World War One British Soldiers. Digital image. Express.co.uk. Express, 23 Aug. 2014. Web. 2 Nov. 2015. <http://www.express.co.uk/news/world-war-1/502452/The-Battle-to-feed-Tommy-The-diet-of-a-WW1-soldier>.

Do people's actions revolve around War? In the play Mother Courage and Her Children Brecht depicts a world where everyone is motivated by war. This is linked to the Marxist ideal described by Professor Smith as "The Economic structure, the means of production of a society and age shapes other aspects (social forms,culture,system of justice individual consciousness etc.)" or put more simply by Smith "Economic Factors- who gets to own what in a society- help shape individual and social identities".¹ Mother Courage is motivated by war because her Wagon-run business depends on the soldiers fighting the war. If there is no war Mother Courage has no business. This is why in Act 8 Mother Courage says "Don't tell me peace has been broken out, I've just replenished my entire stock" (8.72). This shows that Mother Courage views peace negatively while many people would view peace positively. Mother Courage depends on the war for her financial success due to the fact that her business is dependent on the war. This is also evident in the quote that Professor Smith mentioned in lecture that Mother Courage exclaims “War! A great way to make a living!” (6.69). 

It is seen throughout the play that Mother Courage's values and even other character's values are morphed by the war. At the end of Act 12 Mother Courage sees her dead child Kattrin and then immediately decides to go "back to business" (12.103). Mother Courage's only child is killed but she decides that he business is more important.  Professor Smith also mentioned a quote where the Cook says “The war needs men, and men must eat” (85). The Cook's life is to serve the soldiers but this job is only given to him because of the war. His morals are affected by the war, he is a selfish person because of this war. His selfishness is seen in Act 9 when he inherits his aunt's inn and tells Mother Courage to come along but not Kattrin.(9.88) He tells Mother Courage " ...who'd want to look up from supper and see that [Kattrin] waiting to clear the table?..."(9.88). The Cook's morals are also affect by the war because he too cares only about his financial stability which comes from the war.

But what is Brecht trying to tell the audience? Brecht wants the audience to think logically about the play and not emotionally. Brecht does this by using the alienation effect to further cause the audience to have a disconnection with the characters. Mother Courage's and the Cook's choices in the play seem to be out of the norm which further distances the audience from sympathizing with these characters.  Brecht wants the audience to look at the play and realize that they have the power to change their societal and economic values.
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1. This idea was discussed during lecture with Professor Smith.
Work Cited
Brecht, Bertolt, and Tony Kushner. Mother Courage. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Plc, 2009. Print.

The Humanities Core Writer's Handbook , "Analyzing Drama" brought up an interesting exercise (exercise one) that I took inspiration from for my blog post today (64). This week in Humanities Core we were assigned to read the play Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht. Mother Courage ,otherwise known as Anna Fierling, is a mother of three just trying to sell her goods from a wagon while the Thirty Years War is occurring. Mother Courage prides her self on her cunning bargaining skills and her need for financial stability.  In Act 1 the Sergeant asks " ... Why's she called 'Courage'?"(1.8). His comment asks us to think why she is called "Courage" throughout the whole play and question "Is Mother Courage really courageous?"

First we must identify what makes someone courageous and if we see these qualities in Mother Courage or does she fail to even express these qualities? Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Winston Church Hill and Rosa Parks are just a few people that we view as courageous. They all have one thing in common; these people are not selfish. Their cause for courage is out of the goodness of their hearts and to help the people. But does Mother Courage do the same? Is she selfless or selfish?

Although Mother Courage wears the name of bravery she seems to be doing the opposite in Act 3 of the play. In the act when her son is taken captive for ransom, she even bargains the money for his release (3.43-50). Mother Courage does not seem to be a brave person in this case, she seems to be more hesitant and more selfish. She is a coward, at a time of need her first instinct is to bargain with the criminals. Although some may argue that Mother Courage was trying to protect her self and the rest of her family from financial ruin; most parents in this situation no matter how much the money would give everything they had without any hesitation. As Professor Smith noted, this also shows how Brecht tries to disconnect the reader from the characters emotionally.¹ Brecht depicts Mother Courage as a heartless human being. Any parent who loves there child would give up an arm and a leg to keep their child safe. Mother Courage is a selfish human being that only cares about her financial stability. As Thomas Hobbes idea of humanity states that "human beings are, at their core, selfish creatures". People who share Hobbes' views would argue that Mother Courage is not brave but that she is selfish and only wants to protect herself.
_____________________________________________________________________________1. This idea was discussed during lecture with Professor Smith.

Work Cited:
Castillo, Larisa. Humanities Core Writer's Hand Book. United States: Pearson. 2014. Print

Guardian Composite. Digital image. Theguardian.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/19/new-cold-war-back-to-bad-old-days-russia-west-putin-ukraine>.

Is the new cold war arising? Many have reason to believe that this is true. What makes this cold war differ from the former cold war lasting from 1947-1991 is that currently this war is due to "Russian opposition to NATO expansion" .  In a recent Commentary Magazine article titled "It’s Not a New Cold War, It’s Worse", Noah Rothman speaks about this debatable topic. Rothman believes that this conflict is much bigger than just a cold war. He argues that since "The Russian public is restless and dissatisfied, an extraordinarily malleable American president will soon leave office, and financial pressures have compelled the Kremlin to scale back its already unsustainable military expenditures" this will lead to a drastically different result than a cold war. Many side with Rothman in this belief, Rand Paul even believes that theses efforts could lead to World War III.

While Marco Rubio believes that we are "barreling toward a second Cold War". Rubio declares that the United States has a responsibility to take control of the situation at hand. I personally believe that it is too soon to judge how this conflict will play out. There have been many events that have happened this past week that have inched us closer to a cold war like the bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan by the United States and rocket missiles shot by Russia towards an Islamic State group but only time can tell.

Work Cited:
Are We On The Brink Of A New Cold War? Perf. Trace Domingues. TestTube News, n.d. Web. 28 June 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrSBVI1Vshc>.
Rothman, Noah. "It’s Not a New Cold War, It’s Worse." <i>Commentary Magazine</i>. N.p., 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
Mindock, Clark. "Russia Airstrikes In Syria: Russian Sanctions, Lethal Aid For Ukraine Promised If Rubio Becomes President." International Business Times. N.p., 2 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015. 
CNN Wire. "Is U.S. Bombing of Afghan Hospital a War Crime?" FOX40. N.p., 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
"Russian Missiles 'hit IS in Syria from Caspian Sea'" BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.
David Weigel. "Rand Paul: No-fly Zone in Syria ‘could Lead to World War III’." The Washington Post. N.p., 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

N.d. Misha's Musings. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <https://nemisha8.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/science-vs-humanities/>.

Humanities core is an exciting and interesting class that I believe will make me a better writer and reader of novels and poetry. What I wish to get out of humanities core is a better understanding of literature. I hope to not only use what I have learned in the past to improve my writing but to use what I will learn in this class to become an even better writer. I plan to use the skills I learn in Humanities core not only now but in the future during my career. I do not wish to limit my education in this class to strictly writing essays and other forms of written expression like this blog but I plan to become more skilled at understanding the texts I read . I wish to acquire skills like "interpretation" (Pan, P.8-7)  and analysis to further understand the texts I read in the this class.