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About this quote

What does it mean?
Satan crowns War as the chief scourge of humanity, implying it is the worst evil.
In plain terms
War is called the worst plague of humanity by Satan.
What can you take from it?
War is viewed as the ultimate evil affecting people.

Where it applies

  • anti-war discussions
  • ethical debates
  • literary analysis

Putting it to work

  • discussing war ethics
  • analyzing villain motivations
  • writing about conflict

Questions to consider

  • Why is war considered the worst scourge?
  • What makes something a chief evil?

Another view

Personifying war as chosen by Satan simplifies complex historical causes.

More from James Weldon Johnson

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  3. Eternities before the first-born day, Or ere the first sun fledged his wings of flame, Calm Night, the everlasting and the same, A brooding mother over chaos l…

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