WOW! That description of the soldiers in the filth and the lack of space. The first thing that popped into my mind was the scene in "Gone With the Wind" where the camera shows a close up of some injured soldiers and then pans out and reveals thousands and thousands of injured and dying soldiers absolutley helpless.
" The walls were thick with dirt; incredible multitudes of vermin swarmed everywhere. And, enormous as the building was, it was yet too small. I contained four miles of beds."
(Here is a youtube video of the scene. Excuss the music and it is not the best clip, but here it is.)
Heartbreaking. I must confess that I did not know much about Florence Nightengale before I read the reading. I enjoyed learning about her through Stratchey. I love how he conveyed how much of an independent, brilant, and groundbreaking she was. I noticed how he made it a point to say that she did what everyone said she couldn't or shouldn't do.
National Gallery on Writing
16 years ago
Sarah, thanks for this post. I think the comparison with the US Civil War is extremely apt, not simply in terms of the roughly contemporary conditions of war, but also the way each of these wars resonated with subsequent generations respectively. Keep in mind that blogs should be posted by midnight ON WEDNESDAYs (there was an inconsistency in the syllabus and the assignment sheet).
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