Perspectives

To put a literary text like “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae in perspective means relating it to similar works that you have read, the context in which it was published and its influence on pop culture. This will give you a better understanding of the text as well as a broader overview of its themes.

Context and popular culture

“In Flanders Fields” has often been used after its publication in government propaganda in Canada, the UK, and the United States for recruiting soldiers to go to war, and many have subsequently criticised the poet himself for the last stanza of the poem which was deemed propagandistic. Nevertheless, the poem remains an important Remembrance Day symbol, as it acknowledges the bravery and courage of World War I soldiers.

But the poem’s lines also echoed in other areas. For instance, the Montreal Cana...