In Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo, an American middle school opened its doors to 9 brown students, later known as Little Rock Nine. During this desegregation period, the students face hate and discrimination but they fight the war with bravery and courage. Although Melba was the face behind the operations, without her team of support, she would have never been able to persevere. Her grandmother, India Pattillo Beals, Danny from the 101st Airborne Division, and Link, a white senior at the school were all critical throughout Melba’s journey to survive and…
Company Aytch is a book that depicts the idealistic memory of a young confederate of the Civil War named Sam Watkins. Some historians articulate towards Watkins having insufficiency of precise facts and sometimes alteration or exaggeration on certain issues. (Watkins & Inge, Introduction) However, it is important to appreciate that Sam Watkins was a survivor that has revealed his recollection of the battles as he has experienced them, and although some may believe his memory has some deficiencies he has a real life testimony that cannot be too farfetched from the reality of the life of a soldier during the Civil War. Sam Watkins was born on the 26th day of June on his father’s farm in Columbia Tennessee where he worked during his youth. There is not much told about other work experiences other than Sam working as a clerk in a local store until he enlisted with Company H of the First Tennessee Infantry in the year of 1861. Sam was only 21 years old, a young confederate, and at this time many signs of war were uprising between the North and the South. (Watkins & Inge, Introduction). His entry is the beginning of the memoirs told by Sam Watkins, an ordinary soldier, not of any high rank, which indeed gives the reader another perspective of the reality of the battles faced during the Civil War. Furthermore, it broadens the view of the emotional triumph a frontline soldier and what they went through rather than focusing on the higher ranking officers. Watkins tells in great detail his experiences and writes of his historical remembrances years later, but he never hides the fact that he is writing solely on his memory and what he saw. In addition to him repeatedly reminding the reader that he writes of his recollections only, he also reminds the reader that what he writes is true. Furthermore, he encourages the reader to refer to history for other historical facts. Later in the report I will tell of an occurrence that…
Charley lived in Winona, Minnesota. Charley seen all of the girls faint over meetings about the war. Charley thought it would be better than a circus or what he thought a circus might be like. Charley was happy. Charley was 15 and you had to be 18 to join the Army. Charley wanted to join the war mainly because he wanted to experience a shooting war that would only once in a man’s life and he didn't want to miss it. Charley knew that Minnesota was forming a volunteer regiment. Nearly a thousand men were there. Charley lied about his age saying that he was 18 to get into the army. When Charley joined the army, he liked it at first, being in a shooting that comes once in a man’s life. the first thing Charkey told his ma about being a soldier was…
Gebreyesus Hailu’s The Conscript is a short novel about the struggles of soldiers conscripted to fight in Libya under the Italians. The main character of the story is Tuquabo Medhaniye Alem, a kind-hearted and enthusiastic young man. Upon joining the war, Tuquabo left behind his fairly old parents, a nice home and even a herd of cattle. This signified great wealth back then, so Tuquabo family was a relatively stable family in terms of money. As he grew up, Tuquabo heard many songs that displayed fighting in the Libya war as an exciting and honorable experience. He wanted to go to war and come back a “hero.” Hailu stated “his ambition may have also been influenced by those Habesha chiefs who said they hated to sit idle after a brief break from going to war.” But unfortunately, all these songs and rumors about the war were just that, rumors. In reality, the Libya war was a horrible experience for all the conscripts and their families. Hailu is able to portray the war as it truly was; a way that makes the reader sympathetic for Tuquabo and his family, while at the same time giving important details about the war.…
Both The Battle at Elderbush Gulch and The Shirt can be contrasted by examining how they portray the idea of an ideal feminine image. The Battle at Elderbush Gulch portrays gender roles from a fundamentalist standpoint. Women are the mothers, while men are the providers. Native people are considered savage for not strictly following those rules. The film utilizes cinematography to contrast the white, female characters’ strong emotions against the violent events of the film. For example, at the beginning of the film, Sally and her sister sit in the back of a wagon and weep over leaving their home town. Sally has her arm around her sister in a maternal fashion, and they are placed in the left of the frame and given a medium shot. The camera remains…
