Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa is a collection of poems based on Komunyakaa’s personal experiences of the Vietnam War. He describes his experiences and observations in a way that isn’t as gritty and raw as some veterans, but still shows the horrors of war and the struggle to survive. What makes Komunyakaa’s work different is the emotion he uses when talking about the war. He tells it like it is and puts the reader in the soldiers’ shoes, allowing them to camouflage themselves and skulk around the jungles of Vietnam from the very first lines of “Camouflaging the Chimera.” Komunyakaa’s title Dien Cai Dau means “crazy” in Vietnamese and is an appropriate title based on the mind set of this veteran soldier. Two common themes I have found in Komunyakaa’s …show more content…
Throughout all the poems, Komunyakaa describes the lands of Vietnam in a way that could never be forgotten. In “Somewhere Near Phu Bai,” Komunyakaa paints a vivid scene of something we take for granted, being able to look up at the night sky and watch as the moon shines bright through the trees displaying earth’s beauty. Komunyakaa writes, “The moon cuts through the night trees like a circular saw white hot” (Komunyakaa, 193). He describes our everyday ability to see earth’s beauty as a “circular saw” suggesting the fear of being seen and killed in combat during the heat of the night. Another example of the dark side of nature Komunyakaa uses, is in “Starlight Scope Myopia,” he describes the river under Vi Bridge as a “Water God riding his dragon” and refers to the fog as a “Smoke-colored Viet Cong move under our eyelids” (Komunyakaa, 194). My interpretation of this explicit nature scene suggest that while in war the enemy continues to move like fog and all that is seen is the river that is sweeping away the soldiers that have been killed in the fog. Even though I have only provided two examples of the elements of nature, the book is full of nature, and confirming my belief that it is one of the common themes in the
Over many centuries, Poetry and song has been a way for people to explore their feelings, thoughts and questions about War & Peace. Rupert Brooke's “The Soldier” and Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh” provide two different insights into the nature of war. . “The Soldier” conveys a message of bravery for soldiers to go into war and fight while “Khe sanh” conveys a message about post-traumatic stress and the horrible factors of coming back into civilization after war.
The years 1961 to 1972 saw the American involvement in Vietnam. For a little over ten years, America sent its sons off to fight for an unknown cause in a country they knew little about. When the United States finally pulled out of Southeast Asia, many were left scratching their heads. Over 58,000 young men died without really knowing why. Although it is a work of fiction, Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato expresses the views of those who spent their lives in the jungles of Vietnam.
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.
Through all of this heartbreak that Komunyakaa has seen within his community, the thought that he can come up with a lesson through this turmoil on what should not be done and to convey it to the world gives an idea of how Komunyakaa wants other parts of nature not to end up the way that his did. In his essay, Komunyakaa states that he has “never been sentimental about nature (Komunyakaa 110). Throughout being in Bogalusa, Komunyakaa grew accustomed to the deterioration in which his environment was partaking, and decided to take it in as an unfortunate reality, unlike Wordsworth, who found the beautiful parts of nature and isolated them into appearing as that small part of nature was reality. Komunyakaa, however, in his loss of sentiment for nature, introduces a viewpoint associated with realism, finally at inner peace with the deterioration and pollution, as he figures that there will be justice in the end. Komunyakaa ends his essay with describing how “nature teaches us how to see ourselves within its greater domain”, and how “we cannot wound Mother Nature without wounding ourselves”, describing Mother Nature not being “a pushover” (Komunyakaa
In this chapter, O’Brien contrasts the lost innocence of a young Vietnamese girl who dances in grief for her slaughtered family with that of scarred, traumatized soldiers, using unique rhetorical devices
The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.
Yusef Komanuyakaa's poem "Facing It" is a brutal examination of the affects that war leaves upon men. The reader can assume that Komanuyakaa drew upon his own experiences in Vietnam, thereby making the poem a personal statement. However, the poem is also a universal and real description of the pain that comes about for a soldier when remembering the horror of war. He creates the poem's persona by using flashbacks to the war, thereby informing the reader as to why the speaker is behaving and feeling the way he is. The thirty-one lines that make up "Facing It" journey back and forth between present and past to tell the story of one man's life.
Hayslip, Le Ly, and Jay Wurts. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace. New York: Plume, 1990. Print.
During times of war, man is exposed to the most gruesome aspects of life such as death, starvation, and imprisonment. In some cases, the aftermath is even more disastrous, causing posttraumatic stress disorder, constant guilt, as well as physical and mental scarring, but these struggles are not the only things that humans can take away from the experience. War can bring out the appreciation of the little things in life, such as the safety people take for granted, the beauty of nature, and the kindness of others. These universal consequences of fighting all contribute to what war is really capable of doing, sometimes bringing out the best and worst in people, and constantly shaping society. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien goes through this himself when he writes about setting up base camp in the Vietnamese pagoda, the return to site of Kiowa’s death, the story about the old poppa-san guide, and Mitchell Sanders’ “moment of peace”. When O’Brien includes these stories, it is not to insert joy into a tragedy, but rather to create a more wholesome and authentic feel into a tough, realistic war story. O’Brien’s’ “sweet” stories are there to show the hope he had during war, and also serve as a universal example that even in the darkest tunnels, it is always possible to find rays of light.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
Yusef Komunyakaa, the poet of war, vividly describes his vacillating emotions about the Vietnam War and his relation to it as an African-American veteran in the poem, “Facing It.” Komunyakaa, the protagonist of his narrative, reflective poem, contemplates his past experiences as he promenades around the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, struggling to conceal his ardent emotions and remain hard and cold as “stone.” He writes one stanza in a dark mood, and by using metaphors and visual imagery, he paints a picture with his words for all to see.
“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.
Self-estrangement can be closely associated with a symptom of depression, many of these soldiers were later diagnosed with PTSD, where depression is a symptom commonly found. Many soldiers, including Komunyakaa, entered the war with the mindset that this act was a necessary precaution to prevent the spread of communism not only just to the US but the rest of the world. Despite the Americans citizens so strongly opposing the use of force, the soldiers and US government believed this amount of force was essential in the combat against the spread of communism.To show their disapproval of the war, American citizen often protested the issues in some cases this eventually broke out in violence. Anti-war protesters were known for being extremely ill-mannered and even violent to returning soldiers by throwing garbage, eggs and various other objects. Many theorized that the hostility shown in US Soldier played “an important environmental factor” (Begg) in the development of the Soldiers PTSD. Komunyakaa directly addresses this hostile environment, he has been subjected to as a Vietnam War veteran by saying in his poem“My clouded reflection eyes me/like a bird of prey”(l. 7). He believes that he has been placed under harsh scrutiny by the public. Komunyakaa also recognizes the struggles that other soldiers have faced as a result of differences in narratives. When looking at the eyes of
For much time the gruesome, jaw-dropping nature of war stories has lead readers to question their truth. This is particularly true in the emotional anecdotes told about the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, is one of the first to address the idea of truth in his novel itself. Since O’Brien never confirms whether the factuality of his tales, many readers question whether the stories he weaves are actually true. O’Brien does not want for his audience to read so deeply into the facts and figures. To him it should not matter whether his tales truly happened. O’Brien’s greater purpose in writing of Vietnam is to share the stories he physically could not tell in a way that saves himself and society. He aims to use writing as self-release while also warning his audience of the horrors of war.
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as