1. “Guns / Long, steel guns / Pointed from the war ships” (lines 1-3). What type of
gun is Sandburg describing here?
Answer : Sandburg is describing battle guns that are used by soldiers during the war.
2. “Laughing lithe jackies in white blouses, / Sitting on the guns singing war songs,
war chanties” (lines 8-9). Who are the “jackies” in these lines, and why would
they be singing “war chanties”?
Answer : The jackies in these lines refers to soldiers from the navy, who are going out for war. They are singing war chanties, as they are confident of winning the war, and also, at the same time, and singing loudly to raise and boost their morales. Also, they were ignorant and were blinded by fame, financial incentives etc. which the war will give them, despite the extreme and danger.
3. “The shovel is brother to the gun” (line 16). Explain what Sandburg means by
this statement.
Answer : This statement is what explains the whole poem, and the intentions and rationale of the poet for writing it. A shovel is an instrument or a tool for digging a grave for the dead. Also, a gun is a weapon used in war. Hence, with the phrase "The shovel is brother to the gun", he means that these two objects are closely related, Sandburg is trying to tell the readers that going to war is just like digging your own grave.
4. What is the significance of the poem’s title, “And They Obey”?
Answer : It is used to signify the the foolishness of the people and soldiers, and how they listen to commands with the sheep thinking mindset, following everything they are told to do. Also, it brings out the irony of war. The soldiers are commanded to destroy cities into nothing but rubble, and they obeyed. However, after the war has ended, the people are told by the soldiers to rebuild the city, the city they have destroyed. Hence, it brings out how stupid and meaningless war is, and hence is an anti-war poem.
5. What is the effect of the contrasting actions between stanzas 1 and 2 (smash/
build, knock/set up, break/put together)? What is the persona’s attitude toward
the soldiers and citizens in the poem?
Answer : The poet's attitude towards the people is somewhat disappointed, and angry. This is because they are foolish, and are in fact causing trouble for themselves. During the wall, the soldiers listened to commands without thinking, and destroyed cities, and reduced all of them into rubble. However, after the war, the soldiers told the citizens to rebuild the city, ironically, the city that the soldiers, themselves have destroyed, and they obeyed. Hence, Carl is disappointed with the people for not thinking twice before executing commands.
6. In your view, is it harder to tear a society down, or to build it back up again? Use
examples from current events to support your answer.
Answer : It is definitely easier to tear a society down, than to built it back up. This is very similiar to taking drugs. It takes just a second of wrong judgement to start taking drugs. However, to stop drugs, it takes a life time of rehabilitation, and a really strong determination, to stop the habit. An example would be World War 2, when the causeway was bombed, and factories, houses and buildings were all destroyed by the constant air raids of the Japanese. Thus, there were many post war problems, such as lack of sanitation, housing and jobs, and it took Singapore near to a decade to recover, from 1965 to the 1970s.
7. Explain the progression of onomatopoeia in the first stanza. What do you
imagine the sounds of the future wars represent?
Answer : There was a progression of onomatopoeia, from loud to soft, from "drum of hoofs" to "hum of motors" to "thread of rubber tires" to "silent wheels". The sounds of the future war represents the advance in technology, from the past to the present, which allows enemies to be more sneaky, and less easy to be spotted. Hence future wars are more strategic, unlike the old wars, where drums were played loudly to boost morale of the soldiers, but unfortunately, giving out the positions of themselves.
8. “In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust” (line 9). Taking an example
from current events, discuss one “king” that has been “kicked under the dust” in
recent times.
Answer : The "king" would be Osama Bin Laden. He was a "king" to many, being the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist group, a large scale, world wide group, in charge of many others "smaller branches" such as Jemaah Islamiah. It caused havoc in the world with their bombings, and is a largely hunted criminal. An example of his atrocious deeds would be the "911" bombing of the World Trade Centre, on 9 September 2011, killing 2579 innocent people. This is how terrible and evil a person he his. Fortunately, he has been hunted down by the investigation team of USA, and has already been shot in the head just recently.
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