Journal entry# 9 Mark Twain

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
January 17, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

“If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it… there was no sense in what he said”.

Summary:

It is quoted in Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer”. It illustrates the idea that the things you like may not necessarily be the things others like. This quote actually wants to explain the harm of war.

Response:

The majority of the story is talking about citizens went to a church to bless the soldiers who have been called up for a victory in the war. These people were so happy with the war. They might think that the war could bring them victory and stability. Suddenly, one stranger appeared and gave a speech to the citizens. He told the citizens that everything has both sides. The rain you bless for your crops might hurt your neighbor’s crops. I think it is extremely true. People always focus on the positive side which they prefer to, but they usually overlook the negative side which may cause suffering and destruction from the war.
Indeed, there are a lot of things, like the war, which people only focus on one side. For example, most of the people may think that a prosperous economy, like the one we are having, must benefit people. However, do these people know that there are still a lot of people suffering from hunger today? Frankly, businessmen in the developed countries love to use labors in the non-developed or developing countries in their production lines. Moreover, these workers are usually suppressed with a very low salary which cannot improve their standard of living. Therefore, I really cannot see that most of us will care about the people in this poor area when we are having our high quality of lives.

The last part of the quote really shows the response of the people when they see or listen to the unfavorable side. The negative side is always ignored by the people. Luckily, in recent years, the cost of developing industry is already discovered. People start to realize the problem of global warming and try to solve it. Otherwise, the cost of developing country may be similar to the cost of the war which may cost a huge degree of suffering and destruction.