My Soul Is In The Sky

"My soul is in the sky." -William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V. Scene I.

This is my entry for `kuschelirmel's Technology and Nature Contest over at her stock account, as well as for ~meh31488's World Issues Contest.
Closeups available here: My Soul Is In The Sky- Details

This is definitely a new style for me. I'm quite proud, I must say.
Inspired by `Foxfires and `kuschelirmel. I would like to dedicate this to the both of them!

The main ideas I had in mind while making this were: a) flying can be an amazing experience but b) if used for war purposes, it can cut short the lives of innocent people
The quote I chose from Shakespeare portrays my first concept, while the pair of scissors tied to the plane symbolizes that warplanes can cut down the flowers of youth.

Recently, I watched the movie Gallipoli and I read "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque; WWI really had no justifiable cause, in my opinion. There were over 40 million military and civilian casualties, with 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. So many young men died that there was a "lost generation." WWI was just a brutal war; the first war fought mainly in trenches, which had horrible conditions. And yet at the homefront, mothers still sent their sons to war, not wanting to be outdone by other mothers' "valiant efforts." As Wilfred Owen states, the common Latin phrase dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori (roughly meaning "how sweet and honourable it is to die for one's country") was a lie; there was nothing sweet about gas attacks and nothing honourable in the numerous soldiers who were forgotten when they were killed or when they committed suicide. This phrase belied the harsh reality of the war; it was uplifting propaganda to make the Iron Youth, the young and the strong, fight for their country. Killing others for the sake of bitter land disputes, nationalism, imperialism, militarism and alliances.


Oh. On a much lighter note... I would like to apologize for the hideous watermark; I tried my best to make it a bit prettier. Prints will not have them.

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