In “The Ecstasy of War,” Barbara Ehrenreich uses an urgent tone to persistently persuade the audience to believe that it is not a natural warlike instinct that primarily guides war from the start. The author’s tone also seems more determined as she establishes that individuals undergo a psychological metamorphosis as a result of which they transform into a warrior, leaving their humanity behind and detaching themselves from their self. As means of further persuading the audience, Ehrenreich gives examples of how individuals use drugs or partake in transformative rituals to transition into a warrior. She deduces that a warlike instinct is not in the foreground even if were present. She also argues in favor of the underlying assumption that war is too complicated and before the actual fighting even starts, much planning is required in order to disprove a warlike instinct. Barbara’s tone also becomes more convincing as she tries to persuade her audience that primarily, war does not depend on instinct but on human reasoning. Her definition of war is that it is a state in which every belief that we hold scared is reversed, transforming us into warriors through drills, exercises or practices and enabling us to use cold efficient logic to kill.
The theme of gender seems to be at the center of wars in our lifetimes. So it is relevant that Ehrenreich looks back in time and what she finds is that blood rites are far more self explanatory. In this opening chapter of her book, war has been explored as a religion in the papers of other scholars in subjects ranging from animal studies to art to mythology to psychology to the science of warfare. She compares different aspects related to ancient fears to address the mystery of the attraction of human beings to violence. Her analysis is impressive, as a result of which readers are forced to gain a different perspective of an antiquated practice that has become a very significant threat to human life. Some of the odd and unusual problems that are presented to psychology and sociology because of war and its prevalence are also examined by her. Numerous historical examples have also been presented in the first chapter of her book, some acquainted, some unforeseen. She situates these examples within the dual contexts in which Carl Von Clausewitz assesses war as a ration element of politics, even if somewhat extreme. She also situates them within the suggestion by Sigmund Freud that war is brought about by a sort of innate, sub-rational drive.
In most writings about war, only the obvious points, such as that war is bad, sad, etc. and people are killed because of it, are made. Barbara Ehrenreich suggests a fundamental new theory of why human beings, not just men, are so eager to wage war, going beyond these obvious statements. Her relevant, underlying conclusion is that a sort of religious ecstasy is aroused by war, not only in soldiers but in non-combatants too. War has its own cult of sacrifice, hymns, myths, rituals and sacred sites. However, a question that readers may ask is, why do we imbue war with sacred character? To answer this question, Ehrenreich reaches into the past. She explains that human beings were once a prey species, humans learned to band together to defend themselves and fight off predators. Ever since then, all human societies have been shaped according to this common experience. In conclusion, the bottom line is that Ehrenreich’s “The Ecstasy of War,” the opening chapter in her book, “Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War,” is an eye-opening, high persuasive and original account of war. It can be regarded as part anthropology, part history and part sociology, and is sure to leave readers convinced.
References
Ehrenreich, B. (1998). The ecstasy of war. In Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War. New York: Holt Paperbacks.