As Bierce describes the soldiers he states, "Not all of this did the child note;" (127). Bierce describes the boys thoughts on the war victims as something from a circus, "Something too, perhaps, in their grotesque attitude and movements- reminded him of the painted clown whom he had seen last summer in the circus, and he laughed as he watched them. On they crept, these maimed and bleeding men, as heedless as he of the dramatic contrast between his laughter and their own ghastly gravity. To him it was a merry spectacle." (127). The boy compares the soldiers to his father's negroes, "He had seen his father's negroes creep upon their hands and knees for his amusement- had ridden them so, fancying them his horse. He now approached one of these crawling figures from behind and with an agile movement mounted it astride."…
America required a change in government because the federal government had no way to pay off its debt and the farmers rebelled in Shay’s Rebellion. After the war, America could not pay its debts to foreign countries and farmers could not pay their taxes on the land they were given to support the states during the war. Property taxes imposed to the newly acquired lands was too much for farmers to pay. Disgruntled farmers refused to have their farms foreclosed by local courts and barred them so the government could not reprocess the land. The rebellion was eventually stopped, but the lingering presence of a rebellion urged for the change in the government. America required a change in government due to the state of debt the entire country was…
War can hurt anyone’s emotions. Being exposed to such terrible things can really change a person. When the soldiers got to their training camps they were excited and eager to fight for their country, but after the vigorous training their egos were greatly brought down. Emotions fluctuated greatly while they were training and they hated Corporal Himmelstoss. Corporal Himmelstoss showed the boys, that war isn’t this honorable or glamorous thing.…
The Battle of Ia Drang Valley was a series of engagements between the U.S 1st Cavalry Division and the B-3 front, North Vietnamese Army. It was a battle between one US division and three NVA regiments. This was the first and last battle between NVA forces and U.S forces of similar size. This battle took place from 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965.…
“There is no longer any life pulsing under his skin - it has been forced out already to the very edges of his body, and death is working its way through him” Symbolic elements have been interwoven within this quote. The life which has been said to have been forced out of him symbolizes the loss of all of his memories, identity and innocence as a result of war. Repetition has been used as a language tool to heighten the devastating fact that such young and innocent men are losing their lives to the war.…
Child soldiers often have a hard time returning to a normal life after war. Ishmael Beah, however, showed that he can do it and so can others. He lost his entire family in Sierra Leone’s civil war and the government recruited him as a soldier in his early teens and went on to write his memoir about it, A Long Way Gone. As hard as it was for him to go through and relive these memories to write his story, people still question the memoir’s validity. Despite what many articles say, Beah’s story is true.…
Civil War was ending. As a young child, he was disturbed by the news of…
At the commencing of the novel the soldiers were somewhat intrigued at the thought of going to war. Their teachers spoke to them of patriotism and war as a heroic deed in which the young boys should be eager to partake. The students were before war still naïve and had an innocent perception of war, but as the story continues we notice the transformation in the characters and their behavior. By entering actual fighting grounds and seeing the truth about what went on in battle the boys altered their view on war. Having seen so many casualties and deaths…
Beah tells a compelling story because it allows the reader see the war from the inside; to feel all of the emotion or lack of emotion, see the horrors, and understand the reasoning behind what was happening. This inside view comes from the particular events included in the story. Beah had to choose which parts of his vast experience to include in this memoir and it is interesting to see the events that he selected as the most important. He did not dwell upon the actual war for as long as one would have suspected, but instead describes both the before and after of the war. Beah focused mostly on his experience with rehabilitation, but this does not mean that he neglected to explain the war and the…
difficult for a young boy. Beah’s harsh actions were displayed in his memoir, Along Way Gone.…