In the novel Shitbag Soldier by Lubrina Burton, Burton uses an authentic tone to present her personality without shame, share her true feelings during her experiences, and convey the reality of being a woman in the military. Burton didn’t hide her true self at any point throughout this novel and without shame spoke about the harsh situations that she encountered. Burton’s tone allows readers to see her personality and build trust in the narrator. Burton shows a cope with humor throughout the novel. In difficult times like this, the only way she can remain close to being herself is with her humor. For example, in Chapter 1, Burton says, “Missouri cannot possibly have scorpions. The drill sergeant must be fucking with us.” (Burton, pg. 9) Burton …show more content…
The honesty in her tone made her a reliable narrator. In Chapter 7, Burton says, “If I fell, and smashed my brain or snapped my neck it would be better for everyone, even me. I can rest and be at peace. Every day of my life has felt like a fight to survive.” (Burton, pg. 70) This was one of the most vulnerable moments in Shitbag Soldier. Burton was completely honest about the way she was struggling. At that moment, we don’t see her strength, but her weakness. Exposing weakness is a difficult thing to do, but because Burton wanted to be truthful with her audience, she showed us this other side of herself. This statement also shows how badly Burton was being treated in the military and how rigorous it truly is. Burton proves to be a trustworthy author because of this moment of rawness. In Chapter 12, Burton says, “Whatever makes me, me, feel disconnected from my body. I feel myself grow cold and numb as I stare into the distance. Perhaps this is a death. I hope that helps. There will be no tomorrow. There will be no more Sergeant Bluff. There will be no more Army.” (Burton, pg. …show more content…
these mental health concerns and the psychosocial issues that often accompany them will continue to carry over into transition back into civilian life.” (Godfrey, pg. 1). 243) Mental health can cause great detriments to daily living and lead to horrible effects. Military women, such as Burton, are at high risk of developing poor mental health. Readers are firsthand to see how Burton’s mental health relies greatly on how cruelly she is treated during her time of service. Repeatedly, we see Burton’s authentic self appear in her exposure to flaws, hardships, and weaknesses. Burton’s use of a vulnerable tone encourages the reader to become even more engaged with the story. Lastly, Burton paints a realistic image of how it is to be a woman in the military. Women were not respected military figures until recently, and Burton was one of the few girls in her
Within the young adult novel Twisted, author Laurie Halse Anderson practices appropriate devices like imagery and tone to construct the advancement of the voice of her adolescent characters. Tone and imagery are among the essential devices of structure to establish the voice of the protagonists. By the means of examining the imagery and tone in Anderson’s text, multiple examples of segments of the subject matter within the novel will discuss the development of the protagonist, Tyler’s voice.
The Effective Use of Tone in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find
Women in the US Military - Civil War Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Whether engaging in European trench warfare or fighting through the jungles of Vietnam, a soldier must learn to cope with the incredible mental stress brought on by the ever-present threat of a grisly death. The physical stress introduced by poor nutrition, a harsh and hostile environment, and the cumulative physical effect of emotional trauma only serves to make a trying situation even more taxing. It is out of this violently stressful environment that the coping mechanisms that characterize wartime masculinity arise.
For the first time women were working in the industries of America. As husbands and fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe and the Pacific, millions of women marched into factories, offices, and military bases to work in paying jobs and in roles reserved for men in peacetime. Women were making a living that was not comparable to anything they had seen before. They were dependent on themselves; for once they could support the household. Most of the work in industry was related to the war, such as radios for airplanes and shells for guns. Peggy Terry, a young woman who worked at a shell-loading plant in Kentucky, tells of the money that was to be made from industrial work (108). “We made a fabulous sum of thirty-two dollars a week. To us that was an absolute miracle. Before that, we made nothing (108)." Sarah Killingsworth worked in a defense plant. " All I wanted to do was get in the factory, because they were payin more than what I'd been makin. Which was forty dollars a week, which was pretty good considering I'd been makin about twenty dollars a week. When I left Tennessee I was only makin two-fifty a week, so that was quite a jump (114)." Terry had never been able to provide for herself as she was able to during the war. " Now we'd have money to buy shoes and a dress and pay rent and get some food on the table. We were just happy to have work (108).” These women exemplify the turn around from the peacetime to wartime atmosphere on the home front. The depression had repressed them to poverty like living conditions. The war had enabled them to have what would be luxury as compared to life before.
