The Role of Church, Military and Tradition Essay Example

"Two Soldiers" going to war is used to demonstrate self-pride and dignity and "The Role of Church, Military and Tradition" explains how this norm is still enforced in today's society.

"Two Brothers" provides insight into the sense of pride in oneself that people had and still have when they feel the urge to fight for their country and their home. In the story after Pete tells his family that he is going to volunteer for the war, his mother says, "you got to go, and so I want you to go. But I don't understand it, and I won't never, so don't expect me to" (Faulkner 85). Even though his mother was upset with the fact that Pete was leaving, she accepted his decision and was proud of her son. Even when no one else understood his decision he knew that it was the right thing and that if he did not go he would be upset with himself because he knew that he could help. Not much has changed since the time period that Faulkner wrote "Two Soldiers" in regard to the fact that people are still willing the fight for what they believe in; however, in the past, the norms had much more power over people's lives than today.

The Effect on the South

"The Role of Church, Military and Tradition" helps to explain the feeling of pride that many in the South feel for their region and why they feel the way they do. The South was "the only part of the nation to experience the pain of military defeat, occupation by a victorious external foe, and subsequent domination by its former servants" (Woodard). In the South, many wars were fought to protect the honor of those living in the area and were fought to protect what those people believed was theirs. This was a trait that Southerners passed down through the generations from the era of the Civil War to the World Wars to the present times. They were taught to fight for themselves and their families and to not let anyone take that away from them. For much of history, the whole country felt this sense of pride that the South feels, but over time those other areas gradually died down in their level of intensity, while the South is determined to invoke that same sense of pride that those before them had. The fact that those in the Southern United States still hold these views makes them a deeply conservative area, which can clash with the differing views of those in other areas of the country. However, it is a common belief that most people have a similar sense of pride for the country and one that has held to be mostly true up to now.