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Transition Year Extended Essay 2013
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St Columba’s College
Transition Year Extended Essay
War & Conflict
Andrew Holt
Michaelmas Term 2013
2
Contents
● Introduction………………………………….…….3
● Comparison of Time periods..…….……………..5
● Settings & locations………………….…………...7
● Characters…………………………….…………..8
● Relationships & their conflicts……….…………10
● Comparison of Conclusions………..………..…12
● Conclusion……………..….……………………..13
● Bibliography….……………….…………………14
3
Introduction
For my extended essay I read three books. The Eagle of the Ninth by
Rosemary Sutcliff, The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck and The
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I chose these books based on the
central theme of War, but as I was reading I began to realise that
these books are not just about or set during war times, but there is
also a large amount of conflict within the characters. This is why my
theme developed to war and conflict. When it came to choosing these
books, I chose them because of their historical accuracy. I enjoy
history and I enjoy reading a novel that has been based on a real
historical event.
The Eagle of the Ninth is about a Roman officer who is injured during
a battle. He spends a large section of the book recovering. you learn
that his father was in the ninth legion and had disappeared along with
the legion beyond Hadrian’s wall in the north. The ninth legion carried
a golden eagle with them and if this eagle is returned to Rome, the
legion may be re-formed. Marcus decides that he will venture beyond
Hadrian's Wall in an effort to find the lost eagle and return it to Rome,
restoring the glory of his father's legion. When he goes, he takes with
him his body slave, Esca, who acts as a guide through his native
land.
The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck is set at the time of the
German invasion of neutral Norway during World War II, in a small
coastal village with a large coal mine. Mayor Orden, a ‘people’s
mayor’ is the main character, along with Dr. Winter, the mayors
personal adviser and local historian. The book deals with the friction
between the German forces stationed in the town and the people.
There is no actual war or fighting, but there is a clear mental war
between the conquered and the conquerors. Slowly, anger builds in
the town and is vented via small attacks on individual officers, or on
the railroads which carry the coal. This is the reason why the
Germans invaded Norway, for its natural resources. The
unfriendliness toward the Germans from the locals begins to play on
the minds of the officers. The book slowly plays out a very delicately
written story about a people’s mental resistance.
4
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is about Amir, the son of a
successful businessman who in the book is referred to as Baba. Amir
has a half-brother, Hassan, a Hazara. Its not until the end of the book
where Amir finds out they are related. Hassan lives with Ali, who is a
servant to Baba and Hassan. Every year a kite tournament is held in
Kabul. Amir, in an effort to win his father's admiration, aims on
winning this year’s tournament. Hassan helps and when the last kite
falls, Hassan runs to catch it but Assef, the neighbourhood bully
threatens to rape Amir if he does not hand the kite over, Hassan
being hugely loyal refuses and he is raped. Amir catches up, but in
such a shock, he does not attempt to stop what he sees. This is
Amir’s guilt and it cripples him. The rest of the book is about his
redemption.
5
Comparison of Time Periods
The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the 2nd century AD, the Roman
Empire is at its height. The Roman Empire at the time of this book
covered vast amounts of land and held great power and wealth. This
is unlike any other of my books. My two other books are based on
more recent history and therefore do not belong to a huge empire. At
the time, Britain was largely conquered by Rome. It was split in the
north by Hadrian’s wall. The book was inspired by a wingless eagle
excavated in Silchester. The south of Britain had become Romanized
and those that were native to the land were taken as slaves. Similarly
in The kite Runner, Hazaras came to Kabul to become servants. This
is what Hassan and his father Ali are.
The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck is set during a modern war,
World War II, like The Kite Runner which covers the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan. The Nazis are invading Norway, which declared itself
neutral at the start of the war. The Nazis had invaded for Norway's
natural resources, primarily coal. The Norwegians put up little
resistance and were defeated quickly. Although the Norwegians
admitted the German occupation, many secretly refused to accept the
occupation. This is also the case in The Eagle of the Ninth where
those that once were british natives and became Romans privately
regret of the change.
In The Moon is Down, it was a mental war between the conquered
people and the conquerors. The Kite Runner is set over a time period
of the main characters (Amir’s) early life. Afghanistan at this time was
going through a lot of difficulty. The book mentions everything from
the fall of Afghanistan's Monarchy, the Soviet invasion, the fleeing of
Pakistani refugees and the establishment of the Taliban Regime. Like
The Eagle of the Ninth, the author was inspired by a newspaper
article.
The Eagle of the Ninth is based more on conflict, compared to The
Kite Runner and The Moon is Down which are both set during times
of warfare and the characters are directly affected by it. In the 2nd
century AD, Romans fought with swords and travelled by horse; this
is clearly a huge difference between the eras of warfare. During the
6
modern wars, weapons were hugely destructive and more
mechanical. However, both were able to have equally damaging
mental consequences for those involved and I think that this is an
important similarity between the books.
