The Museum portrays the war as this as people would visit the museum are likely to already have knowledge on the subject - for example, they would understand that there was mass killing. The museum has been built to provide a wider knowledge of the war itself and therefore shows aspects other than killing – showing the war from another point of view.
The Museum is also restricted in showing some aspects of the war as it is a secondary source that uses original artefacts. The museum can only show the war with available sources and artefacts. Hence, the impression will be with the positive feature of the war. The cemetry next to the museum shows the mass deaths, whilst the museum shows more information on the subject. As a French museum, it is likely to be visited by people that have lost relatives in the war. These people would not want to be reminded of the bad, horrific points of the war. They would prefer to believe that their loved one’s experienced moments of companionship and care.
Source E emphasises on the horrific aspects of World War One. It shows details of death and the living alongside rats and lice. The source does mention some non-fighting activities, e.g. playing cards, but its main focus is on the shelling and the resulting injuries inflicted.
The novel is a secondary source, but the author, David Malouf, may have researched the war in great detail before writing the novel making sure it is accurate. As a novel, it needs to sell and David Malouf may have included and exaggerated the horrific events in order for more people to read the novel. During the 1970’s, when the novel was written, the Vietnam War was ongoing. World War One and the Vietnam War were similar as many people died and were disabled from the war. Also, gas was used in abundance – in World War One poison gas was used and Napalm gas was used in the Vietnam War. For this reason, Malouf may be trying to put forward an anti-war message. Also, Australians were in World War One, but they know little about the actual events and happenings in the war. It may have been written for the Australians to provide them with a wider knowledge of the war, but mainly focusing on the mass killing.
I believe that certain aspects of both the museum and Source E are reliable and accurate. The novel has been written to sell, but includes many details and aspects of the war that are similar and relate to other sources; for example, the dirty and muddy conditions agree with the trenches at the museum (See Question One). The museum itself is privately owned and acts as a service to people wanting to find out more about the war and the conditions; and it also uses original artefacts. Overall, the two sources together show clearly what trench warfare was like during World War One.