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    The poem vividly depicts the contrast between fancy and reality. Through the portrayal of John Brown’s mother, glorification of war is portrayed. His mother thinks fighting in a war is the best thing through which a son can make a mother proud. She thinks it’s all about “a lot of medals” which can bRead more

    The poem vividly depicts the contrast between fancy and reality. Through the portrayal of John Brown’s mother, glorification of war is portrayed. His mother thinks fighting in a war is the best thing through which a son can make a mother proud. She thinks it’s all about “a lot of medals” which can be put up on a wall. She is ignorant of the reality. She is unaware of the mental and physical trauma the soldiers undergo due to war. The gap between fancy and reality starts when the speaker says in the poem “Then the letters ceased to come.” This shows how different and distant reality is from fancy. John Brown’s mother is unable to recognize her own son, whom she once praises as “straight and tall in his uniform and all”, when he returns from the war. She is unable to believe the casualties of war can be so drastic that she is unable to recognize her own child only. Through the poem, Bob Dylan strengthens the bridge between reality and fancy by showing those who glorify war are the ones who are ignorant of the reality.

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  1. The main theme of the poem is the destruction war creates on the lives of the soldiers, both mentally and physically. The soldiers undergo physical and emotional exhaustion while fighting in a war. John Brown realizes while he is fighting in the war that he is either killing a human being or die tryRead more

    The main theme of the poem is the destruction war creates on the lives of the soldiers, both mentally and physically. The soldiers undergo physical and emotional exhaustion while fighting in a war. John Brown realizes while he is fighting in the war that he is either killing a human being or die trying. War changes a person. He himself undergoes several harm, barely coming out alive, with his face all shot up and his hand all blown up. The people like his mother are ignorant about the horrors of the war and hence, glorifies war.

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    John Brown’s mother was more concerned with the medals his son might get if he obeyed all the captain’s orders. She was ignorant of the fact that she might not even see her son again. So at the end, John Brown dropped the desired medals, of his mother, into her hands, thereby repaying his mother forRead more

    John Brown’s mother was more concerned with the medals his son might get if he obeyed all the captain’s orders. She was ignorant of the fact that she might not even see her son again. So at the end, John Brown dropped the desired medals, of his mother, into her hands, thereby repaying his mother for her lopsided view about the glory of war.

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    John Brown’s mother was ecstatic when his son left for the war. She couldn’t have been more proud of him. She felt proud to see her son “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She told him to obey all the orders of his captain in order to get lots of medals to put up on the wall. It made her proRead more

    John Brown’s mother was ecstatic when his son left for the war. She couldn’t have been more proud of him. She felt proud to see her son “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She told him to obey all the orders of his captain in order to get lots of medals to put up on the wall. It made her proud that her son was going to fight in a war and when the train pulled out, she shouted to let everyone know that her son was going to the war. John Brown’s mother glorified war and hence, felt proud to have a soldier as her son.

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  1. Bob Dylan adds an ironic touch to the poem, “John Brown” at the very end when John Brown “called his mother close/ And dropped his medals down into her hand.” John Brown’s mother is very concerned with the materialistic gain from the war instead of worrying whether she will even see her son again. SRead more

    Bob Dylan adds an ironic touch to the poem, “John Brown” at the very end when John Brown “called his mother close/ And dropped his medals down into her hand.” John Brown’s mother is very concerned with the materialistic gain from the war instead of worrying whether she will even see her son again. She is ignorant of the horrors of the war and hence, Bob Dylan chooses to end the poem by John Brown giving his mother the medals, when he himself was barely alive.

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    John Brown's mother glorify war by sending her son to fight in a war, irrespective of the fact that he might never come back home alive. When John Brown is getting ready to go off to war, his mother feels proud to see him “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She feels proud that she has a solRead more

    John Brown’s mother glorify war by sending her son to fight in a war, irrespective of the fact that he might never come back home alive. When John Brown is getting ready to go off to war, his mother feels proud to see him “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She feels proud that she has a soldier for a son. For her, being a soldier means fighting valiantly and obeying the captain’s orders in order to get medals to put up on the wall. She is unaware of the harsh reality.

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  1. “John Brown” is an anti-war poem. It rejects the idealization of glorifying war by presenting ignorant people who believe fighting in the war to be an act of pride. When John Brown is getting ready to go off to war, his mother feels proud to see him “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She feRead more

    “John Brown” is an anti-war poem. It rejects the idealization of glorifying war by presenting ignorant people who believe fighting in the war to be an act of pride. When John Brown is getting ready to go off to war, his mother feels proud to see him “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She feels proud that she has a soldier for a son. For her, being a soldier means fighting valiantly and obeying the captain’s orders in order to get medals to put up on the wall. She is ignorant of the mental and physical trauma all soldiers undergo. John Brown realizes while fighting in the war that “I’m a-tryin’ to kill somebody or die tryin’.” He tells his mother that she wasn’t there fighting his battles but was at home, acting proud. He has faced the horrors of the war which takes a toll on humanity. War is not the solution to peace. The poem is critiquing the people who glorify war like John Brown’s mother. Usually the people who glorify are the ones who are ignorant and distant from reality.

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  1. The conclusion of the poem is that war is not about materialistic gain like medals to put up on the wall, but it is all about the mental and physical trauma which all soldiers undergo. The anxiety of whether they will ever return alive and the emotional exhaustion faced by them while killing other hRead more

    The conclusion of the poem is that war is not about materialistic gain like medals to put up on the wall, but it is all about the mental and physical trauma which all soldiers undergo. The anxiety of whether they will ever return alive and the emotional exhaustion faced by them while killing other human beings. Through this poem, the poet has criticized those people who glorify “Oh, good-old fashioned war!”

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    John Brown’s mother couldn’t have been more proud of him. She felt proud to see her son “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She told him to obey all the orders of his captain in order to get lots of medals to put up on the wall. It made her proud that her son was going to fight in a war andRead more

    John Brown’s mother couldn’t have been more proud of him. She felt proud to see her son “straight and tall in his uniform and all.” She told him to obey all the orders of his captain in order to get lots of medals to put up on the wall. It made her proud that her son was going to fight in a war and when the train pulled out, she shouted to let everyone know that her son was going to the war. John Brown’s mother glorified war and hence, felt proud to have a soldier as her son.

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  1. This answer was edited.

    John Brown realized the futility of war when he went off to fight in one. He was at the battlefield, fighting, when he realized that he was actually “tryin’ kill somebody or die tryin’.” And when he viewed his enemy up close, he realized with a start that the face was just like his- meaning his enemRead more

    John Brown realized the futility of war when he went off to fight in one. He was at the battlefield, fighting, when he realized that he was actually “tryin’ kill somebody or die tryin’.” And when he viewed his enemy up close, he realized with a start that the face was just like his- meaning his enemy was human like him. “That I was just a puppet in a play”, forced to kill other humans or die trying. War is not the solution to peace was what he realized while being in the battlefield.

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