24 pages • 48 minutes read
Mark TwainA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Nationalism implies a devotion to one’s country that ignores the ramifications for other countries. “The War Prayer” depicts nationalism as a storm that leaves only ruin in its wake. The narrator refers to a “fluttering wilderness of flags” and “cyclones of applause” (Paragraph 1). The citizens are caught up in this storm. In this frenzy, they lose their ability to think rationally and their sense of self. Only by standing outside the storm, as the story grants readers the chance to do, can one see things clearly and objectively. The story allows readers to witness the folly that comes when nationalism is taken to an extreme.
As important as what Twain writes is what he does not. There is little characterization. The churchgoers are referred to in terms of the groups to which they belong. There is also little dialogue. The narrator mentions “the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war” (Paragraph 1) but does not record what they say. Their words are ignored by the narrator just as they are by their fellow citizens. The only recorded words of the churchgoers are those of the war-centric invocation, uttered in unison, underscoring their lack of individuality. There is also a lack of introspection. The narrator describes the thoughts of the soldiers, “visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe” (Paragraph 2), but there is no sense of doubt or questioning and no interior dialogue. By leaving out individual characterization, dialogue, and introspection, Twain reveals how nationalism weakens a person’s sense of self and moral responsibility: it destroys the ability to converse freely and think critically.
Twain extends the metaphor of nationalism as a storm in the stranger’s address to the church. The stranger speaks of “the thunder of the guns” and “a hurricane of fire” (Paragraph 9). This will be the result of the country’s nationalism. With nationalism comes imperialism and war, and with these come oppression, death, and destruction. While Twain wrote the story in the wake of the war with Spain, perhaps to temper US nationalism, he never published it in his lifetime, perhaps because he believed his cause was hopeless. The story ends on a heavy note of disillusionment. The stranger asks the people to consider the implications of their prayer. But they call him a lunatic. Their nationalism, Twain suggests, has prevented them from recognizing the truth.
Twain does not specify the story’s time or place beyond setting it in a church. While the story references the Old Testament, it avoids explicit mention of Jesus Christ or the New Testament even though it is a Christian church. This omission may be intentional. Twain suggests that organized religion feeds nationalism by subjugating the will of God to the will of secular leaders.
Christian love seems absent from the church service. The stranger uses irony to highlight the dichotomy between proclaiming to be a Christian and praying for the slaughter of one’s enemies. At the opening of his prayer, the stranger says, “our young patriots, idols of our hearts” (Paragraph 9). The wording draws attention to the fact that the church worships false idols. It places the military and the national interest above the will of God. The stranger closes his prayer by saying, “We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love” (Paragraph 9). This comes after the stranger lists the ways the church has prayed for their country’s soldiers to demoralize, ravage, and kill their enemies and their enemies’ loved ones. The churchgoers are too close to understand the stranger’s point, but readers, at a remove from the story, can see the irony.
While Twain certainly condemns the hypocrisy of the church, he does not outright condemn belief in God. Twain’s writings do not dismiss the existence of God or the divinity of Christ, but he does call into question the social function of organized Christianity. The churchgoers and minister in “The War Prayer” have a symbiotic relationship, the passion of one fueling the passion of another. This passion, the stranger concludes, leads to a prayer done “ignorantly and unthinkingly” (Paragraph 8). If anything, the story reminds the reader of God’s power and mercy and the folly of using religion as a cover for selfishness and aggression.
The stranger intends his words to be instructive, giving the church a chance to listen and change. Twain’s intent in writing “The War Prayer” might be the same. For some, Twain’s story may seem irreligious or unpatriotic, but others may see it as instructive, as a way to reassess the relationship between religion and politics.
Although “The War Prayer” is short, the story is emotionally powerful in its vivid depiction of war. The story was written when photography was still relatively new, meaning that readers probably did not have mental images of war. Twain thus paints a picture with his words through a variety of literary devices that enhance the story’s imagery. In the process, Twain juxtaposes fantasies of war with realities, opening his readers’ eyes to war’s true implications.
The story’s opening describes the toys and pageantry of war: “[T]he drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering” (Paragraph 1). Drums, toy pistols, and firecrackers approximate the sounds of war, and Twain’s use of alliteration and onomatopoeia heightens the imagery, bringing to life the celebratory atmosphere. However, this imagery is soon contrasted with the misery and heartbreak described in the stranger’s prayer: “[H]elp us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded” (Paragraph 9). The stranger goes on, “help us turn them out roofless […] sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter” (Paragraph 9), again using alliteration to heighten the emotional intensity. Twain also uses a metaphor to highlight the destructive nature of war, writing of the “hurricane of fire” destroying enemy homes (Paragraph 9). What the stranger believes, and the church does not, is that there is no glory in war.
The stranger distinguishes between the spoken prayer and the unspoken prayer. The spoken part is the fantasy, the ideal of war without bloodshed, brutality, or casualty. The stranger, giving voice to the unspoken prayer, proves that such a vision is unreal. Twain, having witnessed imperialism firsthand during his travels, knows that war involves suffering and injustice. The juxtaposition of the two types of war—fantasy and reality—underscores the ignorance and arrogance of the country at large. Though the stranger’s words have little effect on the church, Twain may have hoped words would have an effect on the reader, his imagery lingering in the mind.
By Mark Twain