Annemarie is a normal young girl, ten years old, she has normal difficulties and duties like any other girl. but these difficulties aren’t normal ones, she’s faced with the difficulties of war. this war has made Annemarie into a very smart girl, she spends most of her time thinking about how to be safe at all times “Annemarie admitted to herself,snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
When the war was over, the survivors went home and the world tried to return to normalcy. Unfortunately, settling down in peacetime proved more difficult than expected. During the war, the boys had fought against both the enemy and death in far away lands; the girls had bought into the patriotic fervor and aggressively entered the workforce. During the war, both the boys and the girls of this generation had broken out of society's structure; they found it very difficult to return.
My interviewee went through a lot during World War II and sharing her amazing story left me evaluating her words for a long time, rethinking and still not willing to imagine the pain. She was one of the 150,000 American woman served in the Women’s Army Corps during the war years. They were one of the first ones to serve in the ranks of the United States Army. She recalls being teased a lot about being a young woman in a uniform but was very proud of it. Women finally were given the opportunity to make a major contribution to the national affair, especially a world war. It started with a meeting in1941 of Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers and General George Marshall, who was the Army’s Chief of Staff. Rogers asked General to introduce a bill to establish an Army women’s corps, where my interviewee, Elizabeth Plancher, was really hoping to get the benefits after the World War II along with other women. ( Since after World War I women came back from war and were not entitled to protection or any medical benefits. )
The two classic war novels ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Maria Remarque and ‘Catch 22’ by Joseph Heller both provide a graphic insight into the life of soldiers serving their country in the historic world wars. One distinct theme of interest found in both books, is the way in which war has physically and mentally re-shaped the characters. Remarque creates the character Paul Baümer, a young soldier who exposes anxiety and PTSD (commonly known as Shellshock) through his accounts of WW1’s German army. ‘Catch 22’ however, is written in the third person and omnisciently explores insanity and bureaucracy in an American Bombardier Squadron through its utter lack of logic. The two novels use their structure, characters, symbolism and setting to make a spectacle of the way war re-shapes the soldiers.
"From Home Front to Front Line." Women in War. Ed. Cecilia Lee and Paul Edward Strong. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The Churchill Centre. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
In Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier the continual coverage made by the media of the war during its occurrence and the infectiousness it had on those back home is portrayed through the eyes of her narrator, Jenny. The use of a female narrator wasn’t uncommon nor new but the way West includes her feminist values into Jenny without making it central to the story is fascinating. Up to this point in history, coverage of a war had never been read about as it was during this period. Because of this advancement in getting news out had improved drastically from the last war, people back home were more aware of what was occurring from reading a newspaper without having to wait for letters from their loved ones out on the front lines. West took this information in full stride and wrote about the emotional turmoil it causes the women back home waiting for their men to come back. She makes mention by focusing and bringing to attention the elements of class, exile from being deployed and the trauma that war causes on the soldier.
War can be as damaging to the human body as it is to the mind. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, this idea that war causes psychological disorders is represented throughout the book through the main character, Paul Baumer. This book follows the lives of young soldiers in World War I. Together, these men create powerful bonds. They go through terrifying experiences that continue to strengthen their bonds, but also destroy their mental state. Through Paul’s eyes, Remarque shows the devastation that war has on the mind.
“When I got to the back of the truck, Peewee was cracking up. I laughed with him. Jenkins started imitating the sergeant, and had his voice down perfectly” (Myers 26). Lighting the mood with some jokes and a little fooling around was helpful during the war. Death was a very big part of the war.
War is an ugly scar that humanity reopens time and time again, it brings out the worst in people, and makes kind-hearted souls develop into a shell of their former self. That being said, there are still traits that defy the cold reality of war, and shine through to develop the persona of a war hero: honor, bravery, and humility. Jessica Lynch, Mary Edwards Walker, and Violette Szabo are three great examples of war heroes who never turned to the cold reality of war, and always remained hopeful up until the end. Honor, defined as ‘adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct’, is seen as a noble trait to have; one that can pan out what a character strives for. In an example of honor, we note all three women, who, without a doubt, had no lack of it.