapter one describes a day in the life of Tim O’Brien. He is talking to a man named Barney when Captain Johansen gave the order to move on and check one more ville for that day. They came across Vietnamese that they nicknamed Charlie. After this place was secured as good as it could be they bedded down and tried to sleep. They slept in holes in the ground called foxholes.The next day they ate C rations and got ready to move on. Chapter two tells about Tim O’Brien growing up. It tells about his parents and about the town that he grew up in. He talks about the things he did in school and how he was trying to decide if God was real or not. He graduated high school and went away to college. Chapter three tells how Tim O’Brien was drafted into the war in 1968. He had a hard time trying to decide if he would go or he would run away to Canada. He did not want to die. He finally made up his mind to go to war even though he thought the war was wrong. Chapter four tells how the soldiers spent their nights looking out over rice paddies. They had a scope that allowed them to see in the dark. They kind of played games with it and let their imaginations run away. Chapter five tells how Tim O’Brien made a friend named Erik and how they got through the first months of army life together at Fort Lewis. He did not like this training. It tells of the things that he kept his mind on just to get through it. Erik liked poetry. All the soldiers at Fort Lewis were homesick for their families. Their drill sergeant was a man named Blyton. Everyone thought he was evil. When basic training was done Erik got to go to ...

The Eight and the Ashcan School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

The Eight and the Ashcan School - Essay Example It is not only that commercial and residential boundaries of New York changed but perceptions and public views were undergoing rapid changes. It was a favorable milieu for the formation of popular culture. New York was growing in size, its population was diversifying. Many ethnic groups mixed together contributing to creation of new forms of artist expression, reflecting changing social relationships. The early 20th century witnessed a radical change in American painting. This was not a change in attitude toward painting but in attitude toward life. It was a journalist's revolution originating from Philadelphia. New York City with financial growth explosion, office work for women and the sweatshops for immigrants – all these conditions brought young newspaper illustrators to develop their careers as fine artists in New York getting away from the conservative, static art establishment of Philadelphia. The rapidly changing scenes of New York as it is were captured by artists who are better known as "the Eight": Robert Henri, Arthur B. Davies, Maurice Prendergast, Ernest Lawson, William Glackens, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, and George Luks. â€Å"These artists framed a contemporary realism that explored the drama, humor and exoticism of life in the turbulent metropolis.† â€Å"The Ashcan school† which united "the Eight" and a number of other artists took roots in Philadelphia under the leadership of Henri. In Philadelphia, Henri's rebellious nature made him "a catalyst, an enthusiast ...".

Deforestation in Cuba Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Deforestation in Cuba - Research Paper Example There are many other functions of forests. Human activities in the modern global world are often harmful for the environment and it is hard to imagine where we will leave, if forests are further devastated. Nowadays people are cutting trees illegally. The most critical issue for the environmentalists starting from 2000 is the issue of deforestation. Moreover, there is no doubt that preservation of wildlife is current environmental problems in Cuba. This research paper is focused on the issue of deforestation in Cuba and possible ways of prevention of these harmful activities of people. Forests are the most valuable ecosystems on the planet. Forests are the sources of biological diversity, relevant to regulation of climate, and are very important for maintaining biosphere integrity. Forests produce very important economic goods and services, such as timber, energy, food, water, pharmaceuticals, and recreation opportunities (Wagner, 2006). Therefore, there is no option to promote defor estation, but it is relevant to sustain forests and support ecosystem. Otherwise, deforestation can lead to incurable consequences of destroying human activities. Deforestation can lead to one quarter of anthropogenic carbon emissions (Wagner, 2006). Cuba suffers from essential negative impact of deforestation. There is a need for the local government to implement forests protecting policies and decrease the levels of deforestation. Cuba is an island country located in the Caribbean 90 miles away from the Florida coast of the United States. This country has an interesting history. Cuba territory includes 110,860 km, and 23.0 percent forest covered. Deforestation in Cuba is considered to be economical, social and environmental problem of the country. Very often people are dealing with natural resources as endless ones. Starting from the last decade of XX century, deforestation was triggered by political and economic factors. Political power in Cuba initiated numerous programs of refo restation. The government has been focused on the importance on the issues of deforestation prevention. Politicians made an emphasis on the necessity of forest ecosystems management. During different periods of time, Cuba experienced three basic political periods and each era was marked by the effects of different agendas on forest ecosystems. Social and Economic Impacts of Deforestation Environmental reforms in Cuba are improving the forests cover in the country. Social development and development of forests in Cuba have been taken into account by the international community. These two issues should be considered in detail; while it is a well-known fact that flourishing of the modern Cuban society depends on natural and economic welfare. The United Nations calculated that Cuba belonged to the High Human Development Index starting from in 2006 (Where Cuba Leads, 2006). Social and forest development in the country have been often mentioned by the international community. There is no doubt that Cuba has many options of further development, but there is no doubt that prevention of deforestation is first and foremost important agendas for the country. There are many flora species in Cuba, such as Reistonea regia, the tall Cuban Royal Palm and many others. Cuba is well-known as a heart of biodiversity in the Caribbean region. Almost 50 percent of plants in Cuba are endemic. Ecosystem reserves in Cuba are acknowledged by the United

