The Concept of Heroism and Bravery Depicted in Charge of the Light Brigade - Essay Example

Charge of the Light Brigade When I first read the poem “Charge of the Light Brigade”, I was sure I was reading something from an English setting because it sounded like the ‘The Red Badge of Courage’. Given my background in English literature I assumed the poem was about the English Calvary men, in this respect I was right because while it was not set in England it portrayed the legendary heroism and unwavering obedience of British soldiers to orders in the face of adversity. While I understood, the general theme of the poem was about heroism and sacrifice just by reading the poem my appreciation for the poem changed when I interacted with research material that explained the poem’s context. The poem is based on the Crimean war in which the Russians, British, Russian French and Ottoman Empire participated (Donner 5). The war took 3 years and the combatants were fighting for Ottoman territory that was in a decline at the time. The events are actually based on a true story of the light brigade, which was supposed to pursue and capture a Russian artillery train, but instead ended up being sent to the “Valley of Death” (Tennyson 7, 16); so named because it was an ideal kill zone as they were heading directly towards a heavily fortified Russian defense. The soldiers understood that there had been a mistake and the Commander had blundered but like true British soldiers, they stuck to their orders and never questioned them marching gallantly to their death. In the contemporary setting, the poem is so popular because it reflects the expression of courage under fire and impossible circumstances and the ability of the British army to prevail bravery even in the face of death (Rumens). Many of the soldiers were cut down and historically it is approximated that over 247 out of the 600 soldiers were killed. This is not very much unlike the situation that was replicated in the recent Afghan and Iraq invasions in which hundreds of soldiers died in wars that coud as well have been needless but they were just following orders. The peom is thereore likely to appeal to the modern audience especially in lieu of the fact that the cause of the deaths could be attributed to a miscommunication between the solders and the officers. The phrase “valley of death” appears to be an allusion from the bible in psalms when David says he will not fear to walk in the shadow of death, the soldiers appear not to fear the danger of death because they have faith in God. In contrast with psalms, the subjects in the poem had unwavering faith in their leader but the latter blundered and sent them to their death. The valley is further personified as the mouth of hell that makes it a more terrifying spectacle for the soldiered because it appeared they were being lead directly to their hellish death. From the first reading of the book as was evinced in the first text, the main theme was heroism, while this is the most overt theme from the first reading after researching on the context it appears to be overshadowed by those of sacrifice ineptitude in leadership. On one hand, the poet was showing the loyalty and devotion of English troops as well as critiquing the leadership failure of their commanders. From a contextual reading of the text, the theme of sacrifice and pointless death is more apparent than heroism. These solders were not so much heroes as they were victims of incompetence and miscommunication in a hierarchical system in which the orders of the senior have to be followed even if they lead one to a certain death. Tennyson uses the poetry to express his love for his country as well as the heroism of the people more so the soldiers, nevertheless he is also expressing his worry and concern about the corruption and immorality that characterized its governance in the 19th century. The soldiers in the light brigade were evidently valiant men who given the right direction and leadership would have most likely won a great victory. However owing to their leaders lack of direction and unapprocherbleness , even when the man knew there had been a blunder they still went on to a not only certain but uncessesary death. In my opinion, looking at the poem from a pragmatic viewpoint poor leadership, just like sacrifice is another theme that tends to overshadow the heroism in the poem. The soldiers for all their courage and valor cannot have been particuraly bright or they may not have marched into a killing zone on the say so of commanders who they all knew were on the wrong. To a modern reader like me, the concept of such blind obedience and willingness to risk and waste life is difficult to appreciate as heroism. If the poem had been based on fiction, one may have been more receptive to the perception that the soldiers were heroes and they represented the selflessness of the British infantry albeit in a hyperbolic way. However, this is impossible to do with knowledge of the fact that the poem is actually a description of real events as opposed to the romantisication of a cultural identity through fictitious occurrences. Nevertheless, the poet’s intention to immortalize such tragic events in a poem can be understood from a psychoanalytical perspective based on his personal life and interaction with grief and loss. His works are characterized with tragic death suicide and in his real life; he also suffered a great loss when his closest friend and confidant Arthur Hallam died at 22 which was actually the impetus that drove him to write his greatest work the In Memoria. The poet is categorical that the memories of these men must be upheld “Honor the charge they made! / Honor the Light Brigade,”( 6, 4) because irrespective of their motives and the fact that they went out on a hopeless battle they were honorable and heroic English soldiers who gave their lives for their country (Donner 5). Notably this poem is quite different from his other works in which he is concentrates on Lyrical and narrative fiction such as Camelot. It is clearly his most political work and dedicated to the nobility of 600 victims of official inaptitude by written in such a manner that it reads more like praise to their valor and the criticisms for leadership is only covertly expressed. His reluctance to make a frontal assault is explicable given his closeness to the loyal family of England who regularly commissioned him to write works in praise for the great Britain, a task he gladly did and was in fact recognized in artistic circle for his tendency to dedicate praises to the kingdom and royalty even when he did not necessarily have to. In my opinion, if the poem was set in a modern setting, the poet would likely focus more on the ineptitude that resulted in the cruel death of soldiers rather than their bravery which would be apparent. However, in his time, the freedom of speech that we enjoy today was unheard of and trying to show open criticism to leadership might have had fatal consequences for his both as an artist or a person. At the end of the day, while not discounting the validity of heroism as described in the first text, an understanding of the contextual setting it is clear that there is more than meets the eye than just the subjective assumptions one makes when they read the poem without accounting for the underlying factors. Works Cited Donner, Marc. "Charge of the light brigade." IEEE Security & Privacy 6.1 (2008) Rumens, Carol. “Poem of the week: The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Tennyson”. Guardian. 2004. Web. 15 May 2014 Tennyson, Lord Alfred. “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” The Norton Introduction to Literature Alsion Booth and Kelly J. Mays. Read More