Comparing Churchill and Mistral’s work shows that the Nobel Prize can recognize both the statesman who united Britain under threat and the diplomat-poet who sought to help rebuild humanity and community in an idealistic direction after World War II. The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded to an individual “who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” (Nobel Prize Outreach 2025) This implies that the Nobel Prize is meant to honor a person who is not only a great writer but who also has a lasting impact on the world and humanity. When discussing the Nobel Prize winners connected to World War II, Winston Churchill and Gabriela Mistral, Winston Churchill stands apart because his words changed the course of history.  Winston Churchill’s speeches and his six-volume work, The Second World War, turned words into a defense against tyranny and a permanent testimony of hope. In contrast, Gabriela Mistral lamented the worldwide suffering caused by World War II and called for empathy, compassion, and concern for victims through her public addresses and lyric poetry.

When Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, he addressed parliament saying, “It must be remembered that we are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history…We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.” (Churchill) (Churchill, Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, 1940) Churchill was immediately honest and forthcoming about the challenges that were ahead for Great Britain. He addressed Parliament humbly, stating, “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’” (Churchill) During this time, Britain was alone fighting against Nazi Germany after much of Europe had already fallen.  Churchill bluntly admitted the hardship Britain faced, then followed with four beats. “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” This phrase used asyndeton and balanced rhythm to give shape and meaning to their terrifying situation, the impending war, making the suffering of the public feel noble and shared by all. The weight of Churchill’s words gave the people hope that they were seen and supported and became something for Britain to rally around. Churchill’s blunt rhetoric and honesty inspired national endurance and created a type of idealism grounded in courage and shared sacrifice by all.

Less than one month later, on June 4, 1940, Churchill delivered his speech, “We Shall Fight on the Beaches.” In this speech, he addressed Dunkirk’s recent evacuation while acknowledging the bravery of the troops and the military setback. He also promised that Britain would resist Germany stating, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” (Churchill) This speech, given right after the evacuation of Dunkirk, helped to reassure the British people that retreat was not the same as defeat. The repetition in Churchill’s words, the anaphora, “We shall fight”, builds defiant momentum like a drumbeat, swelling until it reaches Churchill’s final uncompromising promise of “We shall never surrender.” This rising rhythm translated fear into momentum, turning the speech into more than politics; it was poetry performed for the nation, delivering hope and encouragement to the British people in a moment of danger and showing that Churchill’s ability in public speaking steadfastly shaped morale in Britain.

       Winston Churchill broadened his wartime oratory into literary form with a significant body of written works. Churchill’s six-part series, “The Second World War”, told the story of World War II from its causes and conflicts to the aftermath. This series blended military tactics, political analysis, and detailed, vivid portraits of key players such as Roosevelt, Stalin, and Hitler. Churchill’s narration helps readers recognize the importance of the decisions that were made during the war and the style of his writing performs history rather than just recording it. In The Scaffolding of Rhetoric, Churchill argues, “the orator is the embodiment of the passions of the

multitude. Before he can inspire them with any emotion he must be swayed by it himself… To convince them he must himself believe.” (Churchill 2) Churchill’s belief that language should communicate real emotions and that great speakers should use “the best possible word” to “absolutely express the full meaning of the speaker.” (Churchill 2) shaped his speeches and his written works. His precise diction, moral framework and rolling rhythm, along with his narrative power and scope read like an epic novel, though the series is, in part, a defense of Churchill’s positions and decisions in the war.  By reflecting on his rhetoric, speeches, and using deliberate tone, argument and rhythm to alter his military chronicle into literature and give it a deeper meaning, Churchill accomplished the Nobel prize ideal of moving literature in an idealistic direction. Where Winston Churchill’s work reinforced national identity and memory, Gabriela Mistral’s addresses used speech and poetry to spread messages of hope and healing for damage left by World War II. 

            Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American woman to become a Nobel laureate, was a Chilean poet who presented a drastically different representation of literary response to World War II. While Churchill’s works came from a place of political influence and were meant to unite and support nations in real time while addressing the need for continued resistance, Mistral wrote from the Americas during World War II and used her speeches, essays and poetry to spread messages of hope and moral clarity.  Her works recognize suffering and loss, but she argues that through compassion, countries and people can rebuild to be more moral, caring, and ethical after the loss of lives and culture across the world. In her address Its not Fair that Italy Pay for the Follies of the Fascists, Mistral argues that, “The crimes and follies of fascism must be paid for by those who have intervened in them, by the responsible leaders and not by the entire people, by millions of men.” (G. t. Mistral 1) Her argument suggested that justice would best be served by resolution and mercy instead of retribution for past wrongs. She stated, “It would not benefit Europe and Latin America if Italy lost strength and honor, because this would mean the weakening of its cultural production.”

