In What Ways Do you Consider Decline and Fall To Be A Comic Novel Essays

In What Ways Do you Consider Decline and Fall To Be A Comic Novel Essays In What Ways Do you Consider Decline and Fall To Be A Comic Novel Essay In What Ways Do you Consider Decline and Fall To Be A Comic Novel Essay Essay Topic: Literature Evelyn Waugh has wrote the book Decline and Fall as a statement of what he felt was wrong with the English society in the 1920s. This is reflected through his book using a very dry and ironic humour. The novel is very much satirical, with the main character, Paul Pennyfather, satirising the English culture. In order to show this, I have chosen two events in the book, and I will focus on how Evelyn Waugh makes them comic. The two I have chosen are the sports day and the restoration of Kings Thursday house. To set the scene, in the first part of the novel, Paul Pennyfather had been dismissed from the Oxford University he had been studying at. He needed a job, so he went to work as a teacher at a public school. Unfortunately, he was sent to work at the awful llanabba Castle School. The teachers were all frauds, and their teaching methods were chaotic. The school is generally a disaster. This is Waughs way of saying the schooling system in England is a shambles. One of the events that is particularly funny is the sports day. The first humour comes in the ironic speech made by Dr Fagan, where he says During the last 14 years at this school, there have been six sports days and two concerts, all of which have been utterly disastrous. This is again commenting on how bad the school is. The teachers start talking about how well presented this years sports day is. Then, quite ironically Paul comments Nothing seems to have been done about marking out the ground. Imagine the ensuing chaos as boys ran frantically round, with the teachers setting their own race distances! As for the newly delivered hurdles, they were only Five feet high and were painted green with spikes. So the doctor, in a very sarcastic manner says It seems they have sent the wrong sort. The sports day starts to turn into a disaster. The Doctor says he wants there to be some style involved in the event. When he asks for a starting pistol, Philbrick pulls out his enormous revolver. He then says careful, its loaded. This made me laugh, what sort of school sports day uses a loaded revolver as a starting pistol? The then band arrives. Described by Waugh as men of revolting appearance. He said they were like a loping tread of wolves and ape-like. Philbrick then says Loonies! This is where I shoot. The teachers then find out that it is the band the school have booked. This was very ironic. Dr Fagans insulting comment regarding the bands Welsh nationality, then began insulting the bands nationality, they mate freely with the sheep. Further enhances the comedy of the situation. As the first race started, Mr Prendergast managed to shoot one of the boys in the foot. This was very dry humour coming into play as the book says clearly Tangent was not going to win. This was yet another sarcastic yet very funny line. The second part I will be focusing on is the re-building of Kings Thursday House. Margot Beste-Chetwynde owned the country house and it was in desperate need of restoration. It had not been changed for hundreds of years, but it was still a remarkable house. The house went up for sale and it was bought by Lord Pastmasters sister-in-law. The first ironic humour to hit this chapter it when Waugh is describing how Margot visited the house she owned for the first and only time. She said it was worse than I thought, whilst all the villagers who lived nearby almost worshipped the house. This shows a definite class distinction in Waughs writing. Margot decided to re-store the house, so she employed an architect who was given the instruction Something clean and square. So basically Margot wanted to change everything good about the house. The comic part in this section of the book is the interview by a journalist, with the architect. He is criticising his own profession, by saying I dont think it is possible to make architecture beautiful. Pessimistically he says Man is never beautiful, He says. My impression of this man is a crazy pessimistic architect who is a failure. The journalist realises this and tries a different approach by asking how much he expects to earn out of the job. The man replies by saying fuel. This made me laugh because here is yet another aspect of English society that in Waughs mind is a failure art. The architect carries on being pessimistic by saying in a gloomy voice I suppose there will have to be a staircase, why cant people just stay in one place? He then has another dig at humans by saying that they dont stay still and work. Followed by another amusing comment Do dynamos require staircases? Do monkeys require houses? He then goes on about how the human race is immature, self-destructive and half-formed. I think the man fails to realise he is a human himself. He is the complete opposite of what an architect should be full of ideas and full of life. Whereas this man is a sarcastic, unhappy and uncreative architect. This is what makes him such a failure, and ultimately what makes his character funny. Waugh has therefore displayed this event in an ironically amusing context. Although I have only focused on two parts in the novel, the same theme runs throughout the book. Waugh makes it clear that he thinks the English culture is a complete shambles. He has taken some quite serious events in Paul Pennyfathers life, and managed to make them interesting, and above all very amusing. In my view, Evelyn Waugh is a great comic novelist.