The Romans travelled by horse, meaning that traveling across the
empire took a long time. In the modern wars, the army could be
despatched quickly across the globe by aeroplanes and boats.
Hygiene and living standards were poor during the Roman empire,
compared to the last 100 years. There was no electricity and
communication was slow. Both the time of The Kite Runner and The
Moon is Down have many similarities because both of these books
are based on recent history. The Romans were known for their
slaves. The modern eras did not have this characteristic but during
this time many soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and forced to
do manual labour.
7
Settings & Locations
My first book, The Eagle of The Ninth, is set in multiple locations,
similar to the The Kite Runner. The Eagle of the Ninth starts in the
Roman British town of Isca Dumnoniorum. Rosemary Sutcliff
describes it as a non-typical Roman town because the roads weren't
straight, like in most Roman towns. In The Kite Runner, the story
starts in the affluent suburb of the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul,
in his father's large house which is described as the nicest in the
neighbourhood. The first setting of this book shares similarities with
The Moon is Down because the main character also lives in what
John Steinbeck describes as a 'four bedroomed palace', in other
words, a nice house compared to the rest in the area.
The main character in The Eagle of the Ninth (Marcus) spends most
of his time in his Uncle’s house. It is described as a typical Roman
domus with a watchtower because uncle Aquila uses this as his
study, a place where he spends most of his time. In The Kite Runner,
Amir moves from Kabul to San Francisco. This is quite a large
change in settings because they are culturally different. Similarly in
The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus receives a culture-shock when he
leaves Roman Britain and travels north beyond Hadrian's Wall into
the land of the tribes.
By Contrast, The Moon is Down is set in a quiet coastal village in
Norway. It prospers from a large coal mine nearby. Nearly the whole
story is set in one building, the mayor’s house, making it quite
different from the other books. This is because John Steinbeck wrote
it as a play in novel form. It only shares a similarity in the fact that
both The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner are set during a
modern war, World War II and the invasion of the Soviets. The Moon
is Down is set during winter which affects the setting because the
town receives a large amount of snow. In The Kite Runner, Kabul
also receives snow at the start of the book but both The Kite Runner
and The Eagle of the Ninth are set over multiple seasons. However,
we do not see the same setting in the different seasons because the
setting of the story changes.
8
Characters
In The Moon is Down, 'the people' can be seen as one character.
This is because the Mayor, Mayor Orden, talks as though the people
were one person. He also considers himself part of this character and
hence throughout the book, he says that he can only do what the
people want. This is the only book that uses a group of people as a
character. Marcus is the main character in The Eagle of the Ninth and
he has a body slave called Esca. Esca is from an old British tribe,
captured by the Romans when they invaded. Marcus gives Esca his
freedom in the hope that they can now function on a friendship basis.
They try to, but they always find themselves in conflict with one
another. This is the case as well in both The Moon is Down and The
Kite Runner. In The Moon is Down, Colonel Lanser, head of the
battalion, and Mayor Orden try to get along because they know how
bad things can get if they don't. However, Mayor Orden continues to
stay with the fact that he can only do what his people want. In The
Kite Runner, Amir wants his father Baba to admire him like a son, but
Baba finds this difficult because he knows something that Amir
doesn't.
In The Moon is Down, Mayor Orden is seen as affluent in the
community: this is similar in The Kite Runner where Baba is very
wealthy, however he loses his wealth when he flees to America. In
both of these books at least one of the main characters die by the
end of the book. Baba is not only wealthy but he is respected and
admired among the community. In The Eagle of the Ninth, Uncle
Aquila, although not wealthy is respected mostly because of his age.
Uncle Aquila acts like a father to Marcus, just like Mayor Orden acts
to his people.
In The Moon is Down, Dr. Winter, the town’s doctor and local
historian acts as an adviser to Mayor Orden. Dr. Winter has also
been friends with Mayor Orden for a long time. Similarly, In The Kite
Runner, Rahim Khan, a long time friend of Baba advises Baba on
what to do about his son, Amir as well as other things. In all three
books, the main character is brought down from a respected position
in society. For example when Baba flees from Afghanistan, he loses
everything and starts to do menial jobs when he moves to America
9
just to survive. In The Moon is Down, Mayor Orden loses his position
as Mayor and ends up being executed by the battalion. In The Eagle
of the Ninth, Marcus who held a high position in a Roman legion gets
his leg cut open and has to remain inactive for at least a year.
