War is a very tough and gruesome thing that people have to deal with even though no one likes it. It takes a special person to enlist and go fight for their country. Someone who's tough and can handle seeing the things they have to see day after day, no matter what just to defend their country. Now imagine being only fifteen and sneaking into the army just to do what's right and needs to be done. It was the mid 1940's while WWII is raging through Europe as Hitler and his numerous followers and soldiers are terrorizing mainly the Jewish population killing millions. Jack Raab, a fifteen year old boy, dreams of being a hero, so when he hears about what's going on he sees it as his chance to be one. Leaving his family in New York with his brothers …show more content…
ID, and lies his way into the U.S Air Force. At this age people are easily influenced by everything. So obviously the setting can majorly influence the way someone acts and sees the world.
I believe that Harry Mazer's novel, The Last Mission, perfectly represents how a setting can affect a character by showing life aboard a B-17 over Germany, life in a Nazi POW camp, and finally showing the numerous historical events and …show more content…
influences. One way the novel portrays settings affect on a character is it's representation of life over Germany in a B-17. Life over Germany was very hard for bombers. After a certain point in their flight there was always the fear of being bombarded and shot down. In the book they were on their second to last mission, which was to go bomb one of the Nazi ball bearing factories. Without ball bearings, wheels are useless. Since this was one of the Nazi's largest factories, this was a prime target for bombing runs. Without wheels the Nazis had no form of fast travel and would be sitting ducks. Since this was such an important factory it was destine to be heavily protected. On their way to bomb the factory jack says "I had to stay alert because there was always the fear of being shot down" (Harry Mazer 102). This shows how the setting of being in a B-17 over Germany can affect a character by giving them things to worry about that most people don't, and after awhile causes his anxiety issues. If he was never in the B-17 he never would've had these issues. Another way life over Germany shows settings affecting a character is with its many examples of long grueling travels. These trips took many hours, even the shortest flights were hours long. As William says in his interview "some flights would take eight hours" (Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944). This shows that when they're flying they're talking and getting to know each other pretty well. This is setting affecting the character because if he never would've gotten into the Air Force, he never would've met these people and he never would've had the life long friends he has today. The third and final way being aboard the B-17 shows setting affecting a character is with the constant stress and the need to always be alert. These were dangerous areas, especially for bombers. These planes are big and clunky. So they aren't very maneuverable. Meaning that the crew on the plane constantly has to be alert and looking for danger. Because if they didn't they would get shot down leading to either capture or death for the people aboard. William also stated in his interview that "the whole time you were flying you always had to be looking out for danger otherwise you'd find yourself in a sh*tty situation" (Life and Death Aboard a B-17, 1944). This showed that if you weren't paying attention you could easily find yourself dead. If Jack was never aboard a B-17 he would never have the worry or anxiety of being shot down or killed. Another example from the book that shows how setting affects a character is in a Nazi POW camp. Jack finds himself in a desperate situation when his plane is shot down by a Nazi fighter that he thought he'd never be in. He somehow survives the crash, but is then captured by Nazi's and taken to a Nazi POW camp. While he's here he finds himself constantly being over worked no matter what they had to work. Even prisoners who were injured had to keep up with the ones who weren't, and if they didn't they would be killed. After one of jacks many twenty plus hour work days he and his bunk mates talk and say " man I'm so sick of being over worked and it saddens me deeply when I see a man try desperately to work hard but is still executed by these Nazi scum" (Harry Mazer 172). This shows that Nazi camps would over work their prisoners and weren't shy to execute the ones who didn't keep up with the high expectations. The setting of a prison camp affects Jack by having him be constantly overworked, and seeing men executed for simply not being healthy enough to work. If he was never in this situation, the likely hood of him seeing that would be very slim. Another example from the prison camp is the lack of resources there. Numerous times while in the prison camp jack would go days without eating. Causing his energy to be so low he could barely stand. At one point the prisoners are being transported from one prison camp and they were getting off in the city to get on a train when Jack sees a drinking fountain. Jack takes off running, ignoring the commands to stop ( Harry Mazer 178). He was willing to risk his life just to get a drink of water. If he was never captured and put into a prison camp, he wouldn't have to risk everything for a drink since he wouldn't have been deprived of his ability to access it. Finally setting affecting a character is shown with the sheer overcrowding of the prison camps. Many times while in the prison camp Jack would have to sleep on the ground among numerous other men because there weren't enough bunking for all of them and the men who did get the bunks were usually the men with injuries who's need for it were exponentially higher. William during one