Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Essay Example

Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Paper During World War I the government and army officials constantly endeavoured to project a positive image of the war effort and any attempt to show negative aspects of the war were discouraged as it was felt that this would lower morale and discourage patriotism and recruitment to the army. Therefore it is always hard to know whether any source is reliable, especially those from official sources, and these should always be backed up by cross-referencing. One of these sources is the film The Battle Of The Somme which shows footage of soldiers recorded actually behind the lines of British fire. Now, you would assume as it was filmed in the trenches, and shows real soldiers, that it would al be true and there would be no need of cross-referencing to see if it is accurate. However, as it was filmed for the purpose of showing during war-time back at home and was obviously approved by officials, it was therefore intended to show war tactics, trench conditions and general life as a soldier in an extremely positive light, and can not always be taken at face value. For instance, the film portrays lots of soldiers with clean clothes, good food and in a generally happy environment, with no major hardships smiling and going about daily life. However, various sources challenge this view of trench life including Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon which asks: Do you remember the rats, and the stench of corpses rotting on the front line trench? which is quite a contrast to the images put forward by the film. We will write a custom essay sample on Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And a poem of Sidney Chaplain says: you stand in a trench of vile stinking mud, and the bitter cold wind freezes your blood. These poems, and many others show that the trenches in fact werent the comfortable place the film suggests. The diaries and memoirs of soldiers also express a different view of trench life. Seargeant S. V. Britten says: Left at 6. 30 for reserve trenches. Just rat holes! found Germans feet sticking up through the ground. The Gurkhas had actually used human bodies instead of sandbags. Beside the stream where we were working, stench something awful and dead all around. However, this is not to say that the film was lying, but maybe it was hard to show the discomfort the troops were put through and the directors and producers have decided to show the good times in the trenches as the audience wanted an action film about brave soldiers, and did not want to see the trivialities of daily life. Also, if the film had shown the soldiers in major discomfort this may have been upsetting for friends or relatives back home. This theory is also supported by the fact that while, in their own poems or diaries the soldiers may have been less positive about trench conditions, in letters home to loved ones they usually tried to convey a positive attitude and not discuss hardships, as in this extract a letter of Rifleman Bert Bailey to his wife shows: I am still in the trenches and in good health. Although all day and night on Monday it rained steadily, yesterday it broke fair and fine and we had a nice day except that underneath was a l mud and slosh which shows how he is downplaying the discomfort of the trenches. Although, the film does have one scene showing British soldiers scrambling over the trenches with most making it but one of two being shot down. This was, in fact just a replication of a battle, as due to the unwieldy nature of the cameras it would have been impossible to get this during actual warfare. But though this may seem to be contradicting the films earlier messages about the safety of the British soldiers it says that the Germans would be blown up with massive guns, and a few brave soldiers would die. Of course, the film shows none of the slow, painful deaths of soldiers from infected wounds or hypothermia and the like. Many soldiers going in to war also shared this romanticised view of death in the army, as the poem The Soldier by Rupert Brooke shows when he says if I should die, think only this of me: that theres some corner in a foreign field that is for ever England. He obviously had a fairly positive view of the army and was extremely patriotic. However, the films attempts at making it appear that the British tactics were so effective are not supported by the fact the first day of the battle was a complete disaster, the worst day in British military history with casualty figures over 60,000 and 21,000 killed. The Allies had been confident that nothing would survive the bombardment mentioned in the intertitles and sent an order for the British soldiers to go over the top, essentially to their deaths. One extract from the memoirs of George Coppard shows the blatant foolishness of the commanders: hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage How did out planners imagine that the Tommies, having survived all the other hazards would get past the German wire? Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before. The film however fails to highlight these extremely important facts. This is the day of one of the worst leadership blunders in British military history. Another message that the film tries to convey to the audience is that the medical facilities were extremely good and that all wounded soldiers were quickly attended to. There are various sources supporting this, and some that oppose this view. Many poems tell of wounded being flung in to carts, which shows that they were at least cared for and not left to die. There is also a photo of two nurses tending to a wounded soldier, showing that care was so good there could be two nurses to a bed. However, this photograph was probably commissioned by the army, so could not have been expressing negative views about the care the soldiers received. Several paintings, such as Gassed by Singer Sargent, or The Harvest of Battle by C. R. W. Nevinson show wounded men being led back to the trenches by those who were able to help. So these are obviously supporting the evidence given in the film. However, an extract from the Diary of a Dead Officer, the memoirs of A. West reads: Doctors looked on every man as a skrim-shanker en wounded and minus an arm forced to have electric treatment. Knocked down and held on the bed people nearly crying with pain. Gloomy buildings meals never hot, worse than ordinary camp food. So this obviously shows the darker side to the armys medical service. Overall, I feel that this film, though a valuable piece of evidence from the point of view for technical reference, to see what kind of equipment the soldiers carried and so on and is a piece of World War I history, you have to bear in mind the situation under which it was created. The war office allowed a small group of camera men to cover the war on the Western front, all the footage of which was edited and produced by a team for the War Office. Indeed, the film was considered so important and expressive of the views the army wanted to promote, that at the first screening of the film a letter by David Lloyd George, Secretary of State for the War was read saying: You are invited here to witness by far the most important picture of the war our staff has yet procured I am convinced that when you have seen this wonderful picture, every heart will beat in sympathy with its purpose Now, gentlemen, be up and doing also! This letter clearly implies that the main point of the film is to increase patriotic feelings and rally civilian support for the war effort, and states very clearly that another aim is to encourage the signing up of other men. Therefore we have had to treat every area of this film with caution before stating the reliability. I have tried to do this and feel that while some of the basic facts are right, this is obviously an air-brushed view of the battle, and the government and army failed to inform of the massive losses incurred, which I feel was neglectful of their duty to keep the public informed with a realistic picture of events, and also ignores the duties carried out by the thousands of soldiers that gave their lives. This neglect of the facts also indicates the way other areas of the film, such as showing the comfort of the men, may have been skimmed over to give a better view of the army and I think that as this was the main purpose of the film from the beginning, it provides us with an extremely imprecise view of the lives the soldiers in the trenches actually experienced.

Personal, Professional, and Ethical Belief System Essay Essays

Personal, Professional, and Ethical Belief System Essay Essays Personal, Professional, and Ethical Belief System Essay Paper Personal, Professional, and Ethical Belief System Essay Paper In the human services field. personal ethical belief systems combined with professional moralss work in partnership to steer human service professionals in unknoting ethical quandary. An increasing figure of professionals and clients seek out to specify the cardinal policies of the human services field. Humans develop an integrating of values. criterions. and beliefs from birth throughout life. The values. criterions. and beliefs developed through life aid in qualifying personal ethical belief systems. Our personal ethical belief system unites with our professional moralss to determine the ethical decision-making procedure. A codification of moralss is indispensable to organisations in the human services field. A codification of moralss identifies adequate behaviour. endorses high criterions of pattern. supplies a criterion to utilize for self appraisal. and establishes a construction for professional behaviours and duties. Human service professionals promote the unity and moralss of the profession. As a consequence. it is important for a human service professional to remain educated and knowing of the theoretical footing of their ethical belief system. other theoretical moralss. ethical and legal issues. and the ethical rules of their organisation. Every individual possesses a nucleus system of values. My personal ethical belief system is derived from my nucleus system of values. the people who helped determine those values. and the decision-making factors I use today to better them as necessary. My parents. pedagogues. Sunday school teachers. sermonizers. decision makers. God. leaders. and many others in the community aid determine my values and supply the footing for my ethical belief system. I articulate values in my associations with