Killer Angels
"It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. No book or music would have that beauty. He did not understand it; a mile of men flowing slowly, steadily, inevitably up the long green ground, dying all the while, coming to kill you, and the shell bursts appearing above them like instant white flowers, and the flags all tipping and fluttering, and dimly you could hear the music and the drums, and then you could hear the officers screaming, and yet even above your own fear came the sensation of unspeakable beauty (Shaara 342)." The Battle of Gettysburg, amongst others, provides a sense for
One may even think that the effects of the war created a state of mind, or psychology, on the men. Lawrence, old son, treasure this moment. the war in two different stipulations; the battle is portrayed in a sense of both the beauty and horror of war. An idea formed; "Lets fix bayonets," Chamberlain said. It is here that Shaara most fully captures the awful fact that, for all its horrors, we love war and recognize it as beauty--the heroism, the camaraderie, the sacrifice, the brutal beauty of men facing their fears, all have an instinctive appeal. Later during the second day of battle, Chamberlains' brigade forms the left flank of the Union line. The only recourse was that they couldn't retreat and they couldn't stay where they were. Chamberlain thought that their positioning was fine, even though the confederates were moving. And so began a bayonet charge that saved the day, the battle, and perhaps the Union. Because you feel as good as a man can feel. Michael Shaara's purpose in writing The Killer Angels was to show the beauty and horror of war and the mindset this paradox created. As Chamberlain walks the battlefield afterwards: ". However, if the Union line waits for a confederate charge, the flanks of the army will go, thus breaking the line anyway.
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Acceptance Essays
