St Columba’s College
Transition Year Extended Essay War & Conflict Andrew Holt Michaelmas Term 2013
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Contents ● Introduction………………………………….…….3 ● Comparison of Time periods..…….……………..5 ● Settings & locations………………….…………...7 ● Characters…………………………….…………..8 ● Relationships & their conflicts……….…………10 ● Comparison of Conclusions………..………..…12 ● Conclusion……………..….……………………..13 ● Bibliography….……………….…………………14
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Introduction For my extended essay I read three books. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I chose these books based on the central theme of War, but as I was reading I began to realise that these books are not just about or set during war times, but there is also a large amount of conflict within the characters. This is why my theme developed to war and conflict. When it came to choosing these books, I chose them because of their historical accuracy. I enjoy history and I enjoy reading a novel that has been based on a real historical event. The Eagle of the Ninth is about a Roman officer who is injured during a battle. He spends a large section of the book recovering. you learn that his father was in the ninth legion and had disappeared along with the legion beyond Hadrian’s wall in the north. The ninth legion carried a golden eagle with them and if this eagle is returned to Rome, the legion may be re-formed. Marcus decides that he will venture beyond Hadrian's Wall in an effort to find the lost eagle and return it to Rome, restoring the glory of his father's legion. When he goes, he takes with him his body slave, Esca, who acts as a guide through his native land. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck is set at the time of the German invasion of neutral Norway during World War II, in a small coastal village with a large coal mine. Mayor Orden, a ‘people’s mayor’ is the main character, along with Dr. Winter, the mayors personal adviser and local historian. The book deals with the friction between the German forces stationed in the town and the people. There is no actual war or fighting, but there is a clear mental war between the conquered and the conquerors. Slowly, anger builds in the town and is vented via small attacks on individual officers, or on the railroads which carry the coal. This is the reason why the Germans invaded Norway, for its natural resources. The unfriendliness toward the Germans from the locals begins to play on the minds of the officers. The book slowly plays out a very delicately written story about a people’s mental resistance.
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The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is about Amir, the son of a successful businessman who in the book is referred to as Baba. Amir has a half-brother, Hassan, a Hazara. Its not until the end of the book where Amir finds out they are related. Hassan lives with Ali, who is a servant to Baba and Hassan. Every year a kite tournament is held in Kabul. Amir, in an effort to win his father's admiration, aims on winning this year’s tournament. Hassan helps and when the last kite falls, Hassan runs to catch it but Assef, the neighbourhood bully threatens to rape Amir if he does not hand the kite over, Hassan being hugely loyal refuses and he is raped. Amir catches up, but in such a shock, he does not attempt to stop what he sees. This is Amir’s guilt and it cripples him. The rest of the book is about his redemption.
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Comparison of Time Periods The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire is at its height. The Roman Empire at the time of this book covered vast amounts of land and held great power and wealth. This is unlike any other of my books. My two other books are based on more recent history and therefore do not belong to a huge empire. At the time, Britain was largely conquered by Rome. It was split in the north by Hadrian’s wall. The book was inspired by a wingless eagle excavated in Silchester. The south of Britain had become Romanized and those that were native to the land were taken as slaves. Similarly in The kite Runner, Hazaras came to Kabul to become servants. This is what Hassan and his father Ali are. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck is set during a modern war, World War II, like The Kite Runner which covers the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Nazis are invading Norway, which declared itself neutral at the start of the war. The Nazis had invaded for Norway's natural resources, primarily coal. The Norwegians put up little resistance and were defeated quickly. Although the Norwegians admitted the German occupation, many secretly refused to accept the occupation. This is also the case in The Eagle of the Ninth where those that once were british natives and became Romans privately regret of the change. In The Moon is Down, it was a mental war between the conquered people and the conquerors. The Kite Runner is set over a time period of the main characters (Amir’s) early life. Afghanistan at this time was going through a lot of difficulty. The book mentions everything from the fall of Afghanistan's Monarchy, the Soviet invasion, the fleeing of Pakistani refugees and the establishment of the Taliban Regime. Like The Eagle of the Ninth, the author was inspired by a newspaper article. The Eagle of the Ninth is based more on conflict, compared to The Kite Runner and The Moon is Down which are both set during times of warfare and the characters are directly affected by it. In the 2nd century AD, Romans fought with swords and travelled by horse; this is clearly a huge difference between the eras of warfare. During the
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modern wars, weapons were hugely destructive and more mechanical. However, both were able to have equally damaging mental consequences for those involved and I think that this is an important similarity between the books. The Romans travelled by horse, meaning that traveling across the empire took a long time. In the modern wars, the army could be despatched quickly across the globe by aeroplanes and boats. Hygiene and living standards were poor during the Roman empire, compared to the last 100 years. There was no electricity and communication was slow. Both the time of The Kite Runner and The Moon is Down have many similarities because both of these books are based on recent history. The Romans were known for their slaves. The modern eras did not have this characteristic but during this time many soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and forced to do manual labour.
