--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why do we electrocute men for murdering…" description: "\"Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled “enemy?\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg" --- # Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and… ![“Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled “enemy?” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg) > “Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled “enemy?” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques the paradox of glorifying violent acts while condemning individual murder. **In simple terms:** Society glorifies mass violence inconsistently. Key Takeaway Question the morality of hero worship in war. Themes war morality hypocrisy Mood provocative critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - military recruitment - political rallies - historical analysis Key Concepts political ethics psychology media studies Questions to Reflect On - What values are we rewarding when we honor soldiers? - How does language shape our view of violence? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex geopolitics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Purple heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purple-heart/) [Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaughter/) ## Related quotes > [“What obsession do men have for destruction and murder? Who do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/what-obsession-do-men-have-for-destruction-and-murder-who-do-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“According to Japanese scholar Yuki Tanaka, the United States firebombed over a hundred Japanese cities. Destruction reached 99.5 percent in the city of Toyama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/according-to-japanese-scholar-yuki-tanaka-the-united-states/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [Anybody looking at the history even of the 20th century would not single out Islam as the bloodthirsty religion; it was Christian/Nazi/Communist Europe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-kristof/anybody-looking-at-the-history-even-of-the-20th-century-would-not/) [Nicholas Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-kristof/) > [The Rwandan policy of putting the genocide behind them is incredibly effective in many ways. But it's also incredibly frightening to think that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/the-rwandan-policy-of-putting-the-genocide-behind-them-is-incredibly/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-justify-the-mass-slaughter-of/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Let's not pretend that abortion isn't about the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-aston/let-s-not-pretend-that-abortion-isn-t-about-the-mass-slaughter-of/) Michael Aston > [“Charles had perished in Italy, like hundreds of other Japanese-Americans in the 442nd Infantry Regiment, which became known as the Purple Heart Battalion due…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/charles-had-perished-in-italy-like-hundreds-of-other-japanese/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [I always wanted to get the Purple Heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-always-wanted-to-get-the-purple-heart/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“another month, another year, another smile, another tear, another winter, and another summer too,but there will never be another US together It's time we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/purpleholic/another-month-another-year-another-smile-another-tear-another-winter/) Purpleholic > [So, Wesley Clark is running for president. Pretty amazing guy. Four star general, first in his class at West Point, supreme commander of NATO,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/so-wesley-clark-is-running-for-president-pretty-amazing-guy-four-star/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [“They Served ...reliving memories that will not die giving their all for you and I - friends taken lives shaken...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muse/they-served-reliving-memories-that-will-not-die-giving-their-all-for/) [Muse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muse/) > [“Him! Him! Captain Eliot Rosewater–Silver Star, Bronze Star, Soldier's Medal, and Purple Heart with Cluster! Sailing champion! Ski champion! Him! Him! My God–the number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/him-him-captain-eliot-rosewater-silver-star-bronze-star-soldier-s/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [We didn't have a strong drug scene by any means. Originally, it was just purple hearts, amphetamines, speed or whatever you want to call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-wooler/we-didn-t-have-a-strong-drug-scene-by-any-means-originally-it-was/) Bob Wooler > [Men with purple hearts carry silver guns and they will kill a man for what his father has done. But what my father did,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/men-with-purple-hearts-carry-silver-guns-and-they-will-kill-a-man-for/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [“If they give the purple heart for soldiers, I guess they could give me the blue ball medal for the testament of willpower I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-bloom/if-they-give-the-purple-heart-for-soldiers-i-guess-they-could-give-me/) [Penelope Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-bloom/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Enemy quotes > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Before you were my enemy, you were my best friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/before-you-were-my-enemy-you-were-my-best-friend/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Fear is a man's worst enemy, but love is a man's most powerful weapon against anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-is-a-man-s-worst-enemy-but-love-is-a-man-s-most-powerful-weapon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) A.K. Hasan > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. Everything else is rubbish!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rickenbacker/in-this-business-you-find-the-enemy-then-go-after-and-destroy-him/) [Eddie Rickenbacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rickenbacker/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) [Browse all 7,981 Enemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter of someone arbitrarily labeled “enemy?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Plath" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering-an-individual-and-then-pin-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enemy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering-an-individual-and-then-pin-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/sylvia-plath-149_enemy_why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering_1966390.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why do we electrocute men for murdering an individual and then pin a purple heart on them for mass slaughter…” — Sylvia Plath", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sylvia Plath", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Why do we electrocute men for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering-an-individual-and-then-pin-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-do-we-electrocute-men-for-murdering-an-individual-and-then-pin-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```