other people when I am loyal. dependable. honest. generous. swearing. trustworthy. experience a sense of answerability for my household. friends. coworkers. community. state. and the organisation where I volunteer. My parents taught me to be a Christian individual and to make what is morally right in the eyes of God. I met troubled times throughout my life. but I believe because of my strong morally sound background I could take those experiences and learn from them. My parents remain astonishing function theoretical accounts in my life. I attend church and congratulations God every hebdomad as a reminder of why I keep my moral values and belief system close and beloved to me. I choose to go on my instruction on many facets in my life to help in regulating decision-making factors. As a proud citizen of America. I realize the disagreement associating to Torahs and moralss. A jurisprudence is a edict or authorities regulation prepared to penalize those whom disobey. Torahs are consistent. universal. published. accepted. and enforced. Ethical motives is a sense of what is right and incorrect morally. However. there is a difference between moralss and morality. Harmonizing to Anstead. S. M. ( 1999 ) . â€Å"Morality refers both to the criterions of behaviour by which persons are judged. and to the criterions of behaviour by which people in general are judged in their relationships with others. Ethical motives. on the other manus. encompasses the system of beliefs that supports a peculiar position of morality. † The jurisprudence frequently integrates ethical criterions to which society subscribes. Most ethical determinations come with extended punishments. legion options. varied consequences. unsure and personal effects. My belief system is derived from my assurance that there is more to reality than what we see. I have faith in a religious side of world beyond what we can see or see. The footing of my ethical belief system comes from my values and those whom attributed to those values including my life as a truster in God and as a Christian. My metaphysiological position of theism supports my positions of ethical tyranny. I found this quotation mark interesting and supportive of my ethical belief system. Harmonizing to Worldview Dictionary ( 2011 ) . â€Å"Ethical tyranny is the belief that right and incorrect are unchanging. non determined by the person or the civilization ; revealed by God through both general and specific disclosure. † Ethical tyranny follows one cosmopolitan moral criterion. God is infinite. everlasting. and never-changing. God set the Torahs of the land therefore I must stay by what is determined by God as right and incorrect. God has revealed this truth through his creative activity and disclosure. God is absolute. God created all people as peers. As a truster in God. I serve him through service to others and my community. I take on duties of assisting others in my community. volunteering. and donating goods. At all times I abide by these rules: worship merely God. regard people. be low. be honest. populate a moral life. be generous with clip. pattern my positions. make non knock. justice. or condemn. make non keep a score. and forgive others. I believe it is right to defy enticement while cognizing that evil lurks around. I believe one-day God will return and seek judgement for his people. To populate morally and ethically divine is obligatory to hold ageless life. As a individual and professional. I understand and acknowledge that non all human existences embrace the same positions as me and I respect the positions of others. In the human service profession. my personal ethical belief system helps steer the work I do as a voluntary at Wise Choices Pregnancy Resource Center ( WCPRC ) . At WCPRC the mission is to assist adult females do life confirming picks. The services offered are free gestation proving. free limited echogram. acceptance referrals. abortion instruction. abortion recovery plans. and earn while you learn plan for babe demands. I chose this organisation specifically because it supports my beliefs on pro-life. Pro-life supports my beliefs as a Christian. I advocate supplying adult females with instruction and options to abortion. Harmonizing to Wise Choices Pregnancy Resource Center ( 2012 ) . â€Å"Through the old ages. Wise Choices. has been able to supply assorted sorts of aid and â€Å"counseling† to the adult females of Wise County and the environing countries. We non merely assist the client. but household or friends of the client. in respects to the state of affairs the client is confronting. We believe we can do a difference in the lives of adult females. one at a clip! As a Christian adult female. I think that it is of import to assist clients who are abortion minded or abortion vulnerable see the chances they have to salvage the life they have created. As an advocator. I ask the client if she would wish the chance to hear the Gospel. If she accepts I can portion the love God has for his kids including the client and her unborn kid. I besides have the singular opportunity to inquire the client if she wants to accept Jesus as her Jesus from wickednesss. I explain to my clients willing to accept and hear the Gospel that they may inquire God to forgive them for their wickednesss. It is besides an