Renault FT Tank in World War I

Renault FT Tank in World War I The Renault FT, often referred to as the FT-17, was a ground-breaking tank design which entered service in 1918. A French light tank, the FT was the first tank to incorporate many design aspects which are now considered standard such as a fully-rotating turret and rear engine compartment. Small by World War I standards, the FT was intended to swarm through the enemys lines and overwhelm defenders. Used by French and American forces on the Western Front, the design was produced in large numbers and retained by many nations until the early days of World War II. Development The origins of the Renault FT may be traced to an early meeting between Louis Renault and Colonel Jean-Baptiste Eugà ¨ne Estienne in 1915. Overseeing the fledgling French tank corps which had been created during the early years of World War I, Estienne hoped to have Renault design and build an armored vehicle based on the Holt tractor. Operating with the backing of General Joseph Joffre, he was seeking firms to moved the project forward. Though intrigued, Renault declined citing a lack of experience with tracked vehicles and commenting that his factories were already operating at capacity. Not to be demurred, Estienne took his project to Schneider-Creusot which created the French Armys first tank, the Schneider CA1. Though he had declined the initial tank project, Renault commenced developing a design for a light tank that would be relatively simple to produce. Assessing the landscape of the time, he concluded that existing engines lacked the necessary power-to-weight ratio to allow armored vehicles to successfully clear trenches, shell holes, and other obstacles. As a result, Renault sought to limit his design to 7 tons. As he continued to refine his thoughts on a light tank design, he had another meeting with Estienne in July 1916. Increasingly interested in smaller, lighter tanks which he believed could overwhelm defenders in ways that larger, heavier tanks could not, Estienne encouraged Renaults work. While this support would proved critical, Renault struggled to gain acceptance of his design from Minister of Munitions Albert Thomas and the French high command. After extensive work, Renault received permission to build a single prototype. Design Working with his talented industrial designer Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier, Renault sought to bring his theories into reality. The resulting design  set the pattern for all future tanks. Though fully-revolving turrets had been used on a variety of French armored cars, the FT was the first tank to incorporate this feature. This allowed the smaller tank to fully utilize a single weapon rather than needing multiple guns mounted in sponsons with limited fields of fire. The FT also set the precedent for placing the driver in the front and the engine in the rear. The incorporation of these features made the FT a radical departure from previous French designs, such as the Schneider CA1 and the St. Chamond, which were little more than armored boxes. Operated by a crew of two, the FT mounted a rounded tail piece to aid in crossing trenches and included automatically tensioned tacks to help prevent derailments. Crew positions in a Renault FT-17 tank. National Archives and Records Administration To ensure that engine power would be maintained, the power plant was designed to operate effectively when slanted to allow the tank to traverse steep slopes. For crew comfort, ventilation was provided by the engines radiator fan. Though in close proximity, no provision was made for crew communication during operations. As a result, gunners devised a system of kicking the driver in the shoulders, back, and head to transmit directions. Armament for the FT typically consisted of either a Puteaux SA 18 37 mm gun or a 7.92 mm Hotchkiss machine gun.   Renault FT - Specifications Dimensions Length: 16.4 ft.Width: 4.8 ft.Height: 7 ft.Weight: 7.2 tons Armor Armament Armor: 0.86 in.Armament: 37 mm Puteaux gun or a 7.92 mm Hotchkiss machine gunAmmunition: 238 x 37mm projectiles or 4,200 x 7.62mm ammunition Engine Engine: 39 hp gasoline engineSpeed: 4.35 mphRange: 40 milesSuspension: Vertical SpringsCrew: 2 Production Despite its advanced design, Renault continued to have difficulty getting approval for the FT. Ironically, its chief competition came from the heavy Char 2C which was also designed by Ernst-Metzmaier. With the relentless support Estienne, Renault was able to move the FT into production. Though he had Estiennes support, Renault competed for resources with the Char 2C for the remainder of the war. Development continued through the first half of 1917, as Renault and Ernst-Metzmaier sought to refine the design. By the end of the year, only 84 FTs had been produced, however 2,613 were built in 1918, before the end of hostilities. All told, 3,694 were constructed by French factories with 3,177 going to the French Army, 514 to the US Army, and 3 to the Italians. The tank was also built under license in the US under the name Six Ton Tank M1917. While only 64 were finished before the armistice, 950 were eventually constructed. When the tank first entered production, it had a round cast turret, however this varied depending on the manufacturer. Other variants included an octagonal turret or one made from bent steel plate. French Renault FTs advance through Vaux, 1918. Library of Congress Combat Service The FT first entered combat on May 31, 1918, at Foret de Retz, south-west of Soissons, and aided the 10th Army in slowing the German drive on Paris. In short order, the FTs small size increased its value as it was capable of traversing terrain, such as forests, that other heavy tanks were incapable of negotiating. As the tide turned in the Allies favor, Estienne finally received large numbers of the tank, which allowed for effective counterattacks against German positions. The FT saw use at the Second Battle of the Marne as well as during the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives. Widely used by French and American forces, the FT ultimately participated in 4,356 engagements with 746 being lost to enemy action. Postwar Following the war, the FT formed the armored backbone for many nations, including the United States. The tank saw subsequent action in the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War, Chinese Civil War, and Spanish Civil War. In addition it remained in the reserve forces for several countries. During the early days of World War II, the French still had 534 operating in various capacities. In 1940, following the German drive to the Channel which isolated many of Frances best armored units, the entire French reserve force was committed, including 575 FTs. With the fall of France, the Wehrmacht captured 1,704 FTs. These were redeployed across Europe for airbase defense and occupation duty. In Britain and the United States, the FT was retained for use as a training vehicle. Additional FTs were retained by Vichy French forces in North Africa. These were encountered by American and British forces during the Operation Torch landings in late 1942 and were easily defeated by the Allies modern M3 Stuart and M4 Sherman tanks.