DUNKIRK MOCK EXAM
INTRODUCTION
If you don’t mind my first object of scrutiny will be the title because i believe it is a fairly clear indication of the direction we must take in studying the documents at hand.
And from the start we are confronted with two elements that should not be put side by side that is a reference to an Historical fact : the evacuation of Dunkirk beach from May the 26 to June the 4th 1940 and the notion of myth.
Indeed the very notion of a myth or more precisely a legendary story seems inconsistent with the grounded facts of which history is made of.Thus our whole task seems to boil down to justifying this assumption through the careful analysis and description of two documents;the first one being a newspaper front page issued in May 1940 and the second one being the extract of a book written by Penny Summerfield which seems to be dedicated to the popular memories derived from the war.
So let us embark on that mission without furtherado
DOCUMENT ONE
At first glance we can make out that this document is the front cover of a british newspaper The Daily express. But what seems foremost here and almost the only object we can clearly catch a sight of is the title: Tens of Thousands safely home already.This brazing title is accompanied by a photo and we can pick up some words such as Dunkirk in the subhead which allow us to understand that here is mentioned the dramatic episode of the evacuation of the Dunkirk beach in the North of France in 1940. here include the historical data that you know on the event
To begin with what I would clearly want to point out first are the words picked up by the journalist in the headline.First the deliberate approximation of the number : tens of thousands clearly indicates that on the one hand the journalist might nt have been provided with enough information.But is it not rather a means to inflate the number of rescued soldiers and thus persuade the readers that the number of survivors is huge.The homely touch of the word Home encourages a feeling of patriotism and motherly affection for the soldiers.
But the term that we should focus on is the word Already which clearly indicates that the journalist is keen to insist that the future and the final countdown will be far more positive than might be foreseen. This final element leads us to the question of date.We must underline that the paper released this information on the 31st of May that is 5 days after the beginning of Operation Dynamo.What can justify such a delay?Simply enough that the outcome of the evacuation was until now less than certain hence the unwillingness from the government to inform the public .
So what was the turning point of the escape?Here once more the paper provides us with a clue.Indeed we can discern the term ships of all sizes … which is a direct reference to the hundreds of leisure boats which embark on the rescue mission to help the much depleted military British forces.
Thus the title given to that document “Daring the German guns in Dunkirk” is much more clear and is a direct quote from the newspaper.
But we can’t miss the irony of it all: when on earth has an evacuation operation ever been regarded as an act of bravery?How did the Churchill government manage to create from the ashes of a complete shamble and defeat , an act of defiance and courage that would shape the very attitude of the british people throughout the war.
In front of our very eyes, the myth of Dunkirk is thus spawned = generated and the “tired, dirty and hungry” are being redeemed by the heroes from home.
But the notion of myth is valid only and only if the spectator is aware of its artificiality.But until recently the public was unable to set aside the myth from the truth.Only the work of historians have enabled us the get to the bottom of things and especially such historians as penny Summerfield whose work we will examine now.
DOCUMENT 2
The first interest of this document is too list and combine several reviews on various historic works .
She mentions first Angus Calder and its much praised The Myth of the Blitz issued in 1991.She alludes to the author’s inability to perceive the myth and thus his intention of unveiling it now.
She ten proceeds with Richard Weight who chose in 2002 to highlight the function of the small boat imagery which he believes is rooted into the island nature of the British people who confronted with an attack on their shores will adopt a warmongering attitude.
The document draws to a close on her analysis of the work of Mark Connelly , the famous historian who is regarded as a specialist of another island: Ireland.
He quite shrewdly remark on the reasons why the myth of Dunkirk has resonated for so long with the British public.It combines all the elements that have been part of their history: the isolationism of a nation facing an enemy alone as France was on the verge of collapse; plus the very sea element as the evacuation took place on a beach and involved the official and less official navy.The patriotism of a nation ready to defend their own whatever the sacrifices.But even more spectacular the fact that this victory should rely on the boldness of a few men while the whole army was defeated; this last element brings to mind such mythical creature as Guy Fawkes,William of Normandy or Churchill himself who himself captured such sentiment with his famous quote “ never was so much owed by so many to so few.”
At the end of this study , it dawns on us thus that beyond the creation of the myth and its purpose, what we are given here is rather an explanation has to why this myth has endured and been accepted so easily by the British public and why , in the words of the author it is “entrenched in the national psyche”.
Therefore we have to acknowledge the skillfulness of the creator of our subject which in the simple choice of two documents has allowed us both to be reminded of the facts but also to have deeper understanding of the myth .
We might conclude in saying that the events of Dunkirk are often qualified as being a miracle as mentioned line 13.This term sheds a light on the extraordinary and miraculous outcome of the evacuation where much more soldiers were saved than could have been anticipated considering the circumstances.
But the term “Miracle” is quite appropriate as well because it implies the spectator ‘s suspension of disbelief and that is exactly what was at stake here.The British public needed to believe that they sttod a chance and that the outcome of the war would be a positive one as it had been once before in Dunkirk but also that God was on their side, a religious element that was not insisted upon in our document but that might explain for some the miraculous and quite frankly wondrous result of the war at large 4 years later.
