Analysis of Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War Book by Tony Horwitz - Essay Example

? Confederates in the Attic Essay Assignment The of Tony Horwitz’ book is “Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the unfinished civil war”. In his book, Horwitz describes the events that took place during his journey to the South of America. The reasons provided by Horwitz behind declaring the war unfinished are all related to his meaningful probe of the Civil War in South. In this paper, my goal is to provide reasons as to why the civil war has been declared unfinished by Horwitz even after years of its termination. While critically examining the title of the book, one can see that the title carries two different meanings, according to Horwitz’s point of view. The first meaning that can be extracted from the title gives glimpses of Horwitz’s interest in the Civil war. Horwitz came from a Jewish family in Russia and, therefore, he grew up in the North but it was in his early age that he became fascinated with the myths and history of the South. He states that during his childhood he wrote about many wars and also drew paintings of some of the historically significant wars that took place in the attic of his home. One of the main purposes of Tony Horwitz’s book “Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the unfinished civil war” is to find and reexamine the link and question as to why a North based resident having an active political life as a student still finds himself attracted to the war stories that he has struggled to work against in his entire life. The ancillary meaning drawn from the title of Horwitz’s book emphasizes on its regional meaning. Horwitz still finds himself attached to the momentous memories of this national event (the Civil War). Horwitz mentions that when he visits the war sites in the South, he finds the unreconstructed mutineers who were attached to their ancient beliefs. He also meets some of the re-enactors who attempt to live the moments to experience the death and lives of soldiers all over again. Horwitz isn’t surprised to realize this disheartening fact that as one moves towards the racial line, the attitude of people towards war starts changing. Perhaps, this was one of the reasons that why the subtitle of his book is “Dispatches of the unfinished civil war”. In order to prove that the memories of the war are still alive in the minds of people and the war is unfinished, he travelled to each of the eastern and southern states where the Civil war took place. Horwitz’s friend Rob, who was an enactor, invited him to a high speed car tour to the war sites and this tour was named “The Civil Wargasm”. It was during this road trip Horwitz became the captive of the past and he got to experience the events of the Civil war all over again (Madden). This book is considered as a personal exploration of the modern attraction with Confederacy in the South of America. When he as a child was living in Maryland, Horwitz had his own fascination with war. This fascination later rekindled him when he met a group of en-actors who contributed all their resources while reliving the lives of the soldiers. There were series of trips plotted by Horwitz to the war sites which made him realized the fact that the war is unfinished as its aftereffects were so prominent that people were reliving the memories of the war that their ancestor lived through in the past. In the starting of the book, Horwitz discusses his strange childhood memory where his weekend sleep often got disturbed by the loud sound of gunfire. Horwitz, as a little boy, found himself mostly engrossed in the stories of civil war. He drew sketches of wars imagining the Yankee and Dixie soldiers fighting in a battle and penned down stories of war. He worked a number of years as a war correspondence and it was his encounter with the “men in grey” which prompted him to critically analyze the fascination of his own country with wars. Horwitz’s childhood memories are inflicted by the glimpses of war and, perhaps, it was the reason behind compiling a book based on the influence of history on present (Horwitz). His book “Confederates in the Attic” is an entertaining, as well as an informative, trip that Horwitz made through the heart of America in order to examine how the Americans and the Southerners are still living and remembering the wars. During his road trip, Horwitz also tried to find meaning in the strange and enduring events taking place around him. During his journey, he met and got to know many interesting people who had different thoughts and perceptions about these wars. They all had their own unique experiences to share. His exchanges of thoughts with these civil war enthusiasts are all narrated in his book. One of the enthusiasts that Horwitz met was the famous Civil war historian named Shelby Foote who was one of the members of the daughters of the Confederacy who contributed great efforts in finding Dixie soldiers in family tree. Horwitz also met the re-enactors who devoted their time and money in reliving the authentic experiences of lives of the Confederate soldiers present in the nineteenth century. These enactors who were rough and ready were, perhaps, the most interesting men that Horwitz has introduced in his book. Horwitz mentioned that these men used to sew their own war uniform, they dressed up themselves and march for almost miles in their torn and ill-fitted shoes. These men spent their nights in the open, in nearly freezing conditions with very thin blanket, in order to feel the suffering of the soldiers present in the Civil war. Horwitz very soon realized that not all people share similar feeling about the war and that the enthusiasm for the Civil war differs from race to race, as one can see that Horwitz failed to find any African American obsessed enthusiast. All these events mentioned by Horwitz in his book point toward the unfinished consequences of war (Flannery). Conclusion The fact that memories of the Civil war are still affecting the life of the southerners is clearly elaborated in the book and, therefore, Horwitz has declared the war unfinished. Horwitz further explain in his book that the civil war was quite important to most of the people living in the South. Horwitz says that the Civil war was not only a name used by people but these are memories that they have lived and which they will further continue to live in till the end of their lives. The other common names of the Civil war used by people include the War of Rebellion, War of Aggression and War of Succession. These names of the Civil war that are used by Horwitz in his book are also used by different groups form different social and political point of view (Vanbraham). Horwitz explains that the dispatches from the unfinished Civil war are still alive in the imaginations of the Americans and it has very much influenced in shaping up their perception with which they observe themselves and the world around them. The facts presented by Tony Horwitz clearly defines that people have secured the memories of war and they live these memories from time to time. Horwitz provided sufficient evidences that illustrate the influence of history on present. Works Cited Flannery, Kristie. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. (1999). 2013. Web. 9 September 2013. Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. 1999. Print. Madden, David. Confederates In The Attic Review. 2000. Web. 9 September 2013. Vanbraham. Confederates in the Attic? 7 July 2012. Web. 9 September 2013. Read More