After the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001, there has been a reemergence of comparisons between the events of Pearl Harbor and the terrorist attacks in New York. Although the timing of when Band of Brother’s was released on HBO was a poorly planned to the attacks in New York, it could be argued that the United States government was able to use the images found within Band of Brothers for their own agenda to push for a War on Terror. Band of Brothers has representations of brotherhood and an image of a masculine American soldier, which could be used by the government to push for going to war in the Middle East. In order to display a masculine American soldier, it could be argued that there needs to be a representation of an ethnic America …show more content…
The themes that are found are friendship, camaraderie and belonging. While these themes are greatly seen throughout Band of Brothers, it also adds into the idea of masculinity. This is achieved in scenes throughout the miniseries that deal with combat, rescuing, and ultimately sacrifice. With these themes it allows the idea of “brotherhood” to go beyond someone’s ethnicity. One connection with masculinity is military service, and with this it connects to the larger idea of brotherhood. Nancy Ehrenreich further reinforces this idea, “Military service is one of our rites of manhood; it makes men, men. And war makes nations masculine, too. It creates and reinforces a masculine national identity-a sense that our nation is strong, determined, decisive, brave, proud, and so on.” This claim it further emphasizes the overall idea of masculinity, and the idea of brotherhood. This idea of masculinity can help the United States government because with the draft not being in use, they have to relay on recruits enlisting voluntarily. Ehrenreich also provides characteristics of masculinity throughout her article. To be a seen as a "real" man, a male cannot be fearful, indecisive, conciliatory or weak. He needs to be willing to use force or sacrifice his own life for his country, and he will not surrender. Band of Brothers has these characteristics of being masculine throughout the miniseries, and these images are then used to construct the image of “brotherhood.” Powerful images that were displayed in Band of Brothers that displays the notion of masculinity can be displayed throughout episode six in the miniseries. During this episode the men were surrounded by the Germans and were heavily undersupplied. Despite being undersupplied the men refused to leave the line, and the 101st Airborne thought it would be appalling to surrender.
In the book Soldier's Heart By Gary Paulsen the main theme is how war changes a person.
warfare (Paranoia as Patriotism). All male members of the group trained in every aspect of military
Or the way that they all look up to the pantyhose as an almost godly relic. All the way to Norman Bowker finally realizing that courage comes from within, not from winning the Silver Star. These things, made up the soldiers attributes, made up the soldiers’ persona, made up the soldiers. But they didn’t stop at the soldier; certain items characterized all the soldiers as a collective group. It even went as far as to describe an entire group by the things all of them carried, of course, being the green berets.
An emotional burden that the men must carry is the longing for their loved ones. The Vietnam War forced many young men to leave their loved ones and move halfway across the world to fight a ...
From the PATRIOT Act of 2001 that was signed into law by the formal President George W. Bush, to the flags that fluttered in the front yard of every American’s house, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 brought the whole nation together for a single goal of fighting back terrorism and getting through the test that America was put to. Everybody’s loyalty is getting tested since then towards the United States, and one cannot put aside Hollywood. Its reaction through the movies contributed the nation by bringing different ethnic, racial, social, and economical groups, which America was divided into, together and showing loyalty and patriotism to one’s nation. Hollywood movies in the post 9/11 era conveyed the message that “it’s time to give back to your country” through the movies.
...s at that time who have come of age. Perhaps no film in recent history has captured more attention and generated more controversial debate. This film resonates the feeling and question that common people had about the JFK assassination in the 60s. As a result, the debate about the validity of JFK extended much further into the war-torn cultural landscape of America in the 1990s than most observers noted. The JFK was a telling incident demonstrating the larger cultural conflict over values and meaning in America and the competition to define national identity. The whole affair demonstrated how effective a motion picture can be as a transmitter of knowledge, history, and culture. As a result, the debate about the validity of JFK extended much further into the war-torn cultural landscape of America in the 1990s than most observers have noted.
Margulies, Joseph. 2013. What Changed When Everything Changed: 9/11 and the Making of National Identity. Yale University Press.
American society, like that of Germany, was tainted with racial bigotry and prejudice. The Japanese were thought of as especially treacherous people for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The treachery was obviously thought to reside in ...
Having no brothers and growing up in a household full of women, I often sought out brotherhood in any possible way, whether that is in the form of schoolhouse friends, teammates, or fellow soldiers...
... could not help themselves, they were not going to be helped. If struggle were encountered, men had personalized ways to reconnect with the real world, and if a tragedy were encountered which affected the entire company, they also found a combined way to cope with this pressure. The priorities of men during the war shifted greatly toward emotional connections to people and events other than the war, and it was these connections that helped them survive and return home. Coping with the stress and burden of war is not an easy task for anyone, yet in The Things they Carried, O'Brien depicts men dealing and coping as much as they can, using only their primeval resources. They learn how to cope with the barest necessities in life, and they learn how to make use of the smallest opportunities to obtain the most relief and joy from every moment in life.
Of all the literary lenses, one would not think that feminism would be a prevalent topic in a war novel. In Tim O’Brien’s iconic book, The Things They Carried, the idea that women were just as important as men acts an important theme, however from a different perspective. Movies and epic war stories tell of the heroic actions of the World’s finest: bulky men with an appetite for battle. Yet, there always lied a backbone. Comfort, inspiration, ease, all things that women provided to soldiers during any war. Yet, sometimes things did not go as planned and rash actions were made. O’Brien’s masterful use of lenses creates an interesting novel, one that will stand the test of time, however, the aspects of the feminist lens provides much insight into the inner lying meanings of the book, mostly in the areas of characters, objects of importance, and the role of gender in the Vietnam War.
The friendships and bonds that formed in the jungles of Vietnam between the members of Alpha Company help them to survive on a day to day basis. Not only while they were in Vietnam, but also in dealing with their lives back in the United States. Without the bonds of friendship none of the men of Alpha Company would have survived mentally or physically the strains and trauma of the Vietnam War. In the end it is realized that the men not only carried their gear and weapons, but they carried with them bonds, friendship and a connection that only the men of Alpha Company will ever really understand.
The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).
Band of Brothers is a fascinating book that captures moments lived by soldiers during World War II. It specifically relates to the History of a small unit of paratroopers known as Easy Company, 506 Regiment, 101st Airborne. It is a story that follows the company from its inception to the capture of Hitler’s nest. It begins with the training of these soldiers at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The 140 members of easy company who were young men from different social levels were physically and mentally trained. This particular company had an extremely harsh training, but many believe it is because of this training that they were considered as one of the best rifle companies in the army.
...nd embarrassed with their true desires not to fight. There is no freewill at this point because they feel obligated to be the patriotic men. They are confused not knowing the reason for this war but that it is “to stop the Communists, plain and simple” (O’Brien 45). Unfortunately is it not plain and simple, even a million words would not be able to express the experiences that these young men endure. Unlike the Lone Ranger, the soldiers would rather flee due to the natural human instincts toward a dangerous situation. Yet, they suppress their true feelings and fight with all they have. As we can see, the ones that fight to help people that they hardly know are indeed the regular, normal, and everyday human beings. With this in mind, we cannot count on the Lone Ranger to come to the rescue; rather, the heroes are right before our eyes. They are an “everyman.”