Dear America
Prompt: Soldiers stricken by guilt attempt to find redemption. Discuss.
Contention: That soldiers’ justify their actions and regain a sense of themself when seeking to dissolve their guilt in war.
Why do soldiers attempt to morally comprehend the conduct they are forced to participate in? In Edelman’s text Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam the readers are instantaneously thrown into letters depicting how soldiers struggle with their humanity after the abhorrent acts of war they are conscripted to partake in. Seeing this, the readers are forced to see the emotional sides of the soldiers and cannot deny that it is difficult to cope with the burden placed upon them, showing the reader that the soldiers will attempt to justify their actions and repent for them.
Soldiers carry a hardship when they kill a person. In the text, the reader will begin to understand that a soldier will attempt to redeem themselves after committing the most heinous of acts. This is illustrated in the letter by George Williams, writing “There are a few kids who hang around, some with no parents. I feel so sort for them. I do things to make them laugh. And they call me ‘dinky dow.’” Highlighting his redeeming qualities, Williams shows the reader how even after he killed some of the Vietnamese, he attempts to redeem himself by making the children laugh and justifies his actions as he wants to give these children a democratic future. Edelman includes this letter so the reader may see the effect of war on our humanity, showing Williams’s morals “shining through the crucible” as John McCain stated in the Introduction. Williams’s sympathy towards the children, along with his actions to make them laugh, shows his humanity shining through and his need to redeem himself due to his conduct.
“I feel I may have killed some of their parents and it makes me feel sick to know they have to go on with nothing” writes Daniel Bailey showing his guilt, not towards the parents he killed, but towards the
Contention: That soldiers’ justify their actions and regain a sense of themself when seeking to dissolve their guilt in war.
Why do soldiers attempt to morally comprehend the conduct they are forced to participate in? In Edelman’s text Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam the readers are instantaneously thrown into letters depicting how soldiers struggle with their humanity after the abhorrent acts of war they are conscripted to partake in. Seeing this, the readers are forced to see the emotional sides of the soldiers and cannot deny that it is difficult to cope with the burden placed upon them, showing the reader that the soldiers will attempt to justify their actions and repent for them.
Soldiers carry a hardship when they kill a person. In the text, the reader will begin to understand that a soldier will attempt to redeem themselves after committing the most heinous of acts. This is illustrated in the letter by George Williams, writing “There are a few kids who hang around, some with no parents. I feel so sort for them. I do things to make them laugh. And they call me ‘dinky dow.’” Highlighting his redeeming qualities, Williams shows the reader how even after he killed some of the Vietnamese, he attempts to redeem himself by making the children laugh and justifies his actions as he wants to give these children a democratic future. Edelman includes this letter so the reader may see the effect of war on our humanity, showing Williams’s morals “shining through the crucible” as John McCain stated in the Introduction. Williams’s sympathy towards the children, along with his actions to make them laugh, shows his humanity shining through and his need to redeem himself due to his conduct.
“I feel I may have killed some of their parents and it makes me feel sick to know they have to go on with nothing” writes Daniel Bailey showing his guilt, not towards the parents he killed, but towards the