I cannot see the war as historians see it. Those clever fellows study all the facts and they see the war as a large thing, one of the biggest events in the legend of the man, something general, involving multitudes. I see it as a large thing too, only I break it into small units of one man at a time, and see it as a large and monstrous thing for each man involved. I see the war as death in one form or another for men dressed as soldiers, and all the men who survived the war, including myself, I see as men who died with their brothers, dressed as soldiers. There is no such thing as a soldier. I see death as a private event, the destruction of the universe in the brain and in the senses of one man, and I cannot see any man's death as a contributing factor in the success or failure of a military campaign.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Saroyan rejects the historian's broad view of war, arguing that war is a massive, destructive event for each individual soldier and those who survive it.
- In plain terms
- War is a terrible personal event for every soldier, not just a big event in history.
- What can you take from it?
- Focus on the human cost of war rather than its scale.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you define the cost of war?
- Who benefits from history narratives?
Another view
It may ignore strategic realities necessary for understanding conflict.
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