The War Prayer

"The War Prayer," by Mark Twain, is a short, parable-like story. The text, which is arranged on the pages like poetry, is accompanied by John Groth's black-and-white illustrations. The entire book, although unpaginated, is less than 100 pages long. The story takes place in a time of war, when "the holy fire of patriotism" burns in every heart. Twain tells of a church service in which the congregation is preparing to send its young men off to war. But an aged stranger interrupts the service with a message of his own. The back cover of the book notes that "The War Prayer" was written during the Philippine-American war in the first decade of the twentieth century, was rejected for publication in 1905, and remained unpublished until 1923. Twain has crafted a harsh, bitter, and biting satire of how patriotism, militarism, and religion can come together. His searing message is well complemented by John Groth's stark, sometimes nightmarish images. Groth's impressionistic drawings look like he has lacerated the pages with his pen. Twain's "Prayer" has a timeless and universal feel. After all these decades, it still packs a punch.

It doesn't take long to read -- maybe 20-30 minutes. Be sure the read the excerpt from Twain's biography in the first pages. It really puts it in perspective.

I have probably purchased over fifty copies of this book over the years; I can't seem to keep one for very long. I share it with people I care about, people who are open to other's perspectives, and people who tend to express opinions that they haven't really thought about. Every time I read it (and I have usually read every copy I purchased more than once), it moves me. More than any other work I have ever enjoyed, this book has dazzled me with the brilliance, the astute erudition, the passion and the restraint of its author, Mark Twain. As a retired Marine, as a parent, and as one who holds a degree in English, I heartily recommend a thoughtful reading of this work. Then I encourage you to do as I have done: share it.

During the Phillipine-American war, Mark Twain got RAW on the horrible practice of going to war in the name of God. Had he been alive, the armchair war hawks of the current Afghanistan conflict would have run him out of town for this! Tell you what, watch the evening news, read this morning's paper, and then read this story. The fact that this story was written nearly a century ago makes it all the more eerie and sad that human nature has changed so little.

The "protest" writings of Mark Twain gained renewed interest during the anti-Viet Nam War Movement and the most prominant of these writings is "The War Prayer." From 1962 to 1973, it appeared in no fewer that 4 separate collections of his stories, including "A Pen Warmed Up in Hell'" and "The Damned Human Race." In 1970, Harper & Row published "The War Prayer" on its own , in hard cover, with haunting illustrations by John Groth. The story clocks in at slightly more than 1,200 words. It is Twain at his most economic. And most vehement. The story begins as an unnamed country prepares for war, its citizens awash with patriotic rapture. Parades, mass meetings and rousing speeches have almost everybody pumped and primed for a bloody good time. On the eve of battle, a service is held and the pastor invokes God's blessings on their cause and their armies. A stranger arrives "bearing a message from Almighty God." The Lord has heard their prayer, the messenger informs them, and is willing to grant it. But only after they have heard the unspoken portions of their prayer. The secret prayer, hidden in their hearts. Twain then unleashes a blunt tutorial on the ravages of war. "(H)elp us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreads with our shells,...Lay waste their humble homes,..wring the hearts of their offending widows...their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land." Not exactly win-one-for-the-Gipper stuff. Just a handy reminder in the age of surgical strikes. In the Post Cold War Era, and 84 years after its initial publication, "The War Prayer" remains a devastating attack on any call to arms and the concept of just and winnable warfare.