“They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained … in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture (77).” The soldiers in The Things They Carried share the common fear of embarrassment and dishonor. They did not join the army for heroics or to achieve valor but because “men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to … to avoid the blush of dishonor (77).” The men in this story were “tough”; they talked big and made themselves laugh. They kicked the heads of dead men, cut off thumbs, and joked about their fear, taking the meaning and hurt out of death. “They were actors”, masking the truth and burying emotion. “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards (77).” Too afraid to let reality get past their crude jokes and harsh language. Feeling was cowardice, crying was for girls; they were men, meant to go to war and to kill. But in reality, embarrassment was not what they were scared of, the soldiers were scared that if they stopped denying what was going on around them - what has happening to their friends - it would destroy them. The men became emotional ghosts; feeling no pain and living superficially was better than thinking about the destruction and death going on around them.
After Ted Lavender’s death, the soldier Kiowa attempts to talk with another soldier, Norman Bowker, about Lavender’s death, but Bowker just cuts him off and tells him to shut up (45). Bowker doesn’t want to think about their comrade’s death anymore than he has to and in any greater depth than the facts: he got shot, he’s dead, that’s that. Later when Kiowa thinks about Ted Lavender’s death on his own, the strongest emotion he can feel is relief and happiness that he is still alive. Kiowa is ashamed, thinking it is unchristian, that he can’t feel anything more about Lavender’s death than surprise at the quickness of his death, the “Boom-dead”.
On the other hand, Lavender’s death is the last bullet that breaks down Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s tough-guy façade. Guilt and self-recrimination seep through the unfeeling, mental blockade Cross had enforced with the help from his fantasies of Martha. Before Lavender’s death, Cross used his obsession with Martha as an emotional buffer. All his emotions were consumed with the happy memories of Martha, his love for her, their one date, dreams of her falling in love with him, etc. These dreams distracted Cross and repelled reality. Cross did not think about the death around him because he was too busy worrying about the death of Martha’s virginity. Lavender’s death, however, is a reality check for Cross. Although it is not his fault, Cross blames himself and “Martha the buffer” for Lavender’s death; “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead.” Once Cross blamed Martha, he let go of her and his buffer was gone. Cross is left emotionally naked to face the onslaught of emotion caused by Lavender’s death.
The other men are still holding on to their Marthas. Cross, as their leader, is somewhat of an emotional shield for all of them. Since Cross has let his own defense down, he is also essentially no longer a bulwark for the other soldiers. Once Cross lets go of Martha and sees reality clearly again, he is determined to stop dreaming and “comport himself as an officer (99).” None of his soldier’s safety would every be risked again because he couldn’t accept what was really going on. If he was going to start accepting the harsh reality, his men sure as hell would too. He was also going to take away their buffers; the remainder of Lavender’s weed, stop allowing the soldiers to lighten their loads along the trek, insist on clean weapons. Even though his men would see it as punishment, Cross did not do this to reprimand his men but because, those Marthas, those buffers, were distracting his men – as they had distracted him – and making a dangerous situation fatal.
Discussion Questions:
- To what extent do you think other men are holding onto their emotional buffers too?
-What is the significance of the switch in perspectives from Jimmy Cross's to Kiowa's perspective?
-What is O'Brien's purpose in listing both the material and emotional burdens of the soldiers?
- How does Cross see Lavender's death as a second chance at leading his men better? And how will getting rid of Martha help Cross pay more attention to his men?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Mirthless, Animalistic, Hair-raising, Haunting, Sinister
“The last sound I expected to hear in so still a region, a laugh … a curios laugh; distinct formal, mirthless. It passed off in a clamorous peal that seemed to wake an echo in every lonely chamber … for the laugh was as tragic, as preternatural a laugh as any I ever heard … circumstance of ghostliness accompanied the curious cachinnation (Bronte 159).”
“When you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions (Gilman 33).”
“The night – its silence – its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a shrill sound that ran from end to end … whatever being uttered that feared shriek could not soon repeat it: not the widest-winged condor on the Andes could, twice in succession, send out such a yell from the cloud shrouding his eyrie … a shout of laughter greeted his entrance; noisy at first, and terminating in [a] goblin’s ha! Ha! She then was there (Bronte 299)”
“For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow. But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose the way … Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time (Gilman 260)!”
“In the deep shade, a figure ran backwards and forwards … whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it groveled, seemingly on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal (Bronte 418).”
The eerie, hair-prickling sensation inspired by all of these quotes could imply they are from the same novel, however they are from two totally separate stories. Yet both have a creepy, haunting air to them. Unlike a traditional horror story with an excess of blood and gore and incessant killing when a character becomes useless, these stories use insanity and mystery to instill fear within the reader. Although I have read Jane Eyre numerous times, Bertha Mason and her evil laugh never cease to give me the chills. I’ve even had a dream where a Mrs. Rochester-like figure set fire to my room, except no doting Jane Eyre was there to rescue me. The mystery surrounding Bertha’s incontrollable, animalistic madness for most of the story dramatizes Bertha and increases the reader’s fear without actually stating there is something to fear. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman also uses madness to creep the reader out. She follows the narrator’s path to complete insanity in the story. The increasing possibility of the narrator’s going totally insane and her obsession with the only thing in the room, the wallpaper, almost cause the reader to go crazy with the narrator. The focus only on one object in the story and the hidden woman behind the wallpaper and the use of exclamation marks show the narrator’s increased boredom and the emotional excitement that comes with being cooped up with no distractions for a long period of time. (527)
“When you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions (Gilman 33).”
