"Captives"

"Captives" Analysis

"Captives" by Ernest Hemingway

    Another military related piece by Hemingway. This time he reveals to us his hatred for war. Hemingway absolutely despised war. He thought the war was pointless and brought meaningless waste of life. Hemingway despised the very essence of war. Having seen first hand what war brings as an ambulance driver. You could only imagine the things Hemingway has seen. The ongoing injuries of war, the suffering, the emotional hurt.

    Nothing good came out of the war. All war contained was the loss of family members. Survivors went home yes, but they took a lot of pain and hurt with them also. Some of these soldiers during WWI probably suffered irreversible physical damage as well as tons of emotional hurt. 

    Hemingway states "Thinking and hating were finished / Thinking and fighting were finished / Retreating and hoping were finished" (line 4-6). Hemingway is telling us that nothing was left inside of these soldiers because of war. Thousands were left demoralized, probably unsure if they were already dead or not. He finished off the poem saying "Cures Thus a long campaign / making death easy" (line 7-8). I'm assuming that Hemingway is saying that after going through such tragedy and hardship it's easy for a soldier to take his own life or in some cases easy for a soldier to take a life.