In this book the author Tim O' Brien uses many different little stories to sum of the big picture of war. He focuses in on many different characters, stories, and their specific feelings to help the reader get an actual feel of what he felt. Which he states on pg. 171 " I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer than happening-truth". While O' Briens main connection to the title focus's in on what each soldier physically carried, deeper than that is the soldiers own feelings, doubts, and fears.…
The theme is the brutality of war. When the college friends were discussing about the war they’re about to take part in, Kropp said “Two years of shells and bombs a man won’t peel it off as easy as a sock” (Remarque 87). This shows the brutality of the war because it describes the effect the war puts on people is not easy to forget and for many, it’s permanent. As the friends were taking turns discussing war, Albert explained his view saying “The war has ruined us for everything” (Remarque 87). This shows brutality of war as well because it shows how broad the effect war is on people’s life. The theme of this book makes it a good book because its outcomes relates to the wars going on around the world right now. And it has important message/lesson on life in the front in the Great War, instead of just viewing the honor/patriotic part of the war it mainly focused on a very important part; fear and pressure. Thus the theme of this book is the brutality of war because of the characters description of the life at the front.…
1. The book I selected was Myrer, Anton. Once an Eagle. New York: HarperPerennial, 2002. Myrer enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and participated in the invasion of Guam where he was wounded and later discharged. Interestingly, he was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, not far from For Devens. This book has been described by some as an anti-war novel. Given the experiences of the author, there are understandably many real and graphic descriptions of the effects of war on the Soldier, physically and mentally. As the Foreword of the book stated, “no one who has experienced combat directly, or even vicariously, would seek it.”…
In "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah the author describes his experiences in the Sierra Leone civil war. He faced many challenges, and this affected him in many ways. The Sierra Leone war brought Beah into conflict with his own humanity, specifically his will to live, his empathy, and his trust.…
This novel is very different from the others that I have read. Tim O’Brien wrote this book to show how it was at Vietnam and what soldiers have to go thru. However he wrote this book under the genre of fiction because this way he could write things that were not true and still make it billable to the reader. Rather than him just saying things as they are. Perhaps if he told things as they really happen then the reader might not be interested of what was going on. Now the author wrote this book for two reasons.…
Explain the significance of the title. In addition to their gear, the soldiers carry such qualities as distrust of the white man, all they could bear, grief, terror, love, fear. How does O’Brien use so many abstractions in these stories?…
The theme that war changes a person is evident throughout almost every short story in the book The Things They Carried. Some are changed for the better, and some, not so much. Tim O’Brien used the characters he has built up to show the effects of war on different people. Out of the many themes included in this book, this is a very important one. Any situation will change you if you keep at it long enough, and that is just what happens to each and every person involved in a war.…
It Happened On The Way To War is a book by Rye Barcott. This book talks about a marine who dreams of making a difference in the world. We read about his life, feeling as if we were a part of it. Three values that he clearly shows in this book are balance, leadership and Inspiration. Somebody once said that in order to succeed in life, you have to have a balance between your personal life and your professional life. Rye Barcott not only shows us the importance of having a balance, but he also shows us how hard it is to find that balance. While he was a part of the Marines, he was expected to transition easily from the combat mode to peace keeping mode. He thought that he will be able to separate the founder of Carolina for Kibera(CFK) from the marine that he was meant to be and vice versa. However as he started his journey, he soon realized how difficult finding balance actually is. After he came back from Kibera and started bootcamp. Rye noticed a difference in his performance. His said that for the first time in his life, he was in the bottom half of the class. “ It’s like a dual culture shock” (90 Barcott, Rye) thats what is what his mother said that he was going through. This was the first time, we see Rye struggling to keep his personal and professional life separate. As time went by he was able to over come the cultural shock, however once he was an official marine. he was presented with a new challenge. He had to look at children that he was trying to improve the lives off, as potential suspects. As a marine he had to check kids that looked innocent for bombs and weapons and then then as a founder of CFK he had to go and help them. In my leadership class, I have been taught that in order to be a good leader you need to do 5 things. You have to model the way, inspire a shared vision, encourage the heart, challenge the process and enable others to act. In the book, Rye demonstrates most if not all of these 5 qualities. He…
