Is Pen still mightier than Sword?

“Pen is mightier than sword”. It is an age-old maxim. The significance of the maxim is immense and undeniable. Pen is a symbol of creation, while sword symbolizes destruction. Pen is a source of creative activities whereas sword is a means of destructivity. Sword proves to be as mighty as pen when it is used for a good cause. Sword can be used in a rebellion against autocracy and a movement against iniquity. The purpose of using sword may be humanitarian, but it causes violence and bloodshed.       

Mahatma Gandhi who is regarded as the father of nation in India had taken up pen to write in protest against the exploitation of Black Africans during the Apartheid era. He started writing articles for newspapers and journals to mobilize public opinion in support of his crusade against social injustices as well as political iniquities. Thus, pen is a powerful tool of journalism.   

One’s literary activity finds a concrete expression in words through pen. Mahasweta Devi, an eminent writer and activist of Bengal, penned down her voice in protest against the rape of women in “Choli ke Peeche” one of her powerful short stories. Italo Spinelli, a film and documentary maker from Italy, adapted the story into a sensitive movie “Gangor”. The movie was shown at the recent 17^th Kolkata Film Festival.

Pen is a multi-functional tool. It creates, innovates and inspires. Pen can create controversies and bring about an upheaval. Using this powerful tool, writers, activists and journalists can mobilize the mass and bring about a change in the current social-political state of the nation. For example, Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses had infuriated the whole Islamic world.

Swords leave nothing but wounds and painful memories behind. Sword stands for war, a bloody game. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are among the worst victims of warfare. Sword also stands for violence which is on the go in the Middle-East countries, at present. If sword is taken as a symbol of action, pen symbolizes the thought behind the action. To say precisely, a leader in Libya had posted a tweet announcing his move against the tyrant Gaddafi, and the tweet inspired the mass of Libya to pick up swords against tyranny.

No doubt, pen is still mightier than sword.  

Which character – Bishop or convict is integral to the play ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’?

Both the characters the Bishop and the convict are integral and relevant to the plot of the play ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’. Appearance of the convict moves the play towards its climax. The Bishop’s humane values and virtues are revealed through his treatment of the convict. The Bishop’s kindness, generosity, hospitality and nobility are mostly reflected in his attitude towards the convict. The moral issue of this play is expressed through the transformation of the convict by the Bishop. Hence, the characters – the Bishop and the convict do not weigh more or less than each other in the play ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’.       

Explanatory note on The Hero by Siegfried Sassoon

“The Hero” is a bold attempt by Siegfried Sassoon, one of the most famous war poets, to tear off the mask from the face of war. The poem expresses the hypocrisy hidden behind the glory of war. War is a game of bloodshed. Many innocent lives are lost in the bloody game. There is nothing glorious about it. Many youths are forced to join the warfare and thus, they are driven to untimely death against their wish. The painful death of a soldier is glorified as the death of a martyr. The people sitting back at ease in their homes think and speak highly of soldiers and their death in the battlefield. 

The poem “The Hero” gives us the real picture of how some cold-footed soldiers die being blown into countless pieces. In the poem, Jack lacks the bravery of a true soldier. Afraid of the cruelty of warfare, Jack makes a lame excuse to go back home from the trench. When he passes through the trench, a mine explodes and blows him into bits. Jack meets an unpleasant death which is glorified as a great achievement by senior officers. 

The Colonel sends an officer with a letter to Jack’s mother. The letter from the Colonel speaks of the dead Jack in glowing terms to console the poor old mother over the death of her only son. The mother is down with grief for having lost her son on the one hand and holds her head high with pride for the supposed glorious death of her son on the other hand. The kind-hearted Officer who comes to meet Jack’s mother hides the harsh reality about Jack’s death from her. He does not want the old lady to get hurt. He rightly thinks that her pride over the heroic death of her son in the trench is the only consolation for her.   

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