juncture to speak to my clients about abstention until matrimony. Each of the values listed above ushers me to be an advocator for the unborn kid who is defenseless in his or her right to life. Often I am met with challenges. such as a adult female who is pregnant from colza or incest. It is frequently difficult to explicate to a adult female with traumatic experiences that it is still of import to give birth to their kid even in palliating fortunes. Some of the hardest instances come from a adult female who is abortion minded or vulnerable and has no involvement in hearing the Gospel. I go place and pray for the client. her household. and the unborn kid. As a member of the National Organization for Human Services ( NOHS ) . the Code of Ethics is an of import counsel tool in ethical quandary. The Code of Ethics is a fit criterion of behavior for human service professionals to see in the ethical decision-making procedure. Harmonizing to the National Organization for Human Services ( 2009 ) . â€Å"Human service professionals respect the unity and public assistance of the client at all times. Each client is treated with regard. credence and self-respect. Statement two is an ethical rule non hard to adhere. As a human service professional the unity and public assistance of the client is my responsibility to recommend. I make a committedness to my client when I become his or her advocator. and that committedness involves seeking the best result for the public assistance of my client. As a Christian I see wholly people as equal. and I treat others with regard and self- respect at all times. It is of import to retrieve that it could be me in the same state of affairs. The NOHS Code of Ethics lists ethical rules that will non be difficult to adhere. However. I found a 1 that might turn out to be somewhat hard. Harmonizing to the National Organization for Human Services ( 2009 ) . â€Å"Human service pedagogues uphold the rule of broad instruction and encompass the kernel of academic freedom. abstaining from bring downing their ain personal views/morals on pupils. and leting pupils the freedom to show their positions without punishment. animadversion or ridicule. and to prosecute in critical thought. † The part of this statement that might be hard adhering to is bring downing my ain personal values if I were a human service pedagogue. I know that I could forbear from bring downing my ain personal values. but I find it would be hard. As a Christian. I think it is of import to portion the Gospel and what it means to me. For illustration in an moralss category pupils reflect upon their ethical belief systems and where they originated from. I think if I were the pedagogue it would be difficult to forbear myself from talking my ain worldviews and ethical motives to other pupils. However. as a professional it is of import to follow the ethical criterions set for the organisation in which I am an employee. and the NOHS Code of Ethics. A Code of Ethics is steering rules that apply to different facets of life. Ethical criterions pertain excessively many of the undermentioned general subjects: the usage of psychological trials in the courtroom. the lie sensor. boundaries of competency. unity. sexual torment. human differences. and the legal definition of insanity. * The Use of Psychological Trials in the Courtroom- The usage of psychological trials in the courtroom to back up the testimony of experts scopes from applaudable to debatable. There is a necessity for a sensible pattern of revelation of psychological trial information during tests and courtroom processs. afterwards the stuff may be sealed. Psychological trials in the courtroom should adhere to ethical criterions by stating the truth and non stating truth deliberately inaccurate. In Statement 28 of the NOHS Code of Ethics. human service professional’s duty to the profession is to move with unity and honestness. My ethical belief system incorporates honesty and unity at all times. The Lie Detector – After researching ethical criterions of the prevarication sensor. I found a Code of Ethical motives from the American Polygraph Association. The ethical criterions stated included: rights of testees. criterions for rendering polygraph determinations. post-examination presentment consequences. limitations on rendering sentiments. limitations on scrutinies. fees. criterions of coverage. advertizements. release of nonrelevant information. limitations on scrutiny issues. and APA oversight authorization. Lie sensors set up the difference between a prevarication and the truth ; if a individual has nil to conceal a lie sensor should be no job. Lie sensor usage brought justness to households over the old ages. and continues to make so with regard to the rights of all individuals who take the prevarication sensor trial. As portion of my personal moralss it is indispensable in the justness system. In Statement 35 of the NOHS Code of Ethics. answerability is maintained by the human service professional. * Boundaries of Competence – Human service professionals are merely to carry on research. Teach. and supply services merely within their boundaries of competency. based on personal experience. instruction. supervised experience. and survey. Reasonable stairss should be taken to guarantee competency in countries