In our selections for this week, I was most intruiged by Brittain's explanations of what she believes that "life" is after the war. She recognizes "that no life is really private, or isolated, or self-sufficient," and she attributes this to inventions that were used in the war to make time and space between individuals seem much smaller (472). Brittain uses this mindset as a basis for her switching her area of study to History - a discipline that will help her "understand where humanity failed and civilization went wrong" (472).

People that have experienced the world as Brittain has, with the sheer exposure to death and sadness, would understandably become cynical. And in some ways, Brittain did lose her youthfulness in regard to creating relationships with others. "Only gradually did I realize that the War had condemned me to live to the end of my days in a world without confidence or security, a world in which every dear personal relationship would be fearfully cherished under the shadow of apprehension" (469-70). However, this section (Survivors Not Wanted) proved Brittain's uniqueness as an individual. She justifies her survival by claiming that her study of History might lead to a better future for the world. If she can pinpoint how and why the world went wrong, perhaps she can prevent it from happening again. Brittain sees herself as a world-influencer, which I would generally recognize as a rather youthful trait. She has not lost all of her youthfulness to this War, as she has maintained some sense of purpose despite the world around her.