of his many interviews said " I was in a little shack, meant for maybe five to ten guys, with at least twenty guys just because they didn't have enough room for us all and were too cheap to build another bunking unit" (Life in a Nazi POW Camp). This shows that Jack had to make a lot of sacrifices while in the prison camp for the wounded. Sacrifices he never would've had to make if he weren't there. Not only did life in a POW camp show setting affecting a character, but so did the book's representation of many historical events and historical influences. The final way the books shows how setting affects a character is with its numerous historical events and historical influences. The first example of historical events was Jack's reasoning for wanting to join the Air Force. He heard about all the terrible things Hitler was doing to the people overseas and he wanted to help. Jack always wanted to be a hero and saw this as his chance (Harry Mazer 8). The setting was affecting Jack by making him want to join the Air Force. If he wasn't brought up the right way, then he never would've had the hero mentality or reasoning to want to join. The second example is when Jack and his bombing squadron go to bomb the ball bearing factory. If the tires don't have these ball bearings, then the tire can't move rendering the Nazi mobile-less. When Jack's plane is shot down on their second run over the factory and Jack has to make a tough decision whether he takes the last peri-chute or leaves it for Chuck one of his best friends who is knocked out. He decides that even though chuck is one of his closest friends by the time he wakes up it'd already be too late for him to jump, so he takes the chute for himself. As Howard says in his interview "sometimes in war you'll have to make decisions you aren't very fond of, but you have to do it anyways" (Howard interview). This shows setting affecting Jack by forcing him to make decisions he doesn't want to, but still has to because of the situation he's in. If he was never in this setting he never would've had to make these choices. Finally the last example is the influences of smoking and drinking. Many times during his time overseas he would smoke or have a drink with his buddies even though he's underage. After his missions he'd usually get a smoke so that he could calm his nerves, and hopefully get some sleep that night. When Jack gets back from one of his bombing runs him and his friends go and sneak some beer back into their base (Harry Mazer 143-144). If Jack never was in the Air Force, he never would have the stress. Therefore he wouldn't need a smoke to relieve it. Also if he was never in the Air Force, he never would've met the guys that influence him to go out drinking and do activities he'd otherwise never do. In conclusion Jack Mazer's novel, The Last Mission, shows how setting can easily impact a character in many ways by showing examples of life over Germany, life in a POW camp, and finally with its multiple historical events and influences.
Most importantly setting affecting a character was shown on their many bombing runs and also with their time on and off the base when they had to make tough decisions that would affect them in many ways. It's also shown in the Nazi POW camps where conditions were crowded and Inhumane. Finally, topping it off the numerous historical events and influences showed the setting affecting the character by making him have to make tough choices. To conclude, we learn that where we are or who the people we're with can affect the way we are and the choices we make. Even what year it is can affect the person we are. Maybe this is something that you can reflect on and see, maybe the people you're hanging out with might be influencing you in the wrong way, or maybe just the setting you're in is a bad you. I greatly urge that you take a minute and look back on your life and see in what ways you can change your setting to positively affect your
life.
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times go by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings, especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital. Training camp was the first actuality of what war was going to be like for the men. They thought that it would be fun, and they could take pride in defending their country. Their teacher, Kantorek, told them that they should all enroll in the war. Because of this, almost all of the men in the class enrolled. It was in training camp that they met their cruel corporal, Himelstoss.&nbs most by him. They have to lie down in the mud and practice shooting and jumping up. Also, these three men must remake Himelstoss’ bed fourteen times, until it is perfect. Himelstoss puts the young men through so much horror that they yearn for their revenge. Himelstoss is humiliated when he goes to tell on Tjaden, and Tjaden only receives an easy punishment. Training camp is as death and destruction. Training camp is just a glimpse of what war really is. The men do not gain full knowledge of war until they go to the front line. The front line is the most brutal part of the war. The front line is the place in which the battles are fought. Battles can only be described in one word- chaos. Men are running around trying to protect themselves while shooting is in the trench with an unknown man from the other side. This battle begins with shells bursting as they hit the ground and machine guns that rattle as they are being fired. In order to ensure his survival, Paul must kill the other man. First, Paul stabs the man, but he struggles for his life. He dies shortly after, and Paul discovers who he has killed. The man is Gerald Duval, a printer.&n Having to deal with killing others is one of the horrors of war. The men who are killed and the people who kill them could have been friends, if only they were on the same side. The other important battle leaves both Paul and Kropp with injuries.