emerging and preparation does non yet exist. My personal moralss system is of import to pattern my positions. This relates to boundaries of competency I would non pattern something I did non believe to be true. In Statement 40 of the NOHS Code of Ethics human service pedagogues demonstrate high criterions of scholarships and remain current with developments in human services. * Integrity – Accuracy. honestness. and truthfulness is a function all human service professionals abide by. Integrity is something I incorporate in my personal ethical beliefs and value system. Ethically it is incorrect to steal. darnel. prevarication. fraud. or belie a client or a friend. Harmonizing to American Psychological Association ( 2012 ) . â€Å"In state of affairss in which misrepresentation may be ethically justifiable to maximise benefits and minimise injury. psychologists have a serious duty to see the demand for. the possible effects of. and their duty to rectify any resulting misgiving or other harmful effects that arise from the usage of such techniques. My belief in God’s written words of the Bible helps determine my ethical position on unity. Statement five of NOHS Code of Ethics protects the unity of client records. * Sexual Harassment – Sexual torment is solicitation. verbal or gestural sexual behaviour. and sexual progresss. All people have a right to gain a life free from relentless and permeant Acts of the Apostless of sexual torment. It is non right to endanger an employee’s dignity. regard. and possible promotion in the workplace. As a professional. behavior should compare to higher criterions of unity and safety in the workplace. Statement 24 of NOHS Code of Ethics provinces that human service professionals should describe unethical behaviour of co-workers. My personal ethical beliefs in this state of affairs associate back to my Christianity and the Torahs of the land that an act of sexual torment is non moving suitably in the eyes of God. * Human Differences – Human service professionals create public trust through ethical and moral Acts of the Apostless. Human diverseness is one of those Acts of the Apostless. It is imperative to be culturally sensitive to all persons at all times. I promise to function all people with the purpose to protect their public assistance without judgement of any sort. In my ethical beliefs God is the justice. and he will return to make that one twenty-four hours. Statement two of the Code of Ethics for NOHS says human service professionals treat clients with regard and esteem their public assistance. and Statement 20 refers to diverse backgrounds. * The Legal Definition of Insanity – In my ethical belief system a individual who commits an act out of insanity is still responsible for what he or she has done. It is one’s responsibility to make what is morally right. Questions of right and incorrect are overriding. and hence as I believe absolute. Statement 37 of the NOHS Code of Ethics addresses the demand for womb-to-tomb acquisition. and I relate that to this instance as a duty the human service professional has to its client. as the individual who commits a offense out of insanity has a duty to pay the effects. As a member of Team C throughout this class associating to moralss and jurisprudence in the human services profession we did a squad presentation on deontology theory. as presented earlier in the paper. Harmonizing to Alexander and Moore ( 2008 ) . â€Å"The word deontology derives from the Grecian words for responsibility ( deon ) and scientific discipline ( or survey ) of ( Son ) . This normative theory dressed ores on what she should make from a moral point of view. Deontology is a theory that helps to steer and entree our picks in what we ought to make. † Deontology theory assumes at least three of import characteristics. The first characteristic concludes that responsibility should be done for duty’s interest. An illustration. Acts of the Apostless of promise breakage. lying. or slaying are incorrect per se. and it is the responsibility of worlds non to make these things. Second. worlds ought to be treated as topics of intrinsic moral value ; intending an terminals in themselves and neer as a mere means to another terminal. The 3rd characteristic is a moral rule is a definite indispensable that is universalizable ; intending it must be applicable for everyone whom is in the same moral state of affairs. The theoretical footing of my personal ethical belief system falls under the deontology theory. Deontological theory claims the moral rightness or inappropriateness of an action does non depend upon the nature of its effects. but on its intrinsic qualities. Deontology theory was founded by Immanuel Kant. Kant was motivated by the deficiency of a function for responsibility in Utilitarianism. something he believed to be the foundation of all morality. Deontology supports moral tyranny. Actions are either moral or immoral regardless of the beliefs of an person. society. or civilization. Ethical motives of the existence are intrinsic in the Torahs of the existence and the nature of humanity. Therefore. the theoretical footing of my personal belief system as a Christian is supported by deontology theory. My belief in God supports ethical tyranny. deontology. and my personal ethical belief system.