Imagine you’re in the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. You sit proudly at the front of the bus on the first freedom ride. However a rush of violence occurs as the bus next to you is set into flames and your brutally beaten onto the ground. People all around you are against the to protests to stop segregation, and not letting you speak for what you believe in. This is what occurred in the passage Waiting for Dan. When a wife waits everyday for her husband to be freed from jail after being on the Freedom Rides, and the acts of segregation that some people want to stop around them. People wanted to bring segregation and the issue of race to an end through peaceful bus rides showing their rebellion. Now imagine you’re in Kent State University …show more content…
in Ohio. Straight ahead of you, you stare at the big and shiny gins in the soldier's hands. They mock, intimidate, and outrage you to the fact they brought ammo to your college.
Then the uproar begins, and you with many other student start yelling at the soldiers and throwing rocks. This continues until you finally hear a shot pierce through the air. This happens in the passage of A Letter Home, when protestors against the Vietnam War use acts of violence to express their disagreement, and how it turns in the wrong direction when the fight gets too far. The main character is passionate about the event, and witnesses the uproar of violence, as expressed in the letter she writes to her parents have the shooting.
The story Waiting for Dan and A Letter Home are both circling around the acts of protest for what certain characters believe in. However between these two stories there are many differences, contrasting the events and actions that took place in them. For example one difference between these two stories are the way people acted out their forms of protest. In Waiting for Dan the people wanted to get their point through with peaceful acts of protest, and not violent acts. According to the text, “... brave activist challenged the rides and the Freedom Ride was born.” (2) This quote shows that they believed violence was not the answer and wanted to use calm and untroubled ways to challenge the segregation between the colored and white people, as well as the discrimination colored
people had to face. Thier peaceful acts of protests consisted of events called the Freedom Ride. The text states, “Inside the bus, the whites would sit in the back of the bus an the blacks would sit in the front.” (4) The Freedom Ride was when colored and white people took a stand against racist people by the colored people sitting in the form of the bus and the white people sitting in the back. Originally only white people were allowed to sit in the front, and colored people in the back. During the Rides, while switching up the sides the protesters were showing defiance towards the opposing, and wanted to show they were equal. The activist did have peaceful intention, though some rides could get violent. To further prove my point the text states, “The first Freedom Ride in May went peacefully enough until the two buses reach Alabama in two separate explosions of violence.”(6) Although the violence did start from the citizens and not the activist. However in A Letter Home, many of the protesters that were against the Vietnam war and U.S soldiers invading Cambodia, used acts of violence to express their feelings ulike like the peaceful intentions of the Freedom Riders. The text states, “... some young people burned the ROTC building on campus and set some bonfires downtown. I heard that police cars were hit with bottles and store windows were broken.” (2) They were showing how they feel and their protest through burning down buildings, and vandalizing areas. All acts of protest were violent, and none were peaceful towards the town. Freedom Riders had peaceful intentions and protests, but these protesters were only interested in getting their point across through harm. One of the differences are the way the acts of protest were acted out in both stories Another difference between Waiting for Dan and A Letter Home, is the setting of both stories and the reason why the activist were protesting. In Waiting for Dan the acts of the Freedom Rides right took place during the Civil Rights Movement. According to the text “In 1960, four African-American college freshmen say down at a “whites only” lunch counter and nothing has been the same since then.” (2) Acts against segregation between colored and white people, took place during the Civil Rights Movement, and these were one of those acts. Through some non-violent acts people wanted to get their point across by protesting the discrimination for colored people, and white people being treated superior towards them. The reason in this passage for the activist to protest is against segregation, and separation of people. The text states, “Before he left, he justifies his decision but saying that the Freedom RIde would bring the race issue to the forefront of American politics.” (7) According to this, it proves my point of the reason why these people wanted to protes. However in A Letter Home, the protest took place in Kent, Ohio. The protesters were college students, for example the ones at Kent State University, and other people who were against the war. People were protesting however, not due to segregation, but by opposition against the Vietnam war and the U.S being involved in the war. These protesters were against the United states being involved in war and the decision of the U.S invading Cambodia. To prove this point the test states, “Many students were outraged when they heard that the U.S soldiers had invaded Cambodia on April 30.” (2) The acts in A Letter Home, were violent acts against the Vietnam war, whereas in Waiting for Dan they were intended to be peaceful acts against segregation of colored and white people during the Civil Rights Movement. Although there are differences between the two stories, Waiting for Dan, and A Letter Home, there are also similarities between these stories. One similarity between these stories are that the characters protests for what they believe in were turned even more violent by the people against what the protesters believed in. They protesters were hurt, or killed by the people who oppose their beliefs. In Waiting for Dan, the first Freedom Ride started off as the peaceful protest they wanted but soon turned incredibly violent by people opposed to the activist protests. As the buses came in and reached Alabama, two acts of violence caused by the people opposed to the protest blew out and injured many people. According to