The novel Tu, written by Patricia Grace, is about three brothers that decide for different reasons that they all needed or wanted to go to war. The book is written so that the reader is reading from two view points. There is the first person point of view, which is told through by Tu through journals he kept during the time he was at war. Then there is also the third person point of view which is used to give us background information about Pita and things that happened before he decided to go to war. I believe that Patricia wrote this as an anti-war novel. She shows us the devastating effects that war can have on families, and uses the different perspectives from many characters like the father, Rangi, Pita, and Tu throughout the novel to …show more content…
depict this anti-war ideal.
One way Grace shows that this is an anti-war novel is through the father and the post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that he experiences. The father is badly injured in battle and has to return home. Pita describes that his presence was like “a dead space in the room and in their lives” (page 52). The father would sit in a big armchair in front of the windows, but was not able speak to them. The only thing the father could muster was grunts, but as time went on he was able to regain control over his body and began to speak recognizable words again. Normally this would be a good thing, but with his body control came the violence. “The first time it happened Pita woke in the night to the sound of their father smashing through the house” (page 56). The father began having these outbursts consistently where he would break lamps, pictures, and hurt those trying to make him stop. In Pita’s early years he would always run to get help, but as he and Rangi grew older, they began …show more content…
to be the ones that would have to hold their father down when he was being violent. This understandably took a toll on all of the family members. It would undoubtedly be very stressful to every one of them, and be very hard for the mother that fell in love with a loving, caring man who came back from war hardened. In fact, when the father passes away Pita describes the feeling that the family shares. “Peace and freedom. Not their father’s but their own. There was an air of gratitude in the room” (page 63). Grace does a great job in showing the PTSD that soldiers can go through when they return home, and the strain it can put on the family members of the soldiers dealing with these traumatic experience. She uses both of these to strengthen her anti-war ideal in this novel. Grace also shows what war can do to a family in a way other than dealing with a member that has PTSD. This way was when Tu was returning from home and meets two children that he does not recognize. These two children were Benedict and Rimini, the children of Rangi and Pita. The fathers both went to war while the children were bored, and because they were both killed in action the two children never got to meet them. Grace is showing what happens far too often in war, which is that children lose parents because they were killed in battle. In the case of the book, the children grew up without both of their biological parents because the mothers died or were unable to claim them. Another way this novel can be seen as anti-war is when you look at how the death of Pita affected Rangi. Before his death Rangi was very excited about going to war and fighting with the battalion. Even in war he was cheerful and talkative. After Pita’s death he began to change. Tu write about the change in his brother saying, “Rangi hasn’t been the same since Pita’s death, hasn’t left camp and seems to spend an unusual amount of time on his own. He watches me, has now become my father, big brother, watcher – not like himself at all” (page 233). It’s as though Rangi is experiencing PTSD like his father did, only not nearly as severe. Tu also talks about how Rangi begins to drink more frequently and at very inappropriate times. “Rangi has lost his good humor again, looks as though he hasn’t had any sleep. Also he’s been drinking too much, which is not the thing when waiting to go into battle” (page 243). Through Rangi, Grace is showing people what the effects of war can be on people and shows us how it can change someone into something they are not. While Pita is dying, Rangi holds him and is talking to him.
