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Psychological and emotional effects of warfare
What is the theme of the film the hurt locker essay
Psychological and emotional effects of warfare
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The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow and a winner of six Academy Awards, demonstrated the life of soldiers in and out of war and the lasting effects that combat has on their lives. Jeremy Renner, in the role of Sergeant William James, plays the lead character in the film followed by supporting actors, Anthony Mackie as Sergeant Sanborn, and Brian Geraghy as Specialist Eldridge. With increased threats of terrorist’s attacks in the Twenty First Century, the ideas discussed in this paper are representative of the growing need to understand the psychological effects war has on soldiers. The review of the film, The Hurt Locker along with war-related literature focuses on war as a form of addiction, and analyzes how the brutality of war disrupts the lives of individuals on both sides of the social conflict.
In this combat film, the plot is based on an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (EOD) during the Iraq war in 2004. The soldiers are responsible for disarming enemy explosives setup throughout the city. The storyline is constructed around the demonstrative behavior of Sergeant James, and how his attitude and actions put himself and his team in constant danger. Sergeant James, referred to in the film as the “Wildman” because of the record dismantling of 873 bombs during the war, enters Army Camp Victory as the lead of the EOD unit. James, in view of his job, is noted as saying “it’s just combat” and appears to not consider the danger. Through the story of these three men, Director Bigelow created imagery of soldiers fulfilling their duty while depicting the consequences war has on each one of these men’s psyches.
The intoxication of war seen in the character of Sergeant James represented the social issue faced by soldiers figh...
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...). A war correspondent tries to make sense of what he’s seen. Nieman
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Brian Turner's "The Hurt Locker" captures his personal and painful experiences during his time spent in war and furthermore, express the tragic events he witnessed. Brian Turner's poem is miraculously able to gather multiple first hand accounts of tragic, gory, and devastating moments inside a war zone and project them on to a piece of paper for all to read. He allows the audience of his work to partially understand what hell he himself and all combat veterans have endured. Although heartbreaking, it is a privilege to be taken inside "The Hurt Locker" of a man who saw too many things that should not ever be witnessed by anybody. Turner's words bring to life what many have buried deep inside them which subsequently is one of the major underlying problems facing combat veterans today. Reading this poem, I could not help but wonder what the long term effects of war are on a human being, if it is worth the pain, and how does a combat veteran function properly in a society that is unfamiliar with their experiences?
In the aftermath of a comparatively minor misfortune, all parties concerned seem to be eager to direct the blame to someone or something else. It seems so easy to pin down one specific mistake that caused everything else to go wrong in an everyday situation. However, war is a vastly different story. War is ambiguous, an enormous and intangible event, and it cannot simply be blamed for the resulting deaths for which it is indirectly responsible. Tim O’Brien’s story, “In the Field,” illustrates whom the soldiers turn to with the massive burden of responsibility for a tragedy. The horrible circumstances of war transform all involved and tinge them with an absurd feeling of personal responsibility as they struggle to cope.
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.
The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger once said “Perjor est bello timor ipse belli”, which translates to: “the dread of war is worse than war itself”. With this quote, Seneca identifies that war has both its physical and mental tolls on its participants. The psychological and emotional scars of war do much more damage to a solider than the actual physical battles. Tim O’ Brien repeats this idea many years later in his novel “The Things They Carried”, by describing how emotional burdens outweigh the physical loads that those in war must endure. What keeps them alive is the hope that they may one day return home to their loved ones. Yet, the weight of these intangible “items” such as “grief, terror, love, longing” overshadow the physical load they must endure since they are not easily cast away.
Being forced into a war he has no interest in, Tim O’brien recounts his time fighting in the vietnam war. Many of the soldiers there carried things deep to their hearts. Others carried fear, guilt, and despair of what they had done and what was to come. These physical things were a way these soldiers could cope with their feelings and try and stay sane during these times. “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.”(1) These letters were coping mechanisms for Jimmy and he read them when he needed comforting or just to read them to help him forget.
Zoroya, Gregg. "In 'The Hurt Locker,' war is like a drug." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
In The Valley of Elah is undoubtedly one of the most realistic depictions of a modern soldiers experience during the war in Iraq. This film exposes the challenges that many soldiers face upon returning home from duty. In the Valley of Elah follows a detective plot as Hank Deerfield tries to find his AWOL son, Mike, who has just returned home from active duty in Iraq. As Hank pieces together the events that lead to his sons death, the viewers see how traumatized the returning soldiers are. This film submerges the viewer in very powerful and gruesome incidents, which is seen through the photographs and cell phone footage that Mike records while in Iraq. Throughout the film, Mike’s mental state progressively degrades through the photographs and footage that Hank unveils. The lack of support that Mike receives from his father, and the traumatizing events he witnessed in Iraq contributed to Mike’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Mike’s fellow soldiers Corporal Penning, Spc. Bonner, Spc. Long and Private Ortiez all show visible signs of mental trauma from duty in Iraq as well. Living in such an intense and horrific environment makes it difficult for soldiers to adapt to normal life when they return back home. Paul Haggis’s use of these images and clips helps shed light to a topic (PTSD) that has gone largely unnoticed for returning soldiers.
War is no child 's play, but unfortunately, we have had times in our past when the youth of our great nation had to defend it. Combat is not an easy for anyone; watching death, the constant ring of gunfire, the homesickness, fearing for your life, and witnessing bloodshed daily, this will begin to take its toll. The minds threshold for brutality can only handle so much and eventually will become sickened by these events. This sickness is called Post-traumatic stress disorder. As shown through the characters of The Things They Carried, soldiers of war may begin to show PTSD symptoms before the war is over, and may continue to fight the disorder after the war has ended.
George Washington once said “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace. However, it’s been noted over time that readiness for war doesn’t necessarily equate to a peaceful aftermath especially if those affected are children. Research has shown that, several aversive effects of war may lead to severe physical and psychological effects on people’s childhood. This is why “anyone who wishes to fight must first count the cost,”(Giles 35). When children at a young age are exposed to prolonged and long-term stressors, which may threaten their lives, cause them severe physical injuries or act as an obstacle to them accessing the required social support, it puts them in a stressful and traumatic situation. War exposes
War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
War can be as damaging to the human body as it is to the mind. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, this idea that war causes psychological disorders is represented throughout the book through the main character, Paul Baumer. This book follows the lives of young soldiers in World War I. Together, these men create powerful bonds. They go through terrifying experiences that continue to strengthen their bonds, but also destroy their mental state. Through Paul’s eyes, Remarque shows the devastation that war has on the mind.
When the war breaks out, this tranquil little town seems like the last place on earth that could produce a team of vicious, violent soldiers. Soon we see Jim thrown into a completely contrasting `world', full of violence and fighting, and the strong dissimilarity between his hometown and this new war-stricken country is emphasised. The fact that the original setting is so diversely opposite to that if the war setting, the harsh reality of the horror of war is demonstrated.
In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War in hopes of trying to find who he is. Being named a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Timothy Findley shows the effects wars have on individuals in his novel The Wars. Findley suggests that war can change a persons behaviour in many different ways, however it is seen to be negatively more often then not. Robert Ross, the main character of The Wars, shows symptoms of what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in today’s society.
Modell, John, and Timothy Haggerty. "The Social Impact of War." Annual Review of Sociology 17 (1991): 205-24. Print.
Lois R. Robley remarks that “the horrors of war cannot be imagined by those of us who have not witnessed it”. It is perhaps up to the poets, the writers, the movie directors, and the photojournalists to distill and recapture the images that remind us of the traumatic influence of war. Perhaps only then can we extinguish the need to be reminded and ready for war-related PTSD.”