Population Geography Essay

Population Geography Essay Understanding Population Geography Crystal Mullen What did you learn this week that you did not know before or that you found interesting? What outside resources did you use this week? I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s the term â€Å"Zero Population†. At the time, I didn’t really know what it meant except a term to encourage teenagers to use birth control and thereby avoid having children while they’re still a child as well. As it turns out I wasn’t that far off from my view of the concept. It actually originated by the prime minister of Singapore in 1972. He was concerned that his island country was facing overpopulation with its current count of 1 million people. So he legalized abortion and sterilization and banned maternity care and benefits for women who have more than two children. However by the mid-1980s, the Singapore’s birthrates plummeted to below the levels that are necessary to replenish the population. The prime minister’s plan to reduce his country’s population backfired because the abortions performed in the country were terminated more than one-third of all the country’s pregnancies. Th is lead the prime minister to reverse his policy in 1990 to encourage multiple births for mothers under 28 by offering long term tax rebates and thereby restore population loss suffered in Singapore (Getis, Bjelland, Getis, 2014, p. 111). This reversal of policy is an example of an unbending population reality: how a country’s infrastructure is controlled today will determine how it is controlled in the future. This means the size, characteristics, migrations and even growth trends are what determines the overall health of those yet to be born. This information is necessary when considering the locations and numbers of people as it relates to the necessary background to all of the aspects of population geography (Getis, Bjelland, Getis, 2014, p. 111). Population geography is an aspect of human geography. This branch of geography focuses scientifically studies people in their spatial distributions and the density (Briney, 2014). Population geography provides geographers and scientists with the theories and concepts need to better comprehend and thereby forecast the composition, size, and the distribution of human population (Getis, Bjelland, Getis, 2014, p. 111). In order for population geographers to study this factors, they review the data that documents the increase and decrease in an area of population, general settlement patterns, peoples movements over time, and even topics like occupation. This is what develops the geographic character of a particular region (Briney, 2014). Population geography is closely related and yet differs from demography. Demography statistically studies human population as well, however, demography is more concerned with spatial analysis – pattern, location, and density. Instead, population g eography studies a region’s resources such as standard of living, economic development, and food supply as they affect a population’s health and well-being. These characteristics are the essential ingredients for human population geography (Getis, Bjelland, Getis, 2014, p. 111). Population geography is a large branch in the geography tree. It contains quite a few different topics that relate to the worlds population issues. The first of these topics is called population distribution. Population distribution is described as the study of where people are choosing (or not choosing) to live. Our world’s population tends to be quite uneven. Some regions are considered to be rural and are thereby sparsely populated. Meanwhile, other locations that are more urban are consequently more densely populated. In order to learn more about population distribution population geographers often study past population distributions of that region’s people so that they can understand how and why certain spatial locations areas have blossomed into major urban centers we have today. Sparsely populated areas are usually harsh places to live such as areas in Alaska, Siberia, and Canadas northern territories. On the other hand, densely populated areas like Hong Kong, or cities such as New York City or Los Angeles, California are far more hospitable. A second topic in population geography is population density. While closely related to population distribution, population density however studies a region to determine the average number of people that live in an area. This is done by dividing the number of people that currently live that area by total area available. These numbers usually are noted as persons per square mile or persons per square kilometer. Population density are often affected by several factors which, coincidentally, are often subjects of population geographers study. These factors tend to relate to the population’s physical environment such as topography and climate. For example, regions with harsh climates such as Californias Death Valley are thereby sparsely populated. Other factors that affect population density can also be related to the region’s political environments as well as the social, economic culture of an area. For example, Singapore and Tokyo have mild climates with healthy political, social, and economic and are thereby densely populated. Another area of study for population geographers consists of overall population growth as well as changes in population. This topic is of great interest to population geographers because the population of the world has grown so dramatically since the 1800s. In order to properly study overall population growth, population geographers study the population’s areas natural increase birth rates as well as death rates. The number of infants born per 1000 people in the area’s population every year is considered the birth rate. Likewise the number of deaths per 1000 individuals every year is considered the death rate. Historically speaking, the increase rate of population used to naturally be near zero. This didn’t mean that no one being born nor that no one was dying. Actually, this meant that the area’s births roughly equaled the area’s deaths. However, many regions now host populations with that are living much longer because of access to better health care as well as higher standards of living. These factors have reduced the overall death rate. Birth rates are now known to either increase or decrease based on the wealth of the nation. For example, birth rates are actually lower in developed nations. However, in developing nations, the birth rate is still high. Therefore, the population of the world has grown tremendously. Along the same lines of natural increase, population geographers study population changes as it relates to a population’s net migration for an area (Briney, 2014). They compare and contrast data found in a population’s in-migration and out-migration patterns. Therefore, a region’s overall rate of growth or population change is the result of a population’s natural increase as well as their net migration. Finally, though certainly not exhaustively, an essential tool in population geography that is essential to the study of growth rates around the world as well as changes in population is called the demographic transition model. This model looks at the four stages of a country’s development and considers how population changes are thereby affected. The first stage of a country’s development takes place when the new country’s birth rates and death rates are both high, resulting in a small amount of natural increase and an equally small population. The second stage of a country’s development reveals an increase in birth rates and a decrease in death rates resulting in a high growth period in the population (surprisingly, this is normally the stage where least developed countries actually fail). The third stage of a country’s development show a change in trends with a decrease in birth rate as well as a decreasing death rate, thereby once again slowing d own the growth of that country’s population growth. The fourth and final stage of a country’s development shows a balance in birth and death rates both being low, resulting in a low natural increase (Briney, 2014). I can see how using a demographic transition model enables population geographers forecast the future health and wellbeing of a nation by studying the four stages of development that nation experienced. Conclusion: After reviewing the concepts of population geography, I have a better understanding of the actions of the Singapore’s prime minister in 1972. While I don’t agree with his extreme measures of limiting care for more than two children per family and legalizing abortions and sterilizations, I can see how charting a country’s birth and death rates and considering how those numbers affect his nation’s resources could lead him to believe his nation would be picked clean by an over-abundance of his own people and for the good of his nation, At the same time, I can see how population geography was at the heart of prime minister’s reversal of policy because he can now see how his policies were leaving his country vulnerable to constant poverty because there simply were not enough citizens avail to care for and protect their land. Therefore, I have a better appreciation of how population geography is used to study health and well-being of a population anywhere in the world. References Briney, A. (2014). Population Geography An Overview of Population Geography. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from Geography.About.com: http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/populationgeography.htm Getis, A., Bjelland, M., Getis, V. (2014). Chapter 5, Population Geography. In A. Getis, M. Bjelland, V. Getis, Introduction to Geography 14th Edition (p. 111). New York: McGraw Hil.