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Settings & Locations My first book, The Eagle of The Ninth, is set in multiple locations, similar to the The Kite Runner. The Eagle of the Ninth starts in the Roman British town of Isca Dumnoniorum. Rosemary Sutcliff describes it as a non-typical Roman town because the roads weren't straight, like in most Roman towns. In The Kite Runner, the story starts in the affluent suburb of the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, in his father's large house which is described as the nicest in the neighbourhood. The first setting of this book shares similarities with The Moon is Down because the main character also lives in what John Steinbeck describes as a 'four bedroomed palace', in other words, a nice house compared to the rest in the area. The main character in The Eagle of the Ninth (Marcus) spends most of his time in his Uncle’s house. It is described as a typical Roman domus with a watchtower because uncle Aquila uses this as his study, a place where he spends most of his time. In The Kite Runner, Amir moves from Kabul to San Francisco. This is quite a large change in settings because they are culturally different. Similarly in The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus receives a culture-shock when he leaves Roman Britain and travels north beyond Hadrian's Wall into the land of the tribes. By Contrast, The Moon is Down is set in a quiet coastal village in Norway. It prospers from a large coal mine nearby. Nearly the whole story is set in one building, the mayor’s house, making it quite different from the other books. This is because John Steinbeck wrote it as a play in novel form. It only shares a similarity in the fact that both The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner are set during a modern war, World War II and the invasion of the Soviets. The Moon is Down is set during winter which affects the setting because the town receives a large amount of snow. In The Kite Runner, Kabul also receives snow at the start of the book but both The Kite Runner and The Eagle of the Ninth are set over multiple seasons. However, we do not see the same setting in the different seasons because the setting of the story changes.
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Characters In The Moon is Down, 'the people' can be seen as one character. This is because the Mayor, Mayor Orden, talks as though the people were one person. He also considers himself part of this character and hence throughout the book, he says that he can only do what the people want. This is the only book that uses a group of people as a character. Marcus is the main character in The Eagle of the Ninth and he has a body slave called Esca. Esca is from an old British tribe, captured by the Romans when they invaded. Marcus gives Esca his freedom in the hope that they can now function on a friendship basis. They try to, but they always find themselves in conflict with one another. This is the case as well in both The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner. In The Moon is Down, Colonel Lanser, head of the battalion, and Mayor Orden try to get along because they know how bad things can get if they don't. However, Mayor Orden continues to stay with the fact that he can only do what his people want. In The Kite Runner, Amir wants his father Baba to admire him like a son, but Baba finds this difficult because he knows something that Amir doesn't. In The Moon is Down, Mayor Orden is seen as affluent in the community: this is similar in The Kite Runner where Baba is very wealthy, however he loses his wealth when he flees to America. In both of these books at least one of the main characters die by the end of the book. Baba is not only wealthy but he is respected and admired among the community. In The Eagle of the Ninth, Uncle Aquila, although not wealthy is respected mostly because of his age. Uncle Aquila acts like a father to Marcus, just like Mayor Orden acts to his people. In The Moon is Down, Dr. Winter, the town’s doctor and local historian acts as an adviser to Mayor Orden. Dr. Winter has also been friends with Mayor Orden for a long time. Similarly, In The Kite Runner, Rahim Khan, a long time friend of Baba advises Baba on what to do about his son, Amir as well as other things. In all three books, the main character is brought down from a respected position in society. For example when Baba flees from Afghanistan, he loses everything and starts to do menial jobs when he moves to America
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just to survive. In The Moon is Down, Mayor Orden loses his position as Mayor and ends up being executed by the battalion. In The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus who held a high position in a Roman legion gets his leg cut open and has to remain inactive for at least a year.
