Images of Death
Henri Barbusse’ “Under fire” is replete with images of death. Several men were dying in trenches by artillery bombardment, poison gas and machine or sniper gun fire. Constant aerial bombardment prevents soldiers from going to meet their families. At night, dead bodies are brought to the trenches. The whole place looks ghostly. Human beings are brutally killed by one another just to win the war. Not only men but several women also suffered from this enmity. Eudoxie, a fair haired refugee also dies in the war and her dead body was lying in the field open for the attack of parasites.
Images of War
The declaration of war forebodes horror and suffering. The novel presents realistic images of war. The way war begins and then proceeds, the arrival of rations and the glimpse of a pretty girl and then brief reprieve in the hospitals. The novel begins in trenches where the soldiers suffer from disease, dirt and cold. The soldiers write letter to their wives, grumbles about rations. They work under pouring rain and slug. They eat putrid meal and drink stinging coffee.
