W.B. Yeats’ “An Irish Airman Foresees his Death,” Randall Jarrell’s the “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” and Katherine Mansfield’s “The Fly” explore war through tragic irony and symbolism. What conclusions about war can readers draw from these literary works? Do the works condone war or condemn war?

Throughout history, writers have used their works to express their perspectives on war. Three prominent examples include W.B. Yeats’ “An Irish Airman Foresees his Death,” Randall Jarrell’s the “Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” and Katherine Mansfield’s “The Fly.” Through tragic irony and symbolism, these literary works convey a shared message about war – one of sorrow, loss and ultimately condemnation.

In W. B Yeats’ poem “An Irish Airman Foresees his Death,” the narrator is an airman-poet who is up in the clouds fighting for a cause he does not agree with; yet despite this he engages in combat anyway because it was expected to defend his country against enemies that were more powerful than them at the time. He describes himself as being like a bird flying through the sky without any sense of direction or purpose until finally he meets death with courage instead of fear as if this was a way for him to find freedom from an oppressive system.

Randall Jarrell’s poem “The Death of The Ball Turret Gunner” explores one man’s experience during World War II–a young gunner sent out on deadly missions only to be killed by enemy fire in mid-air before ever reaching his target—thus highlighting how fragile life can be even when trying to protect it from external forces like war . The poem also uses ironic imagery–such as comparing the gunner inside of his ball turret plane to someone sleeping peacefully in bed–to emphasize how much violence takes away from people even when they are simply trying do their job and follow orders.

Katherine Mansfield’s short story “The Fly” follows an old man who has been deeply affected by WWI while taking care of his son who has returned home injured from battle . In this story , tragedy strikes when the father accidentally kills an innocent fly with excessive force while struggling cope with memories horrors war brought upon all those involved including himself This symbolizes how sometimes we’re so focused what happened us during times conflict we don’t realize consequences our actions can have innocent lives around us if we’re too careless or reckless

Ultimately , each work conveys similar messages about war : that it is cruel violent destructive filled pain suffering ultimately wrong no matter which side you choose fight for Despite what patriotism nationalism might tell you there always some point where line between good bad completely blurred erased cannot come back once crossed With its power take away ones innocence dehumanize future generations readers come away understanding true costs conflicts why must avoided best possible extent necessary order prevent further destruction already caused due human error greed