Why kasper did not tell the truth to his grandchildren?

QuestionsWhy kasper did not tell the truth to his grandchildren?
anushka asked 6 years ago

Why did Kasper hide the truth from his grandchildren Peterkin and Wilhelmine in the poem “After Blenheim” by Robert Southey?

5 Votes     ⇧ Upvote
2 Answers
Harshita answered 6 years ago

Old Kaspar did hide the truth from his grandchildren young Peterkin and Wilhelmine as he himself did not know the real cause of war and what good of it came at last, and as he was an ally of English, a blind nationalist and adapted the propaganda indoctrinated in the commoners by the English that it was a famous victory.

16 Votes     ⇧ Upvote 
Staff answered 6 years ago

It is not really true that Kasper hid any truth from his grandchildren. He did reveal the truth regarding the destruction and the loss of lives war caused to the village. He told them how houses were burnt down, how people were forced to flee homeless, how many a childing mothers and new-born babies died and how thousands of dead bodies of the soldiers lay rotten in the sun after the battle was over. And this is why the two children were able to raise questions about the validity of war — “But what good came of it at last?”

Now, if you talk about the idea of a ‘great’ and ‘famous’ victory, that’s not really hiding a truth, but expressing his own prejudiced views. Kaspar is here a representative of the common mass and he holds the heroic propaganda of war incorporated by the warmongers. He himself is unable to raise a question regarding a set norm. So, I think, it is not a truth hidden, but a misconception held tight.

10 Votes     ⇧ Upvote