The novel A Soldier on the Southern Front by Emelio Lussu is an account of the trench warfare in an ironic and angry manner. Lussu depicts the army hierarchy as psychopaths and vicious bureaucrats and from his reading, they still stand out as grotesque and terrifying figures just like they did 70 years ago. He describes the battle vividly and one officer by the name of General Leone stands out as one of the worst figures in history. The book by Lussu is a memoir of World War I from the author’s personal recollection of the war. The book according to Lussu acts as an account of an Italian witness to the Great War. Thus this book is a personal account of events of the war as they happened.
From the book, it is evident that men, both who participated in the war and the readers, feel that the Italian leadership was cruel. Often, the men fighting in the war would look for ways to escape the terrible experience. This included the drinking of alcohol and smoking cigarettes. The soldiers had to watch their fellow colleagues be slaughtered and this wounded the survivors both emotionally and physically. As a result in order to cope, Lussu describe the Italy army as one fuelled by alcohol and alcoholism. According to the book, Italy was not prepared for such a war and hence could not have been prepared for the outcome of the war (Lussu & Conti, 2014). The soldiers also saw their own generals as their enemies and this only worsened their position in the war. In one instance Lussu tells the tale of how the soldiers stood by while their own General suffered in the hands of the enemy. The general however escaped and each time the Italian soldiers went to war they would hope for him to die. This shows the disloyalty in the Italian army and Lussu seems to understand this
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In A Soldier on the Southern Front it is quite apparent that many men were stigmatized by the war and they would rather not have discussed the effect the war had on them and their emotional scars. This may have changed over the years and soldier who fought in the war are beginning to become more open but it is clear that the stigma still remains. The book quite easily evokes the thought and emotion the soldiers had at the time. He uses irony to convey how the soldiers really felt about their general. An instance of this is when the general orders the troop to leave the trenches and go off to Mr Fiorri (Lussu & Conti, 2014). While narrating this incident, it becomes clear that the Italian generals are incompetent. This is because when one general refuses to obey this command, he is relieved of his duty. He agrees to step down but makes it clear that the entire Italian army is under the command of the Austrians. The incompetence of the generals is also noted where Lussu stands out and tells one of the generals that they are going in circles. The general angrily stands up and shouts at Lussu telling him that is their profession (Lussu & Conti, 2014). This helps readers understand that the generals did not value their soldiers at all and they did not care that they were fighting a losing battle.
Many scenes of the war may be very disturbing even to the readers especially since it is apparent that Italy was not prepared for the war. They lacked protection against the Austrians who had guns and the soldiers felt as if they were walking towards their own deaths. In one instance, Lussu narrates about how the Italians are mowed down by the Austrians machine guns. Instead of retreating, the few who are alive on the ground rise on their hands trying to rush forward. At this point even the Austrians wave them down with their hands sheltering one of the machine guns and implore them to stop coming (Lussu & Conti, 2014). Additionally, they faced a threat from their own generals who treated them like animals. In one instance for example, Lussu tells the story of how he found photographs taken by his father of how badly soldiers were being treated by their own generals.
Throughout this book, Lussu provides a detailed review of how World War I was between the Italians and Austrians. The story of the Italian army during the war provides information of the tactics they used, the various battles they fought, the battles they won and those they lost until finally giving an account of their unexpected victory in the years 1918. It helps show that although the Italians finally won, the battle was not at all easy for them. It will be interesting to see how Italy’s victory in 198 will be depicted in the world today.
A film made from the novel poorly attempts to depict the Italian-Austrian war during the World War I. The film which was directed by Rosi fails to capture the realism of the war as told by Lussu especially since it has been shot in color and concentrates on long battle sequences one after another. The film also strips the story of its lighter moments as expressed in the book. One thing however still stands out; the Italian soldiers were not only fighting a battle against the Austrians but also had a conflict with their own general. It is also clear in both the book and the film that the Italian generals were mean to their soldiers.
References
Lussu, E. & Conti, G. (2014). A soldier on the southern front : the classic Italian memoir of World War I . New York, NY: Rizzoli Ex Libris, an imprint of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