In The Forbidden Word Mistral intensified her viewpoint, stating, “There is one topic that is forbidden, Señora: peace… one has to avoid that forbidden topic as one would avoid an electrical live wire.” (G. Mistral, The Forbidden Word 226)However, she reminds readers that “There are some words that, when smothered, speak all the more, precisely because of suffocation and exile; and the word ‘peace’ is surging even from people who have been deaf or indifferent.” She continued, “say it wherever we are, wherever we go, until it generates a body and creates a ‘militancy for peace’ to fill the filthy, crowded air and starts to purify it.” (G. Mistral, The Forbidden Word 227) Mistral’s words altered pacifism into an active moral resistance, standing defiant against silence and anguish.

Mistral’s human-centered approach is also present in her poetry, giving a voice to suffering, loss, displacement, and endurance.  In Jewish Refugee Woman, Mistral wrote, “They cut my earth away from me, all they’ve left me is the sea.” (G. Mistral 317) Showing that the speaker has lost everything about them but is still moving forward. The poem continues, “All I’m bringing is my breath, my blood my anxious heart.” (G. Mistral 317) Identifying the resilience of the human spirit. Mistral’s poetry and prose works associate peace with compassion for others, growth, and morality. Mistral’s works show that peace, resolution, and rebuilding derive from understanding, and endurance.

            Churchill’s writing was unique because it illuminated events as they were happening and shaped the way they would be remembered in the future. “With his wartime speeches and six volumes of memoirs, The Second World War, Churchill was able to create a shared collective national history for the British people…Churchill's interpretation of the war was read by millions around the world.” (Maldondo-Orellana) Winston’s speeches are still quoted during times of crisis today. In the aftermath of 9/11, Newt Gingrich stated, “I am not for being pleasant when we are not winning, I just think that cheerleading is very dangerous. Churchill did not say, 'There won't be any more bombs tomorrow morning.' He said, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.' He also said, 'We shall fight on the beaches.' And he meant it.” (Boyer) In March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed Churchill’s famous quote in a speech to the U.K Parliment, stating, “ We shall not give up and shall not lose! We shall go the whole way. We shall fight in the seas, we shall fight in the air, we shall defend our land, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the woods, in the fields, on the beaches, in the cities and villages, in the streets, we shall fight in the hills ...And we shall not surrender!” (Zelenskyy)

One of the most common criticisms of Churchill receiving the Nobel Prize was that the Swedish Academy was blurring the lines of awards by rewarding a politician instead of a true writer. In the Yale Review, Reed Whittemore stated. “Less satisfied critics found the award merely political... It was too bad, they felt, that a statesman already receiving sufficient notoriety from painting landscapes and smoking cigars had been chosen instead of a bona fide lit'ry gent”. (Whittemore 248) However, this argument does not take into consideration the scope and literary nature of Churchill’s writings.  The first definition of literature in Merrium-Webster’s dictionary is “writings in prose or verse, especially: writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.” (Literature) Churchill’s writings fall under this definition because they undoubtedly express ideas of permanent and universal interest.   

Comparing Churchill and Mistral shows that the Nobel Prize for literature can honor both the politician who defended freedom during some of the darkest moments of World War II and the diplomat-poet who reasoned to rebuild the world after the war was over. Mistral’s plea for compassion and consideration reminds people that peace is a form of strength. However, Winston Churchill was able to command words to directly shape events immediately surrounding his speeches and also the way those events, and Churchill himself, are remembered throughout the world. His speeches rallied nations during the fight with Germany, his histories preserved a comprehensive record of World War II, and his words continue to inspire nations and individuals during times of crisis today. This is why Churchill was the best candidate to win the Nobel Prize at the time he did. His words brought the world together with hope in a time of desperation and showed that language itself can be a powerful defense against persecution and can also become an example of hope for humanity itself.

 

 

Works Cited

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—. Churchill's First Radio Address as Prime Minister. 10 May 1940.

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Mistral, Gabriela. La Emigra Judía/The Jewish Refugee Woman’. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. https://books.google.com/books/about/Selected_Poems_of_Gabriela_Mistral.html?id=wfz9RAbgrZwC.

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Mistral, Gabriela, tr. by E. Horan. "It’s Not Fair That Italy Pay for the Madness of the Fascists." 1946. http://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/bnd/623/w3-article-142585.html.

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Zelenskyy, Volodymyr. "Address by the President of Ukraine to the Parliament of the United Kingdom." 8 March 2022. The Presidential Office of Ukraine. 16 9 2025.