Does War Control You or Do You Control War?

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.