Rationality will not save you.

“Someone once said to Clive: do you ever think we will ever be forgiven for what we’ve done? They meant their generation and the war and what the war had done to civilization. Clive said something I’ve never forgotten. He said: I doubt we’ll ever be forgiven. All I hope is - they’ll remember we were human beings.” FROM TIMOTHY FINDLEY’S THE WARS

Post-Traumatic Stress

Try to imagine how a conversation between Prime Minister Robert Borden and one of these Canadian soldiers might have sounded in 1918, after four years of war.

Sigfried Sassoon Suicide in the Trenches I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.

Dadaism

For What?, 1918 Fred Varley (1881-1969)

Blackadder Goes Forth

Blackadder Task What elements of “dark humour” do you see and/or hear? Make note of them - be prepared to share.