The Concept of War: Jaroslav Hašek’s the Good Soldier Švejk and James Jones’s the Thin Red Line a Comparative Study

Abstract

The issue of war concept is common in the existing literature, yet it is controversial in this field. Many studies approach this topic extensively. However, approaching this topic in the novels of The Good Soldier Švejk and The Thin Red Line is not done yet. This paper includes the First World War in Czech Bohemia through The Good Soldier Švejk and World War II on Guadalcanal Island through The Thin Red Line. The study is significant due to applying the war concept for the first time to the selected texts. The two novels were compared through irony, sacrifice, and madness. The comparison includes the protagonist Švejk through the novel, The good soldier Švejk. While for the novel The Thin Red Line, there is more than one character, such as Witt and Welch. The study concludes that each work by each author has a historical storyline that depicts the misery caused by war and the destruction it causes to humanity.