Bertolt Brecht Quote

This was an assignment for my Creative Non-Fiction writing class. Basically, had to take the Brecht quote, say whether we agree or not, explain why we feel that way and draw example(s) from history/present to back up our position. Here's what I wrote.

“War is like love; it will always find a way.” –Bertolt Brecht

War and love. Opposites, or so most think. I think war and love are closer and more intertwined than anyone will ever know. So intertwined, that perhaps one can’t be there without the other. What is war? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, war is “hostile contention by means of armed forces, carried on between nations, states, or rulers, or between parties in the same nation or state.” What is love? Love is also a conflict, a paradox in a way. Love is feelings that can’t be explained. Attraction, desire, need. What causes war? Attraction, desire, need. True, the attractions, desires and needs are different in both cases, but it’s the same principle. In war, opponents are attracted by power, by possessions (money, land, fame.) In love, we are attracted to a person for a reason, whether it is looks, personality or any number of things. Attraction causes desire, perhaps even a feel or need or wanting. Either way, both love and war are motivated by the same things.
Sir Isaac Newton stated in his Laws of Motions that “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So is with love and war. Human beings are volatile by nature. We have minds, we think. We have hearts, we feel. We are unique, we are individual. No two human beings are exactly the same; no two human beings have the same thoughts and feelings about everything. When humans interact, there can be many outcomes. Two of the most common though, are love and hate, unity and conflict. Left unchecked, these can have devastating affects. Inevitably, as history as shown, one always leads to the other, over and over, an unending cycle.
What does one think about when one hears the name Helen of Troy? The Trojan War of course; a classic example of love causing war…and war being ended by love. The Trojan War was started when Paris and Helen ran off together. Helen happened to be the wife of the King of Sparta, Menelaus. He didn’t take too kindly to Paris stealing his woman, so he set out for revenge. He wanted not only to defeat Troy and seek revenge on Paris but also Helen. According to legend, when Menelaus got to Helen and was about to kill her, but she dropped her robe and he instantly remembered all he felt for her. He could not kill her; love ended a war.
War and love have always been deeply involved together throughout history. Helen and Menelaus are just one example. There are an uncountable number of others. The cast of characters is different, the storyline may vary, but the end result is always the same. Sometimes the order is reversed, love then war. Sometimes the “war” is minor, a quarrel between lovers and lasts but a few minutes. Sometimes it is the love that is minor, an infatuation that blows by on a summer breeze. Sometimes it is the war that is seemingly perpetual and others, it is the love that seems to be immortal. Whatever the combination may, it is always present, sometimes silent and undetectable, other times exposed and unveiled for all to see. War and love, bound together for eternity by human emotion and action.