Soldiers Heart
"War is always, in all ways, appalling." Those are the first words Gary Paulsen used in his book Soldiers Heart. Paulsen uses these words to express what war is like. And just like he said it is appalling. In the beginning of going into war, you might want to be there. Someone might just want to go to experience something new and different. But it will be horrific. And Gary Paulsen is right, he showed so many ways how war is appalling.
Young Charley was only 16 when he signed up to go to war. Men were supposed to be 18 but no one questioned Charley's age. His mom did not like that he was going but he went anyways. Charley faced many hardships as he went to war. Some of the things shouldn't be what kids that age should have to deal with. One of Charley's members, Nelson, got shot and Charley tried to go back for him but he couldn't. Also, at this time he started crying. In chapter 6 of the book, it says, "…was surprised to find that he was crying." Charley didn't want to leave his friend to die in the dirty area. Who would want to anyways? Seeing someone you have spent some time with die, would be tragic. It would be difficult to keep living with that burden but at the same time, it might also
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give you more strength to get back to war. To fight for what you want. Charley saw many things during war that no one else could ever experience.
Things from seeing people being shot, and dead bodies all around on the ground and in medical tents. In the book, Charley had to find something to put around the medical tent so cold air wasn't coming in. He looked all around but couldn't find hardly anything to use. The doctor of the tent to him to put dead bodies up all around the walls to keep it warmer inside. Charley hesitated. He didn't want to put those bodies up. There was a pile of bodies just outside the tent because doctors would throw the bodies out if someone died. Charley did what he had to do anyway. Charley put up the bodies around the tent so it would be warmer in. He did not like to do this. It was appalling to
him. In chapter four, bullets were coming at Charley. Right next to him Massey's head suddenly disappeared. His head was shot off by a cannon. Charley was petrified. He did not want to get shot and be killed. It was one of his fears while going into war. This was one of the ways that could cause mental anguish of Soldiers Heart in the book. Charley saw so many things during war time and so many bullets were coming at him that could have likely given him a heart attack. From the start, so much was going on. So much, so much! These are reasons why Charley got Soldiers Heart. So many things could go unseen. He could just keep on re-living the days over and over because they were so appalling. All in all, war is appalling. So many things happen during war that it can tear you up. For others, they will live with for the rest of their lives. They will have nightmares. Those people might get frustrated knowing what they have seen and what has happened. They will need help if this is what has happened. And they made a sacrifice for the people. Just like Gary Paulsen said, "War is always, in all way, appalling."
Charley came into war excited, ready to go. He was so young he didn't think anything could be so bad. Once he got to Fort Snelling the excitement wore off and he became bored. The war was bad, he was one of the youngest so he had the most stress. Everywhere Charley looked there were bodies dropping, He never knew if he was safe or not. Charley tried to stay away from guns or any other weapons.
Atkinson, Rick. An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume 1 of the "Liberation Trilogy." New York: Henry Holt, 2002.
I read the book Soldier X by Don L. Wulffson that takes place during the world war II period. The main character of the book is a 16 year old German boy named Erik Brandt. Although Erik lives in Germany he is also half Russian and speaks Russian very well. Erik does not want to be a part of Hilters Nazi army during world war II but he is forced to fight on the side of the Nazis. During one battle of the war is he forced under a tank during a large scale battle with the Russians. He has no choice but to change clothes and gear with the Russian soldier and be now becomes part of the Russian army. He spends some time in the Russian army and then he gets wounded. He gets send to a Russian hospital and meets a nurse named Tamara. He falls in love with her but then one day the hospital is bombed and he has to escape with her and out of Russia. The story comes to an end with Erik and Tamara escaping Europe and making to over the Atlantic ocean to the United States to have kids and live the rest of there lives.
Charley Goddard when into the war when he was fifteen years old he when into the war only to be a man. He was not thinking of what he would have to live on, the conditions he had to live under. He was not thinking that he would have to see the things that he had seen, doing the things that he had to do to stay alive. When Charley entered the war he wasn’t scared mostly because the didn’t do much. When the war really started to “kick up” or become more intense he started to get scared, he almost threw up half of the time. He didn’t think he would have to walk and take cover from dead men- dead friends. When Charley was out of the war he was twenty one. He was walking with a cane and is complaining that he was too old. When Charley said he was too old he wasn't talking about his age he was talking about the things he had seen.
After a basketball game, four kids, Andrew Jackson, Tyrone Mills, Robert Washington and B.J. Carson, celebrate a win by going out drinking and driving. Andrew lost control of his car and crashed into a retaining wall on I-75. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. escaped from the four-door Chevy right after the accident. Teen basketball star and Hazelwood high team captain was sitting in the passenger's side with his feet on the dashboard. When the crash happened, his feet went through the windshield and he was unable to escape. The gas tank then exploded and burned Robbie to death while the three unharmed kids tried to save him.