the text, “An angry drown mobbed one bus, and riders were savagely beaten; the other bus was firebombed.” (6) During their protest the outside force brought up a big act of violence by ruthlessly beating up passengers on the bus, and literally setting one bus on fire. The same thing occurred in A Letter Home, when the protesters were pestering and yelling at the soldiers on campus because of the rifles they brought to school. The text states, “Then suddenly, the soldiers began shooting, and the whole scene became total panic and confusion.” (5) During their yelling, screaming, and throwing of rocks, the soldiers were not sure what to do and began the shoot their guns at the angry mob of students. Their protests were disturbed by an outer force, the soldiers, through a ruthless act of violence as well. The soldiers shooted out of confusion, and mishandling the situation because of the students coming at them. The protest was disrupted like in Waiting for Dan, and both stories also were disrupted by a ruthless and violent act from an outside force. Lastly, another similarity between both stories are that the protesters were against events and laws created by the government. Whether it was the federal, local, or state government. For example in Waiting for Dan, the protesters were against the descions and actip
...f the innocent is what captured my attention the most. Hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians were killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Caputo mourns not only for the dead, but also for the men that are now emotionally and psychologically scarred for life. The images and sounds of death will forever be carved into their minds. Throughout this history class, I have been able to learn and understand new vocabulary and apply it to my reading. I would not have been able to understand the book, as well as I do, without becoming familiar with the terminology. A Rumor of War changed by view on the Vietnam War. Before reading this narrative, I did not realize the number of lives lost or the poor environments soldiers were subjected to. Philip Caputo was extremely detailed in his descriptions and painted a brilliant picture of the war.
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
middle of paper ... ... All three of these comparisons, while beneficial to the essay's main idea, are too obscure and irrelevant to have any real persuasive power. Granted, both essays effectively implement both emotional and ethical appeal to the reader in order to be persuasive, and each, given the right conditions, has the potential to be equally effective. But, given the conditions we are under, including the time frame, ("Civil Disobedience" was written over one hundred years before "Letter From a Birmingham Jail")
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
“When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. That quote by King explains his fatherly struggle which he felt by not being able to provide. King is relating to the pit forming in the stomach, caused by a situation where they have to disappoint. For the Clergymen, it relates to having to upset his city when he is unable to provide their wants. For the white, it relates to having a family, wanting to provide and give them everything you can. Having to let someone down is not a positive feeling and I would not wish that upon anyone, whether black or white. The white’s could picture their own child on their favorite ride, the excitement bubbling inside of them, and the satisfaction of seeing your child so happy. That emotion was crushed and snagged away from Kings daughter before she even experienced it. He relates to the reader through love of family and wanting to provide when providing is seen as your
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.
This contrast in style affirms that the soldiers are human and provides emphasis to the weight these intangible objects have on the soldiers. 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 questionable war in an unfamiliar land.... ... middle of paper ... ...
War slowly begins to strip away the ideals these boy-men once cherished. Their respect for authority is torn away by their disillusionment with their schoolteacher, Kantorek who pushed them to join. This is followed by their brief encounter with Corporal Himmelstoss at boot camp. The contemptible tactics that their superior officer Himmelstoss perpetrates in the name of discipline finally shatters their respect for authority. As the boys, fresh from boot camp, march toward the front for the first time, each one looks over his shoulder at the departing transport truck. They realize that they have now cast aside their lives as schoolboys and they feel the numbing reality of their uncertain futures.
People are marching in the streets, some holding signs, reading slogans that help defend the rights of the discriminated. This happened in both the African American Civil Rights Movement and in the Women’s Liberation movement. Two movements, one cause; to get equal rights. In the African American’s case, they were discriminated against due to their race. They were oppressed by the Jim Crow laws that were molding a unequal lifestyle for the blacks. Women’s Liberation, however, was about women who were forced to stay at home, because that is where people thought they belonged. Women were also granted unfair wages as compared to men. African Americans and Women were both fighting to get equal rights, which creates similarities and differences
“The Vietnam War was arguably the most traumatic experience for the United States in the twentieth century. That is indeed a grim distinction in a span that included two world wars, the assassinations of two presidents and the resignation of another, the Great Depression, the Cold War, racial unrest, and the drug and crime waves.” (Goldstein 1). The Vietnam War is widely regarded as one of the most traumatic experiences in all of American History. Innocent boys trudged through the mud, the heat and the fear that came along with fighting in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien paints a picture of how difficult and traumatic Vietnam was for the soldiers who experienced it in his book, The Things They Carried. Throughout the course of the book the elements of fiction: plot, character and setting all act to serve the purpose in conveying O’Brien’s theme of his work which is revealed to be at the conclusion: a message of universal immortality. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried setting is the most crucial element in understanding theme, followed by character then lastly plot.