10
Relationships & their conflicts
The relationship between Marcus and Esca in The Eagle of the Ninth
is very interesting. Marcus, a Roman citizen buys Esca as a body
slave after saving him in a gladiatorial battle. Marcus and Esca,
although master and slave develop into friends. When Marcus
decides to venture past Hadrian ’s Wall, he needs a guide. Marcus
asks Esca if he will come but later realises that Esca is his slave so
he didn't have a choice. Marcus then grants Esca his freedom and
asks him again, he accepts to come. While they now operated on a
friendship basis, Marcus still had to put a lot of faith and trust in Esca.
Trust also is a theme in The Kite Runner. Hassan and Amir grew up
together and throughout their childhood, were great friends, despite
the fact that Hassan was Amir’s servant. Their friendship worked on
trust but this trust at one point breaks down and along with that, their
friendship ceases to function.
In The Kite Runner, relationships also break down because the main
characters fail to talk to each other and tell each other the truth. In
this book we see how powerful the truth can be and what will happen
if you hide the truth. In this case Amir witnesses Hassan getting
raped. Hassan wouldn't give the kite because it was Amir's. Amir did
not try to stop it and ran away. Hassan returned with the kite and
gave it to Amir but Hassan knew that Amir had seen everything. Amir
found it very difficult to be around Hassan from then on and slowly
matters began to get worse. Amir did not want his father, Baba to
know because he would be very angry. Baba was also hiding
something from Amir and Hassan. They were half-Brothers and I do
not think that things would have ended the way they did if Baba had
told them the truth. In a sense, Amir betrayed Hassan because he
broke the trust between them.
This is also the case in The Moon is Down where George Correll, a
local in the town betrayed his townsfolk and helped the Germans take
over the town. He told them where the town’s guns were kept and he
also distracted the town during the invasion. When the people find out
about his betrayal they boycotted his local store. Someone tried to kill
him by dropping a stone from a cliff, but they miss. Correll being quite
arrogant does not believe that the town is angry at him and refuses to
11
believe that they had tried to kill him. He calls them a ‘peaceful
people’. In The Moon is Down we see the people act as one, against
the conqueror. These actions were more mental then physical. The
Invaders are forced to come together and only trust each other. If any
of the soldiers loosened his guard, he was killed. For example
Lieutenant Tonder fell in love with one of the village girls, when he
tried to approach her, she killed him with her sewing scissors.
12
Comparison of Conclusions
The Moon is Down does not have a happy ending. The townsfolk are
making small attacks on the battalion and on the mine’s rail tracks.
Colonel lanser believes that he has to take the Mayor and Dr. Winter
hostage in the hope that they will stop the attacks. He threatens to
have them executed and Mayor Orden says that it doesn't matter
what he says, or what they do, they will not listen. Both Dr winter and
Mayor Orden are shot by a firing squad. Similarly, in The Kite Runner,
four of the main characters have died by the end of the book. Two
have passed away from old age while one was blown up by a mine
and another murdered. In the end, Amir ends up adopting Hassan's
son, Sohrab, but Sohrab appears to always be upset and hardly ever
speaks. Both of these endings I think are quite powerful and
humbling.
By contrast The Eagle of the Ninth has a slower paced and has a
simple ending. Marcus finds the Eagle and returns it to Rome, but
much to his disappointment it is not enough to reform the legion.
Later, Marcus receives a letter from a senator in Rome who gives
them all they need to start a life in Britain. This is very different from
the other endings because no one dies. I do not think that this felt like
an ending because it was neither dramatic nor upsetting and did not
play with the readers emotions. In The Kite Runner, I think it would
have been nice to see Sohrab talk and smile, because in the last few
pages it leads to this but never actually achieves this.
13
Conclusion
After reading the three books and reviewing them, I can quite
confidently say that I enjoyed all of them. However, I enjoyed The
Moon is Down and The Kite Runner the most because these were
both exciting reads and urged the reader to continue. This somewhat
surprised me that in The Moon is Down nothing dramatic or exciting
happens in the storyline, so in the end I was surprised that I actually
enjoyed it.
The Eagle of the Ninth had a nice story line but I felt that Rosemary
Sutcliff was unable to condense her writing. The book at times felt
very long and for the most part, it was un-necessary. It felt like it took
half the book just to set the scene, but it could have easily been
condensed into one chapter.
Overall, I was happy with my choice in books. Apart from enjoying the
books, I learnt some historical information. I particularly enjoyed John
Steinbeck’s, The Moon is Down and the way that he portrayed the
story of the small coastal village and its people. I would easily
recommend both The Moon is Down and The Kite Runner, but I
would not be able to give as much praise to The Eagle of the Ninth.
14
Bibliography
Books The Eagle of the Ninth ; Oxford University Press ; 1961
The Moon is Down ; Heinemann ; 1966
The Kite Runner ; Bloomsbury ; 2011
Websites Consulted
www.wikipedia.org ; The Eagle of the Ninth
www.wikipedia.org ; The Moon is Down
www.wikipedia.org ; The Kite Runner