Tim O'Brien is confused about the Vietnam War. He is getting drafted into it, but is also protesting it. He gets to boot camp and finds it very difficult to know that he is going off to a country far away from home and fighting a war that he didn't believe was morally right. Before O'Brien gets to Vietnam he visits a military Chaplin about his problem with the war. "O'Brien I am really surprised to hear this. You're a good kid but you are betraying you country when you say these things"(60). This says a lot about O'Brien's views on the Vietnam War. In the reading of the book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien explains his struggles in boot camp and when he is a foot soldier in Vietnam.
The drama, Mission of Mercy, by Esther Lipnick is a very inspiring read. It tells about a girl who doesn’t want to be like her proper, fancy family at all. Instead she wants to become a nurse. She leaves her home and becomes a nurse. It inspires me because both of my parents, and other family members of mine, are teachers, although I’m not going to be one. Mission of Mercy is a drama that could inspire many people to go for what they want, even if other people don’t always approve of it. Florence changes throughout all of the the scenes 1, 2, and 3.
The sympathy of loss is persuaded as a devastating way on how a person is in a state of mind of losing. A person deals with loss as an impact on life and a way of changing their life at the particular moment. In the book My Losing Season by Pat Conroy he deals with the type of loss every time he plays basketball due to the fact, when something is going right for him life finds a way to make him lose in a matter of being in the way of Pat’s concentration to be successful.
War is terrible, this is an undeniable fact. Although what it is specifically that makes it so terrible can vary based on people’s opinions. In the novel Generals Die in Bed the author illustrates three main reasons why war is bad. War is a difficult and unpleasant experience for the ordinary soldiers. War is terrible because of the poor hygiene facilities.
The Return of Martin Guerre written by Natalie Davis gives the audience a rare glimpse into the world of peasant life in sixteenth century France. It also allows a modern day audience a chance to examine and to compare their own identities and questions of self. What makes the story so interesting to modern day viewers and readers is how relevant the story and the people in it are to our own times. This story is about a history of everyday people rather than royalty and generals, history's usual subjects.
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.
... horrors of war such as, his parents who still view war as glamorous and idealistic. War takes a heavy toll on soldiers who fight in it and in these dangerous moments anybody would have gone insane. It takes a very special type of soldier to be able to handle both the psychological and physical challenges that a soldier has to face in everyday battle. A soldier such as this must be capable of handling the sight of a mutilated comrade and not immediately chatter to pieces. The author conveys this message in his extreme use of words with negative connotation such as shells, typhus, dysentery, and trenches. In this portion of the novel a great deal of emphasis is placed on the word death which is repeated several times and standing on its own it holds a great deal of negative connotations. Therefore, due to the severity of the situation and the extensive use of words with negative connotations the overall tone of the novel appeared to be very depressing or serious. This selection also demonstrates just how mythical the character of war that many individuals who have not experienced the tragedy of battle believe to be true by illustrating just how appalling and grim war is in reality.
War has always been something to be dreaded by people since nothing good comes from it. War affects people of all ages, cultures, races and religion. It brings change, destruction and death and these affect people to great extents. “Every day as a result of war and conflict thousands of civilians are killed, and more than half of these victims are children” (Graca & Salgado, 81). War is hard on each and every affected person, but the most affected are the children.
In 1940, an American novelist named Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Born on February 19, 1917 in Columbus, Georgia long after the abolishment of slavery, discrimination and segregation had reached a pinnacle in her childhood. In this time era, African – Americans experienced lesser rights and opportunities. The works of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter began in a period of time when African – Americans experienced roles of indentured servants because of the lack of well – paying jobs. McCullers set the story in a small town in Georgia in the late 1930s, where the main character, a deaf – mute named John Singer became friends with four different characters: A girl named Mick Kelly, an aspiring musician; a political radical named Jake Blount; Benedict Copeland, an African – American doctor; and Biff Brannon, a restaurant owner. Each of these characters believed Singer has compassion for them and empathizes with their situation. Yet in reality, Singer only became cordial towards them because of his politeness; he only cares for his mute friend Antonapoulous. On September 29, 1967 McCullers died due to serious health conditions, but she leaves the readers with the true image of discrimination and segregation. In McCullers’ The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter the reader sees that the acts of discrimination and segregation can affect all people regardless of race, gender, or creed, and the reader sees this through Doctor Copeland’s essay: “My Ambition: How I Can Better the Position of the Negro Race in Society”, Lancy speech about the need to arrange a plan against the white race of the United States and to establish a one race populated country, and when the colored girl wanted her ticket back from Mick.
The Killing Fields is a movie i based on a true story. Sydney Schanberg a reporter for the New york times and he is given the job Cambodian Civil war in 1970 with help of Dith Pran a local interpreter. Also helping is Al Rockoff an American photojournalist . The country is falling apart and the situation becomes extremely dangerous for them . Schanberg and Pran both have the opportunity to be evacuated . Schanberg willingly stay to continue covering. Pran is convinced into staying and stays behind with Schanberg. Shortly after this Schanberg is arrested with a group of western journalist are intimidated by execution.Pran as a great friend and Colleague is able to convince the guards that Schanberg is harmless. Sequently, They make