A compare and contrast essay on the presentation of words and silence in the novels Regeneration by Pat Barker and Strange Meeting By Susan Hill. :: essays research papers

Barker has written Regeneration laid in England in 1917, the novel is populated by a mixture of real and imaginary people. One of the real characters is the soldier and poet, Sigfried Sassoon. We meet him after he has been awarded a medal for heroism in WWI, and has publicly denounced the war as one of aggression and conquest in defiance of military orders. Instead of having a court martial, he is sent to Craiglockhart Hospital to be treated as a \\"shell shocked\\" casualty by Dr. William Rivers another real character. Craiglockhart was what we today would call a neuro-psychiatric hospital, and Rivers is a practitioner of psychoanalysis. His job is to get men well, by carrying out particular methods such as getting the men to recall their disturbing events and then to speak about them, so they can return to the front. Sassoon, Rivers, and other real and fictional characters are interwoven in this tale. The experiences and stories of Regeneration are greatly inspired by historical events and sociological influences. Bringing real life poets and their experiences together with a fictional plot surrounding the great war, Barker has been able to produce a novel from an intriguing blend of fact and fiction, one that conveys several aspects of history. Strange Meeting on the other hand is set against the horrors of the First World War, this novel portrays the friendship of two young officers. Hilliard is a veteran of combat, a reserved and isolated young man who prefers the stark reality of the front line â€Å"why had it been so easy to sleep up there, to sleep through the noise of guns?†, where he follows orders and makes only simple decisions based on life or death, to the political and social complications of his previous existence in England. Hill presents the characters as more positively, psychologically affected by war, from which a main character John Hilliard grows as a person and learns to love as a result of learning to communicate, speak and express himself freely , as at the beginning of the novel he is portrayed as detached and unable to feel or relate to those around him, (primarily his immediate family). Comradeship between Hilliard and Barton, (another central character) appears to be the most prominent com ponent in the novel; however the exploitation of the silenced youth is also explored throughout the novel. He had been unhappy at home, where he could not talk to no one, nobody knew.