- shows how Robert Ross progresses as a "hero" and demonstrates the responsibilities and pressures the war puts on an individual as is can make them think irrationally. It also shows how teamwork is the most valuable tactic in surviving battle. It gives a more visual outlook to the reality Robert experiences in the war as he expresses fear and quick thinking.…
When I was looking for a book to read, this was one of the last ones on my list. I wanted to read about World War II – a war that seemed more interesting. However, this book and I crossed paths when all the books I wanted to read were out of stock at the bookstore. I thought I’d take a chance, and I’m glad I did. I fell into a book-induced stupor when I began reading it. After awhile I realized an hour and half had gone by and I was halfway through the book. I was engrossed by the…
The book tell the author's side of the story, the story of his childhood and his life. Wes Moore grows up under very poor conditions, and barely makes it by with his small family. Wes' mother is forced to drop out of school, and forfeit getting an education, to keep food on the table for her kids, and because Wes' father has been out of the picture for several years now, there is no other source of income for the poor family. Wes tries to stay strong despite all the bad things in his life, and pushes through days looking for the light at the end of the tunnel to solve all his problem. When Wes heads off to private school years later, he is at first passing classes and learning at a steady pace. However, when his life at home becomes too much to handle along with school, Wes takes a fall and fails out of private school. Wes doesn't want to go on living in poverty, so he decides that he is going to get an education one way, or another. He decides to join a military school and enlist in the countries' armed forces, in hopes that he will have one more chance at getting a wonderful education to turn his life around. At first, he didn't seem cut out for the military, but with time came acceptance, and Wes toughened up and contributed to the war in his own way. After his time in the war had been served, Wes left the forces a veteran, and went on to bigger and better things, and all…
State of devastation was left behind, once the war had ended and people were free. Families were destroyed with no clue how to rebuild their foundation. War has stained the streets with red, and for the first time people were forced to see the reality of what “turning your cheek” can really do. To let one run so far with they hate had left our society in shambles. This compelled us, as human beings to change. By building off compassion and empathy, to start a new love for our humanity and the generation to come.…
Picture a world where ash falls from the sky like snowfall in the winter; meanwhile, the sound of military guards and rifles replace the cries of laughter that once belonged to the children. Signs stating “We are at War!” or “Curfew for all citizens at 8:00pm” cover the building walls that used to fill the city will art and color. These dark and depressing traits resemble the war referenced in “William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” and the dystopian society represented in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron”. Both authors are trying to get across a similar and important messaged to the audience; for example, the impact of war on humans psyche, the importance of sacrifice during low social times, and the overall message behind both authors.…
Through this discussion, I noticed how easy it was to relate to the social and cultural context issues that the soldiers went through in this book. For example, when Tim did not want to go to war and almost fled to Canada he realized that he rather go to war and die before he gets talked about by his community. This shows how far a person will go to prevent being embarrassed and talked about in a bad way, which we can relate to as high schoolers. It was difficult to relate to the book at the same time because I have never been to war and cannot understand what the soldiers went through.…
The history of war is what many spend time reading about in textbooks. Few, however, experience war and all that it encompasses. David Leckie, a marine during World War II, uses his book, Helmet for My Pillow, to share with readers the truth of what it was like to be a soldier. Rather than skimming the surface of his time on Parris Island and the Pacific Islands, he goes into unmatched, excruciating detail; every trench dug, every shot fired, and every fallen soldier passed was recounted by Leckie. Setting this story apart from any other, the first-hand accounts of combat, unlikely descriptions of the day-to-day actions of the soldiers, and the heart that Leckie intertwines with each part of his story all combine to make this thought-provoking,…