Usually when someone is murdered, people expect the murderer to feel culpable. This though, is not the case in war. When in war, a soldier is taught that the enemy deserves to die, for no other reason than that they are the nation’s enemy. When Tim O’Brien kills a man during the Vietnam War, he is shocked that the man is not the buff, wicked, and terrifying enemy he was expecting. This realization overwhelms him in guilt. O’Brien’s guilt has him so fixated on the life of his victim that his own presence in the story—as protagonist and narrator—fades to the black. Since he doesn’t use the first person to explain his guilt and confusion, he negotiates his feelings by operating in fantasy—by imagining an entire life for his victim, from his boyhood and his family to his feeling about the war and about the Americans. In The Man I Killed, Tim O’Brien explores the truth of The Vietnam War by vividly describing the dead body and the imagined life of the man he has killed to question the morality of killing in a war that seems to have no point to him.
Oppression caused by the white community results to the actions committed by the blacks, one like watching one of their own suffer at the hands of the former. They don’t retaliate to correct the wrongdoings that the white had transgressed, to making a stop to all the tyranny. Although a black man standing his ground can call for dreadful things, this domination over them will remain permanent until something or someone ceases it. However, instead of trying to work on that objective, they engage in conflicts with each other. As Wright is asked by two people to witness a trial of an acquaintance, he tells them, “You claim to be fighting oppression, but you spend more of your time fighting each other than in fighting your avowed enemies” (368). Blacks, in some way or another, claim that nothing will stop the harassment, but they don’t fight this injustice; they just cope by comforting themselves by thinking it’s just how life goes. Blacks have a sense of hopelessness within them after an excessive amount of suppression done by the whites, in which the blacks don’t know what to do anymore with this predicament. They had lost the light in the tunnel, and gave up. On the other hand, Wright makes the readers know that fear exists within the black community, which was the result of countless incidents inflicted by the whites. They would rather spend their days engaging themselves in the black community’s problems, that wouldn 't matter in the long run, instead of coming to a compromise with the whites, or confront them at the least, for they are scared and had seen what the latter is capable of. Wright also wants them to see it from his perspective, that the manner they’re representing won’t solve anything. The mindset the blacks had established in regarding the oppression from the whites is not an effective method of eradicating it, rather they are letting the problem be, allowing it to develop and have its roots so
The book, We Were Soldiers Once... And Young, begins at a pivotal point in American history. The year was 1965; the year America began to directly interfere with the Vietnam affairs and send our young men to defend the notion of "freedom." During this year, Vietnam interested and concerned only a few Americans. In fact, the controversy of American involvement in Vietnam had hardly begun. But this all changed in November 1965 at the Ia Drang Valley in distant Vietnam. The Battle at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany was the first major battle of the Vietnam conflict; a conflict that lasted decade and caused American turmoil for many more years.
There are many similarities and differences between these two short stories, “A Letter Home” and “Waiting for Dan”. One similarity that these two short stories have is that they both take place during a certain time were two groups of people were fighting with each other. Another similarity that these two short stories have is that they both talk about a character not being home during protesting. One difference between these two short stories is that they both take place during two different times. In the short story, “A letter home” this story takes place during the Vietnam War. This year would be 1970. In the short story, “Waiting for Dan” this story takes place during the Civil Rights Movement. Another difference between these two short
War is a machine that extracts young men and women from reality. It twists their morals until they do not know what is right or wrong. This level of dehumanization and objectification is clearly argued in Ron Kovic’s Born on the Fourth of July: “He had never been anything but a thing to them, a thing to put a uniform on and train to kill, a young thing to run through the meat-grinder, a cheap small nothing thing to make mincemeat out of” (165). War is the “meat-grinder.” Soldiers only matter because they can kill. War tears apart the people fighting it. Coming out of the war Kovic does not know what to do. He is lost. This aimless feeling is similar to the experiences of Jake and the Gang in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. The protagonist, Jake Barnes, and his entourage wander the streets of Paris and Madrid with no purpose. After war, the real w...