A Soldier's Story By Friedman Analysis

In 1996, Israel had already been in conflict with South Lebanon for seven years in what was to become an unnamed war that would stretch over the course of eighteen years. That year a young Toronto born Israeli emigrant named Matti Friedman made his journey, or Aliyah to his parent’s homeland to follow tradition and serve out a draft into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). His experiences along with those he served, those that came before and after him would shape his skillfully and remarkably objective memoir. Pumpkin Flower’s: A Soldier’s Story written by Friedman, draws on keenly crafted characters to bring to life the military society within which IDF soldiers lived and served which gives a compelling perspective to a lesser known conflict, points out the early beginnings of “terror media”, and lastly highlights the role that a resilient group of civilian women played despite the restrictive “man’s world” society in which they lived, ultimately setting the stage for the battle to end and the dawn of the chaotic modern Middle East that is known today. Many war memoirs are a literary journey through the author’s memories exclusively, however Friedman deftly intertwines his own combat experiences with those of another soldiers from another point in time in the Israeli/South Lebanese engagement. Skirmishes that covered such an expanse of time that it became comprised of generations of soldiers. One that despite its length and resulting