They talk about their little brother Tu, devise on a plan that will save their little brother from the war. The plan includes hurting Tu, but they agree it will be the best thing for him in the long run. Tu recalls what happened to him, “There’s a blow to the side of my head which can only be from the butt of a swinging rifle. It lays me out. After that there’s a careful removal of clothing and a careful bayonet cutting that is done exactly, sufficiently – an operation which will ensure that for me the war is ended” (page 254). Rangi and Pita knew that there was no way Tu would ever leave the war on his own, so they take it into their hands to make the decision for him. “This is what they chose for me, my brothers, making sure I had injuries enough to send me home or keep me in hospital until it’s all over, making sure I’ll never steady a rifle again” (page 254). This is an important moment in the book because it shows the length that the two older brothers, Rangi and Pita, are willing to go just to get Tu out of combat and away from war. Grace is showing the extreme length that the brothers went to keep Tu safe, and is trying to show people that if Tu was never at war he never would have had these serious injuries inflicted on
him. The end of the novel is a long letter that Tu wrote to Benedict and Rimini explaining why he has been absent from most of their lives, even after his mother has strongly urged him to be apart of their upbringing. During this time we, the readers, get to experience what his life has been like after he returns home after the war. He starts his confession saying that he knew he couldn't stay in a house filled with war medals, pictures of heroes, and deal with expectations he didn't think he could live up to. Similar to Rangi, he found himself drinking more than he did before the war. “I found myself in pubs and clubs most of the time, drunk or recovering. I knew I was no good to anyone and didn’t want to upset a peaceful household with my drunkenness” (page 290). This caused Tu to move from place to place, never staying in one place for very long. As he traveled he would meet up with buddies from his battalion. He sought out these guys because when he was with them he found and understanding or a form of understanding. “These were the men who understood how misshapen we had become, and how unable most of us were to maneuver back into places where we had once belonged” (page 290). Connecting with other people besides those that he fought in the war with was a hard thing to accomplish for Tu. He had romantic relationships, but admitted to treating them badly and walking out on every one of them. One time he walked out on a relationship and check himself into a mental institution. “One morning I woke up, sick and stinking, on the kitchen floor with blood up my arm, broken glass scattered and a hole in the wall. I caught a train and took myself off to the lunatic asylum not knowing what else to do” (page 291). Tu’s drinking and behavior was getting better and he didn’t know what else to do, but in the asylum he felt that he was better of their and those that loved him were better off without him in the way. During the letter he also talks about how his body would always shake, especially his legs, and would have horrible nightmares. He describes how his insides can act up from the rough life he was living. “Also from time to time I had spells in hospital because of recurrences of my interior condition” (page 290). In this part of the letter Grace, again, shows how the war an effect a soldier once they have come home. Grace illustrates to us that Tu is showing signs that he is experiencing forms of PTSD, can not connect with other people because he feels like he doesn’t belong with them, and the injuries that were inflected on the war still affect him. One of the biggest ways Grace shows us that this is an anti-war novel is through Tu’s plea to his niece and nephew. He begins by telling them the reason behind the Maori going to war. It was a way that they could show their worth. “Once the brown man had fought in the white man’s war, maybe then he’d be deemed equal” (page 297). The Maori were entering a war hoping to show the world who they were and what they could do, and this was a very popular idea at the beginning of the war. After the war it was questioned whether the price was too high. Tu tells Benedict and Rimini the answer to this question saying “Of course it was too high. It was too high. We took full part in a war but haven’t yet been able to take full part in peace” (page 299). While at war and fighting, the brown man and the white man got along and fought along side each other. After the war was over the white man returned to looking down upon the brown man. This reflection by Tu leads into what he begs his niece and nephew never to do. “So I ask one thing because there’ll be other wars. It’s my plea. I ask you not to follow in our footsteps, your fathers’ and mine. That’s all I’ll ever ask” (page 300-301). I think this is the most powerful part of the novel that Grace uses to build her anti-war ideal. Here is the main character, Tu, who at first was an eager young boy that believed going to war was the best thing to do, but in the end is telling his niece and nephew that the price of war way way too high and begging them to never volunteer in any wars. Grace creates a great novel that tells us the story of three brothers that went to war. Through her main characters she shows us what war can do to the soldiers during as well as after all the battling. She also portrays the other people that are affected by war, those being the families of the solders, and the culture or race they come from. Grace uses all of this to build an anti-war novel that shows us that the price of war is too much.
“Every war is everyone’s war”... war will bring out the worst in even the strongest and kindest people. The book tells about how ones greed for something can destroy everything for both people and animals leaving them broken beyond repair, leaving them only with questions… Will they ever see their family again? Will they ever experience what it’s like to
This psychological memoir is written from the eyes of Ishmael Beah and it describes his life through the war and through his recovery. War is one of the most horrific things that could ever happen to anyone. Unwilling young boy soldiers, innocent mothers and children are all affected. In most instances, the media or government does not show the horrific parts of war, instead they focus on the good things that happen to make the people happy and not cause political issues. In his book A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah dispels the romanticism around war through the loss of childhood innocence, the long road of emotional recovery and the mental and physical effects of war.
