The Ethics of Total War: Edith Wharton’s Fighting France

Edith Wharton is most popularly known as an American novelist, though she has also written many memoirs, poems, and travel writings. Wharton was living in France when World War 1 began and decided to put all she could into the war effort. Because of her exclusive connections to Walter Berry, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris, she was one of the few foreigners permitted to travel along the front lines to witness firsthand the transformation of Paris and France as war slowly took over the lives of soldiers and civilians. While visiting hospitals, trenches, and abandoned villages, Wharton experienced not only her own personal ethical dilemmas, but also those of soldiers, nurses and civilians, and recorded these experiences into a series of articles first published in the American periodical Scribner’s Magazine, and later brought together in 1918 to be bound into the book Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort.

Civilian War Narratives: A Comparison of Samuel Hynes and Iris Origo

For every war, there is a story. There are the stories learned in grade school, the stories told by grandpa, the stories watched on the history channel, or for some, the stories made right in front of open eyes. For those who witness war firsthand, either soldier or civilian, their stories are some of the most valuable when it comes to learning about what war was actually like. These narratives can provide emotional and psychological experiences that one would not be able to read about in a regular text book. In the book The Soldiers’ Tale, Samuel Hynes offers his take on war narratives, describing typical qualities these narratives usually possess and War in Val D’Orcia, a personal war diary by Iris Origo, helps to solidify and broaden some of the main topics brought to light by Hynes.

Primary Source Analysis: Fighting France

Edith Wharton is most popularly known as a novelist, but she has also written many memoirs, poems and travel writings. At the beginning of World War 1, Wharton was one of the few foreigners allowed to travel along the front lines, mostly because of her connections with Walter Berry, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris at the time. She got to witness firsthand the transformation of Paris and France as a whole as war slowly took over the lives of soldiers and civilians while visiting hospitals, trenches, and abandoned villages. She recorded her day to day travels in a series of articles that were first published in Scribner’s Magazine, but later brought together and published in 1918 in the book Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort.