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Mental and physical consequences of war for soldiers
Mental and physical consequences of war for soldiers
The psychological effects of war
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Chapter 10 was a very interesting and confusing chapter. It was the concluding chapter to the novel Soldier’s Heart. The main idea of this chapter was to tell you the life after the war for Charley and how he was living. Charley was struggling in life he was alone and knew too much about life. Charley was limbing and using a cane already at age 21. In the text, it states, “He was too old. Not old in years-in years he still hadn’t started daily shaving or learned about woman.” (98). It shows that Charley was still a young boy with a lot left to learn but a lot of disabilities that held him back. Charley thinks about visiting his friends every day also joining them. This is trying to say he wants to commit suicide because there is no point in
Although Jake was spared his life in the great war, he lost another part of his life and future. Jack tries to compensate his lack of any real future with Brett or any other women with his passion for bullfighing and other frivalties. In John Steele Gordon’s article, “What We Lost in the Great War” Gordon laments the loss of hope and future the generation of the war felt. The characters of the novel, and especially Jake, exemplify the lack of direction felt after the war. Their aimless drinking, parties and participation in the fiesta is an example of the absence of focus in their life.
He doesn’t want to really move on with his life, He see no reason to. I believe that Charlie does indeed have a Soldier's heart. Believe this because in the forward of the book they describe Soldiers Heat as Coming Out of war with many mental problems. More like being mentally disturbed on what they had to see and live through. That is exactly wrong with Charley, He would think about the battle, He had a gun that reminded him of when he had killed a man with his bayonet. Charley is somewhat glad that he is going to die sooner or later “In some ways it made him sad and in some ways he was near glad of it” the book claims. In conclusion I believe that Charley Goddard indeed does have a Soldier's
A prominent theme in A Long Way Gone is about the loss of innocence from the involvement in the war. A Long Way Gone is the memoir of a young boy, Ishmael Beah, wanders in Sierra Leone who struggles for survival. Hoping to survive, he ended up raiding villages from the rebels and killing everyone. One theme in A long Way Gone is that war give innocent people the lust for revenge, destroys childhood and war became part of their daily life.
In retrospect chapter one demonstrates how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were influenced by the Vietnam War, many of the soldiers had to face the burdens of war, the lost of innocents and the sexual yearning for women. One of the fundamental themes introduced in the first few pages of the novel was the burdens many of soldiers encounter during the war. The soldiers in the novel carried some remarkably heavy physical and emotional burdens; these burdens almost always seem too much for them to carry. For instances Jimmy Cross the leader of the platoon was responsible for the lives of all soldiers in subdivision, however he was unable to keeping his soldiers alive. Another theme introduces in chapter one is the lost of innocent. The Vietnam War both defiles and terminates the innocence of those soldiers who participated in the war. Most of the soldiers in Vietnam War were young, not even twenty. Nevertheless, Tim O’Brien relentless points out that although they are young, they are killers when commanded. Many of the soldiers had to give up their innocence and become men immediately during the war. Other themes that emerge in chapter one is the sexual yarning for females. In addition with fighting Vietcong, soldiers had to endure living without any females around; which cause a lot of anxiety on them.
The violent nature that the soldiers acquired during their tour in Vietnam is one of O'Brien's predominant themes in his novel. By consciously selecting very descriptive details that reveal the drastic change in manner within the men, O'Brien creates within the reader an understanding of the effects of war on its participants. One of the soldiers, "Norman Bowler, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a Thumb. . .The Thumb was dark brown, rubbery to touch. . . It had been cut from a VC corpse, a boy of fifteen or sixteen"(O'Brien 13). Bowler had been a very good-natured person in civilian life, yet war makes him into a very hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying about a severed finger as a trophy, proud of his kill. The transformation shown through Bowler is an excellent indicator of the psychological and emotional change that most of the soldiers undergo. To bring an innocent young man from sensitive to apathetic, from caring to hateful, requires a great force; the war provides this force. However, frequently are the changes more drastic. A soldier named "Ted Lavender adopted an orphaned puppy. . .Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the firing device"(O'Brien 39). Azar has become demented; to kill a puppy that someone else has adopted is horrible. However, the infliction of violence has become the norm of behavior for these men; the fleeting moment of compassion shown by one man is instantly erased by another, setting order back within the group. O'Brien here shows a hint of sensitivity among the men to set up a startling contrast between the past and the present for these men. The effect produced on the reader by this contrast is one of horror; therefore fulfilling O'Brien's purpose, to convince the reader of war's severely negative effects.
As the story begin Sergeant X is an confident and uplifting man , but it’s towards the middle and end of the story that we see him disassociate from his surroundings and people that like him. For example in the story while everyone was down on the first floor he was up stair on the second smoking and drinking alone separating himself from the rest and using alcohol to numb his pain (J.D Salinger). When an individual chooses to isolate themselves from their surroundings and people, they become lonely and pained and they would use anything to numb the pain. For Sergeant X he begins to separate himself from everyone as he is at war.There is also a sense that Sergeant X is isolated from those around him. Despite being in England with sixty other soldiers, at no stage of the story does X socialize with any of his fellow soldiers . Even when he does socialize, for example with Clay, he doesn’t enjoy his company (J.D Salinger). This shows a great deal of disassociation and how the build up of isolation can affect you as a person without
In the beginning of the book two students had gone to visit their friend who had lost his leg. Not only was this war traumatizing for the soldiers but the family and friends of them too. The war was a painful experience for everyone ruining many people's lives. When Kemmerich was injured he was greatly agonized,the battle never really ended for him. He had pains in his foot, but he was more worried about his watch. Another example of physical injury is when the soldiers were in the trenches and a shell fell in the trench, this wounded or even killed many soldier. The war was so bad many soldiers would shoot themselves in the foot just to go home and escape the
...often times tragic and can ruin the lives of those who fight. The effects of war can last for years, possibly even for the rest of the soldiers life and can also have an effect on those in the lives of the soldier as well. Soldiers carry the memories of things they saw and did during war with them as they try and regain their former lives once the war is over, which is often a difficult task. O’Brien gives his readers some insight into what goes on in the mind of a soldier during combat and long after coming home.
“Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt”(George Sewell). In The Things They Carried, soldiers carry more than just guns, knives, and weapons. They also carry intangible things such as fear and memories, and guilt which is the main focus of the story. War has a huge impact on characters in this novel because war changes the way you think, act and relate to other people. Three characters that experience change from war are Mary Anne Bell, Norman Bowker and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross.
...as nice to know what the book was talking about when it mentioned places, people, and battles like Cold Harbor, the Battle of Manassas, the Wilderness, Sergeant Evans, General Grant, “Bobby Lee”, etc. I liked the way the author ended the book, the fact that both his friend, Hank, and his father died, made it more realistic. If I were in his shoes, I probably would’ve run away to the army also. It’s sad how their barn house was burned by the Confederates. He must’ve thought there to be a lot of glory in the war to have run away instead of do chores at the farm. I’m sure a lot of young men at that time wanted to be a part of the war just like Jem and Hank. I admire how Jem loved his father so much, and wanted to follow him to the war. He didn’t want to only go into the war for the glory like his friend Hank, but he believed that the slaves should be set free. His family had their share of slaves, but in the book they were treated well. The details of Jem’s daily life as a soldier are interwoven with vivid depictions of actual battles and historical figures in this taut, fast-paced story. And that’s what I like about this book. It brings alive the realities of war and its aftermath.
In the first chapter, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his troop have just returned from the front line after suffering heavy casualties. He is joyous because his troop, the Second Company, has been served double rations due to the losses. He and his friends laugh and eat, feeling privileged. They are not at all deterred by the fact that they were gifted this excess of food by 70 fallen comrades. When the cook hears of the losses, he is shocked, but not because of the deaths; he is astonished that he has prepared nearly double the amount of food needed. The soldiers' disconnection shows more personally when Paul and his friends, Muller and Kropp, go to visit a fellow soldier named Franz Kemmerich who is hospitalized with a leg wound. They realize that he will not leave the hospital alive, but they are not too concerned. In fact, their thoughts revolve more around Kemmerich's well-crafted boots and who will inherit them once he is passed. It isn't that they don't care for their friend; it's simply that they have learned to push away sadness and other emotions. They must focus on their own lives before mourning the loss of others.
Finally, O’Brien uses the two themes of pride and isolation to show how they felt in the war and out of war. The soldiers were young when they were in the war and they took pride for their country, but once they stepped back to the real world they were alone and isolated from everyone regretting what happen over there. Most of them all faced the same problems in the war and after the war. They thought they were doing things the right way by going to Vietnam, but they didn’t foresee it would affect them in the
As the soldiers take a good look at the people they love;the beautiful sun setting in the background ;and the life that they’re leaving behind. They begin walking down a path of no return. While on this path, the soldiers face constant battle against their morals and the burden that each of the men must carry on a daily basis ;this creates a huge dilemma that the men must face head on in order to survive. Fear, anger ,shame , courage: these are the emotions that resonate within the very being of the soldiers during the course of the story. Some are able to overcome these hurdles, while others allow the obstacles to eat away at them until it consumed them. To demonstrate this truth, Norman Bowker is unable to overcome his need to be useful to those around him which led to his untimely demise.This could have been avoided if he would of looked in different places to see what he excels in, rather than doing so he took his own life .The author uses the choices that each of the soldiers make to show that the fear of shame can be used as a motivational factor, that allows them to act courageously in critical situations.
Soldiers are those who sacrifice their life to protect their country. They’re willing to fight for freedom to their country. They have to fight against enemy with their friends dying around them which is very painful and heart broken. After the confrontation is over, they get back to peace home where they can return to normal life. Unfortunately, others will not be lucky as them. Some soldiers could not easily put the war behind them. Ernest Hemingway who was a veteran in WW1 wrote the book called “Soldier’s Home”. He had experienced bloody war and seriously suffered by trauma of war. He portrayed himself as the main character, Krebs, to show how the veteran has hard time adjusting to home life than most soldiers that have returned home. In
Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” is a short story that shows how a soldier copes with civilian life after war and the struggles that Harold Krebs, Hemingway’s protagonist, experiences throughout his familiar, but new life. With changes in his view about the world it adds to his problem with adjusting to his life. “Soldier’s Home” uses the setting and characters to explain the theme of the story of a soldier’s transition to normality. Several symbolism is used by Hemingway to explain the story. The title “Soldier’s Home”, symbolizing a soldier’s toughest challenge to change his way of living since the job is done.