about the war and his lack of place in his old society. The war becomes
This new perspective makes them realize how lucky they were not to be mortally wounded. Another cause of change in the men besides the battles, results from seeing friends in the hospital. The first display of this sorrow is Kemmerich’s death. He was a good friend to all the men, especially Paul. When the men see him lying in his bed about to die, they feel terrible. Because they feel this way, they tell Kemmerich that he is going to be okay. The hospital scene with Kemmerich dying is meaningful and touching to the readers, because it too shows a change in the men. This change shows the hate and anguish of the battlegrounds, contrasted with compassion towards a close friend who is in need. This scene also lets the reader know how many people received injuries each day. When Paul goes to tell the doctor that Kemmerich The doctors response was that he had already amputated five legs that same day. The reader sees why when one person dies, it really does not mean anything to the doctors, except a free bed. This scene, plus the others which take place in the hospital, shows change in the way that men pull together when someone is in need. The hospital scenes also show that men are so accustomed to death, they know when someone is going to die, and can tell the degree of an injury when it happens. There is a major change in the men in this novel. At first, they are excited to join the army in order to help their country. After they see the truth about war, they learn very important assets of life such as death, destruction, and suffering. These emotions are learned in places like training camp, battles, and deal with death, which is very important to one’s life. & nbsp;
This book is anti-war since it shows how war could advance someone’s life into a huge disaster, how anyone can break down from the stress that others impose on them, just to be able to produce someone who can save humanity, and how someone’s life was controlled by someone else since they were born and can not be able to change and let themselves hold on to their own life, fate, and future. War destroys everything but Ender’s Game shows how war had affected and destroyed Ender’s whole entire
a particular point of view, which is against war. For example, when Vonnegut writes of the ways Billy views.
A turn of events comes about in the story when Gary Hazen and his two sons, Gary David and Kevin, go with him on a hunting trip and Gary accidentally shoots and kills Gary David. After this, he feels so badly about the incident that he shoots himself. Kevin finds his father lying in the woods and saves him from dying. Kevin rethinks his feelings toward his father by realizing all that his father has done for him and taught him which leads him to show grace to his father in this difficult situation. Towards the end of the story, Gary extends grace toward both Kevin and himself. The meaning of The Grace that Keeps This World is that humans need the presence of grace in their lives to keep on living, and this is shown through Bailey’s use of the themes of forgiveness and redemption throughout the novel, which is especially evident in the lives of Kevin and Gary Hazen.
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
during the war. This novel is able to portray the overwhelming effects and power war has
In the beginning of the short story, the young boy is already imprinted with the ideas of war from his father. His father was a former soldier who “had fought against naked savages and followed the flag of his country..” (Bierce 41). The image of war that is imprinted on the young boy from his father is that of nobility and righteous that comes from war.
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.
The first element to why Slaughterhouse-Five is an anti-war novel is because Vonnegut, the character, says it is. In the first chapter the character Vonnegut speaks with Mary O'Hare, the wife of Bernard O'Hare and antagonist of war, regarding the book that he will write and how it views war. Vonnegut also discusses with Mary why the book will be called The Children's Crusade. Mary says, "‘You will pretend you were men instead of babies...’" (14). Mary is accusing Vonnegut of writing the novel and saying that they were prepared for war because she thinks that he will glorify war by disregarding the fact that he and her husband were just young men not ready to fight in a war. She worries he will instead create characters who were heroes of war and show that they were ready to fight. Vonnegut answers, "‘I'll tell you what,’ he said, ‘I'll call it The Children's Crusade’" (15). He uses this as a response to show that he is writing an anti-war novel because he wanted to emphasize that they were not ready to fight in war and that they should not have fought in the war because they were young and unprepared.
No one knows what will happen in his or her life whether it is a trivial family dispute or a civil war. Ishmael Beah and Mariatu Kamara are both child victims of war with extremely different life stories. Both of them are authors who have written about their first-hand experience of the truth of the war in order to voice out to the world to be aware of what is happening. Beah wrote A Long Way Gone while Kamara wrote The Bite of the Mango. However, their autobiographies give different information to their readers because of different points of view. Since the overall story of Ishmael Beah includes many psychological and physical aspects of war, his book is more influential and informative to the world than Kamara’s book.
Many individuals look at soldiers for hope and therefore, add load to them. Those that cannot rationally overcome these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley precisely depicts the critical impact wars have on people in his novel by showing how after-war characters are not what they were at the beginning.
A Farewell to Arms is clearly an anti-war novel; the story swifts from naive game playing, through the stages of love and hope, to pure despair and an understanding that a war can lead to no winners. The passionate love story of the novel strengthens the message still more by showing the ironic similarity, but also its discrepancy, with the war. The discrepancy is to be taken into serious account, this discrepancy is the important message of this novel; make love not war.