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.
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.
"A Pair of Tickets" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" are good examples of how setting explores place, heritage, and ethnic identity to give us a better understanding of the characters. In "A Pair of Tickets" Jing-Mei Woo discovers for herself what makes her Chinese and the setting played an important role in helping us understand how she came to this discovery. The setting in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" gave us a good understanding of why the characters acted as they did to the situations presented. The setting in both of these stories greatly contributed to the understanding the characters better and in general the whole story.
This was the type of man that the government wanted you to think was fighting the war for you. No comfort comes from thinking of a scrawny man fighting for your freedom. However, according to Vonnegut, these “scrawny” men were the ones fighting for us. Many were drafted into the military to keep up with the demand for soldiers. According to Vonnegut there were many people like Billy fighting in the war. Billy wasn’t exactly soldier material either, “Billy was Preposterous-six feet and three inches tall, with a chest and shoulders like a box of kitchen matches,”(32). Vonnegut does this to explain to people what soldiers were really like during WWII. Sure there were people that were in the war that would have matched up with the U.S. Government’s description of the war, but they were few and far between according to what Vonnegut witnessed. When people see that many of the soldiers were just kids out of high school, then they tend to start to not want to support war so much. It becomes a bad thing in the eyes of society, which is the purpose of this anti-war book, to show how war is bad and should not be supported. Vonnegut goes into detail about these younger soldiers on both sides to get his readers to see his point of view of
In the Red Badge of Courage, the protagonist Henry, is a young boy who yearns to be a Great War hero, even though he has never experienced war himself. Anxious for battle, Henry wonders if he truly is courageous, and stories of soldiers running make him uncomfortable. He struggles with his fantasies of courage and glory, and the truth that he is about to experience. He ends up running away in his second battle. Henry is somewhat nave, he dreams of glory, but doesn't think much of the duty that follows.
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.
The story has different elements that make it a story, that make it whole. Setting is one of those elements. The book defines setting as “the context in which the action of the story occurs” (131). After reading “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemmingway, setting played a very important part to this story. A different setting could possibly change the outcome or the mood of the story and here are some reasons why.
The most prominent settings used throughout the entirety of the novel are Berlin and Auschwitz. In these settings, the active transition from one house to the other and the locations of which the houses are positioned in. The next setting is the fence, as the fence is situated on the border of the camp to divide both sides, from Jew and German. Due to the current relations of the Germans and Jews at the time. Along with the hole or opening under the fence, exhibiting a penitential connection to occur between both sides. And finally the third settings are the gradua...
As evidenced by his words, it was not simply a matter of going over there at the age of seventeen to fight for one’s country. Rather, it was a matter of leaving behind the safety and security of the home to which you were accustomed, with little expectation of returning. At a time when these ‘kids’ should have been enjoying, they were burdened with the the trepidation of being drafted.
With Jim and Wilson by his side, Henry and his men with different outlooks on the war will fight and be the ideal team. Being the youngest of three men Henry desires honor along with a high reputation and will let nothing stand in his way. Jim was pragmatized about war. If the other soldier's were going to fight he was going to fight with them. Being classified as the "Loud soldier" and transitioning to a more mature man, Wilson undergoes many trials. These hardships show him the true meaning of life and how insignificant his life when there are other lives in the mix. As war wages on these men will fight for their own personal cause's and together will strive for a victory.
This whole story is based around the horrors and actions which take place during war, and we therefore get involved in the scenery of war and become very familiar of what the characters must feel.
The setting is important to the overall novel studied because it helps highlight major themes in the novel, it further characterizes the motivations of the characters, and helps explain the overall message of the novel. In 1984 by George Orwell, the overall setting of the novel is in London, which is called Airship 1 in Oceania.
Setting - Identify the physical (when/where) settings of the book. How do these settings affect the moods or emotions of the characters?
The setting or settings in a novel are often an important element in the work. Many novels use contrasting places such as cities or towns, to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. In Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the contrasting settings of Talbothays Dairy and Flintcomb-Ash represent the opposing forces of good and evil in Tess' life.