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Relationships & their conflicts The relationship between Marcus and Esca in The Eagle of the Ninth is very interesting. Marcus, a Roman citizen buys Esca as a body slave after saving him in a gladiatorial battle. Marcus and Esca, although master and slave develop into friends. When Marcus decides to venture past Hadrian ’s Wall, he needs a guide. Marcus asks Esca if he will come but later realises that Esca is his slave so he didn't have a choice. Marcus then grants Esca his freedom and asks him again, he accepts to come. While they now operated on a friendship basis, Marcus still had to put a lot of faith and trust in Esca. Trust also is a theme in The Kite Runner. Hassan and Amir grew up together and throughout their childhood, were great friends, despite the fact that Hassan was Amir’s servant. Their friendship worked on trust but this trust at one point breaks down and along with that, their friendship ceases to function. In The Kite Runner, relationships also break down because the main characters fail to talk to each other and tell each other the truth. In this book we see how powerful the truth can be and what will happen if you hide the truth. In this case Amir witnesses Hassan getting raped. Hassan wouldn't give the kite because it was Amir's. Amir did not try to stop it and ran away. Hassan returned with the kite and gave it to Amir but Hassan knew that Amir had seen everything. Amir found it very difficult to be around Hassan from then on and slowly matters began to get worse. Amir did not want his father, Baba to know because he would be very angry. Baba was also hiding something from Amir and Hassan. They were half-Brothers and I do not think that things would have ended the way they did if Baba had told them the truth. In a sense, Amir betrayed Hassan because he broke the trust between them. This is also the case in The Moon is Down where George Correll, a local in the town betrayed his townsfolk and helped the Germans take over the town. He told them where the town’s guns were kept and he also distracted the town during the invasion. When the people find out about his betrayal they boycotted his local store. Someone tried to kill him by dropping a stone from a cliff, but they miss. Correll being quite arrogant does not believe that the town is angry at him and refuses to
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believe that they had tried to kill him. He calls them a ‘peaceful people’. In The Moon is Down we see the people act as one, against the conqueror. These actions were more mental then physical. The Invaders are forced to come together and only trust each other. If any of the soldiers loosened his guard, he was killed. For example Lieutenant Tonder fell in love with one of the village girls, when he tried to approach her, she killed him with her sewing scissors.
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Comparison of Conclusions The Moon is Down does not have a happy ending. The townsfolk are making small attacks on the battalion and on the mine’s rail tracks. Colonel lanser believes that he has to take the Mayor and Dr. Winter hostage in the hope that they will stop the attacks. He threatens to have them executed and Mayor Orden says that it doesn't matter what he says, or what they do, they will not listen. Both Dr winter and Mayor Orden are shot by a firing squad. Similarly, in The Kite Runner, four of the main characters have died by the end of the book. Two have passed away from old age while one was blown up by a mine and another murdered. In the end, Amir ends up adopting Hassan's son, Sohrab, but Sohrab appears to always be upset and hardly ever speaks. Both of these endings I think are quite powerful and humbling. By contrast The Eagle of the Ninth has a slower paced and has a simple ending. Marcus finds the Eagle and returns it to Rome, but much to his disappointment it is not enough to reform the legion. Later, Marcus receives a letter from a senator in Rome who gives them all they need to start a life in Britain. This is very different from the other endings because no one dies. I do not think that this felt like an ending because it was neither dramatic nor upsetting and did not play with the readers emotions. In The Kite Runner, I think it would have been nice to see Sohrab talk and smile, because in the last few pages it leads to this but never actually achieves this.
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Conclusion After reading the three books and reviewing them, I can quite confidently say that I enjoyed all of them. However, I enjoyed The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner the most because these were both exciting reads and urged the reader to continue. This somewhat surprised me that in The Moon is Down nothing dramatic or exciting happens in the storyline, so in the end I was surprised that I actually enjoyed it. The Eagle of the Ninth had a nice story line but I felt that Rosemary Sutcliff was unable to condense her writing. The book at times felt very long and for the most part, it was un-necessary. It felt like it took half the book just to set the scene, but it could have easily been condensed into one chapter. Overall, I was happy with my choice in books. Apart from enjoying the books, I learnt some historical information. I particularly enjoyed John Steinbeck’s, The Moon is Down and the way that he portrayed the story of the small coastal village and its people. I would easily recommend both The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner, but I would not be able to give as much praise to The Eagle of the Ninth.
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Bibliography Books
The Eagle of the Ninth ; Oxford University Press ; 1961 The Moon is Down ; Heinemann ; 1966 The Kite Runner ; Bloomsbury ; 2011
Websites Consulted
www.wikipedia.org ; The Eagle of the Ninth www.wikipedia.org ; The Moon is Down www.wikipedia.org ; The Kite Runner