Third Variant AN ESSAY on the Story "Tactical Exercise" by Evelyn Waugh

Сочинение

I) "Tactical Exercise" is a very interesting story written by Evelyn Waugh, who is one of the most considerable creators of social satires, as he developed the traditions of the great satiric writers of the

nineteenth century Smollet and Thackeray.

Many of his novels convey the atmosphere of the decline and fall of the upper class in England, whose way of life both attracted and disgusted the author. Evelyn Waugh’s novels and short stories are noted for the biting satire, some may be called black comedies, some others are written like pure farce.

Evelyn Waugh was a many-sided and industrious author. Besides his novels, he created a lot of short stories, a book of essays, two biographies and the first volume of his autobiography.

In "Tactical Exercise" Evelyn Waugh showed us a family war. In this story two persons, John Verney and Elizabeth, married and began to live together. At the beginning of the story, to my mind, they were quite happy and loved each other. The Second World War broken out, and it influenced the surrounding reality and changed the people’s feelings. This war changed John Verney’s feelings too. It was not strange because war is a terrible event. John Verney became an invalid. “John Verney was discharged from the Army early in 1945 with a Military Cross and one leg, for the future, two inches shorter than the other. ” John Verney’s wife was cleverer than he was. She was rather sly, so she changed the situation in their family. Elizabeth did not want to stay at home any more, she did not think that her place was their kitchen. Elizabeth wanted to be more important.

I suppose that, in John’s opinion, a man must be the head of the family, but he understood that, in their case, his wife was cleverer than he was. Elizabeth became more important for the society than he did, as he was just an invalid.

John Verney and Elizabeth fell out of love with each other. John Verney and Elizabeth came to hate each other, but a divorce was impossible for them because it meant a scandal. So they had to live together. But the longer they lived together, the stronger their hatred became.{ Maybe, the conflicts in the family that are brought on by the contradictory interests of the main heroes.}

John Verney decided to kill his wife, but he could not realise his plan because his wife was cleverer than he was, although the end of the story is not clear because the reader himself has to guess the end. {Who knows what can happen...} I believe that the theme of "Tactical Exercise" is war and its effect on a person’s mind.

The main characters of the story are John Verney and Elizabeth. I have already written about them. But I want to add that Elizabeth and John Verney, to my mind, did not seek to gain a deeper understanding of life, they sought happiness in the acquisition of material goods, in power, fame and popularity. I think that the kind of happiness thy above things bring is quite ephemeral. So, to my mind, John Verney and Elizabe

th could not be happy.

I think that the plot of the story is quite probable. The author emphasizes real aspects of life. The impact of the war events on the soul of a person can be really disastrous. For example, the Second World War crippled John Verney’s mind. “There had been less to annoy him before the war. He had some money and the hope of a career in politics.” It is evident that the war changed his psychological state.

I suppose that the characters of "Tactical Exercise" are flesh and blood, as we can meet such people in real life. That is why I think that they are true to life.

The language of "Tactical Exercise" is easy, so the story reads well. I believe that the message of the story can be expressed by the statement “war is a crime because it cripples people’s minds.”

The story seems convincing, and the background seems authentic. I suppose that such a story can happen in real life. And yet I think that this story is not a typical story because the plot is unusual.

In conclusion, I want to repeat that war affects people greatly. To my mind, John Verney and his wife are typical representatives of their social stratum.

On the one hand, I like "Tactical Exercise" because the story is interesting and instructive. On the other hand, I do not like "Tactical Exercise" because the end of the story is not clear.

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THE END

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COMMENTS

I want to add that I approve of Elizabeth’s desire to become independent.

But to my mind, such people are rare in real life. Many things have changed. I believe that the psychology of people has changed too. I think that his psychology has broken on too. He So, John Verney and Elizabeth are examples of some war’s crime.

Yekaterina Odincova, 2000