“The night – its silence – its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a shrill sound that ran from end to end … whatever being uttered that feared shriek could not soon repeat it: not the widest-winged condor on the Andes could, twice in succession, send out such a yell from the cloud shrouding his eyrie … a shout of laughter greeted his entrance; noisy at first, and terminating in [a] goblin’s ha! Ha! She then was there (Bronte 299)”
“For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow. But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose the way … Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time (Gilman 260)!”
“In the deep shade, a figure ran backwards and forwards … whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it groveled, seemingly on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal (Bronte 418).”
The eerie, hair-prickling sensation inspired by all of these quotes could imply they are from the same novel, however they are from two totally separate stories. Yet both have a creepy, haunting air to them. Unlike a traditional horror story with an excess of blood and gore and incessant killing when a character becomes useless, these stories use insanity and mystery to instill fear within the reader. Although I have read Jane Eyre numerous times, Bertha Mason and her evil laugh never cease to give me the chills. I’ve even had a dream where a Mrs. Rochester-like figure set fire to my room, except no doting Jane Eyre was there to rescue me. The mystery surrounding Bertha’s incontrollable, animalistic madness for most of the story dramatizes Bertha and increases the reader’s fear without actually stating there is something to fear. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman also uses madness to creep the reader out. She follows the narrator’s path to complete insanity in the story. The increasing possibility of the narrator’s going totally insane and her obsession with the only thing in the room, the wallpaper, almost cause the reader to go crazy with the narrator. The focus only on one object in the story and the hidden woman behind the wallpaper and the use of exclamation marks show the narrator’s increased boredom and the emotional excitement that comes with being cooped up with no distractions for a long period of time. (527)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Do I have something in my teeth? Oh..not quite.
Last Thursday I had a swim meet and my parents ate early so I had to get my own dinner. I decided to pick something up at Aj’s. I parked, checked that my hair wasn’t all over the place [I had the windows down], grabbed my purse, and locked my car. I walk in to the store and begin to peruse, however, I could sense some interesting stares directed my way. Hmm that’s odd, it can’t be my hair, I checked that. I look down, yes, I have shoes on. A little further up … Ah, that is why. I’m still wearing my towel and my one piece swim suit and that’s about it.
A week or so earlier, it was a Friday and there was a soccer game going on. I decided to meet Jess down there after swim practice. I wasn’t planning on staying too long so I didn’t bother changing out of my practice suit [I wear a two piece just so I don’t get a ridiculous tan]. I just slipped on a pair of shorts and threw my hair up in a ponytail and headed down to the game. Hmm, Jess is sitting on the third set of bleachers. That means I have to walk past the first set, the set packed with parents, and the second set, the set teachers are crammed onto. Feeling extremely awkward, I attempted to strategically position my arms to cover my stop and avoided making eye contact as I walked towards the third bleacher.
It’s interesting how a swim suit is a perfectly acceptable, and that actually any other attire would really be unacceptable, at the beach or at the swimming pool but taken out of context, a swim suit can be considered scandalous, inappropriate apparel. The three girls in A & P, clearly were just running an errand for their mother [what teenage really just buys “fancy herring snacks”?] and had probably been at the beach or on their way to the beach when the mother asked them to run to the store. Just like me, they didn’t even consider that their clothing would be inappropriate because where they had been it was what they should have been wearing. I think that it was not the girls intension to wear swim suits to get attention or impress anyone, instead they forgot what they were wearing until it was rather brutally called to their attention by Lengel, the manager, when he scolded them. The girls blushed and tried to explain that they were just running a quick errand, implying swim suits and bare feet were not what they would normally wear for a trip to the A & P. Although no one said anything to me directly, I did experience some interesting looks and feel more than slightly awkward. Except why is it that a swim suit is completely fine to wear in the pool, even when adults or teachers are around, but about 300 yards away on the soccer field, it is inappropriate? Although I would not regularly walk around with my entire midriff exposed, it is just my standard uniform for swim practice and when it is obvious that I’m coming from something where it is totally normal, just like the girls in A & P who were coming from the beach, why should anyone judge or feel awkward? If the judgers had been at the beach, the meet, or swim practice they would not even bat an eye at someone in a swim suit. It is just interesting how standards are different for everything from clothing and places, to culture and even standards for girls and boys are sometimes different. (614)
A week or so earlier, it was a Friday and there was a soccer game going on. I decided to meet Jess down there after swim practice. I wasn’t planning on staying too long so I didn’t bother changing out of my practice suit [I wear a two piece just so I don’t get a ridiculous tan]. I just slipped on a pair of shorts and threw my hair up in a ponytail and headed down to the game. Hmm, Jess is sitting on the third set of bleachers. That means I have to walk past the first set, the set packed with parents, and the second set, the set teachers are crammed onto. Feeling extremely awkward, I attempted to strategically position my arms to cover my stop and avoided making eye contact as I walked towards the third bleacher.
It’s interesting how a swim suit is a perfectly acceptable, and that actually any other attire would really be unacceptable, at the beach or at the swimming pool but taken out of context, a swim suit can be considered scandalous, inappropriate apparel. The three girls in A & P, clearly were just running an errand for their mother [what teenage really just buys “fancy herring snacks”?] and had probably been at the beach or on their way to the beach when the mother asked them to run to the store. Just like me, they didn’t even consider that their clothing would be inappropriate because where they had been it was what they should have been wearing. I think that it was not the girls intension to wear swim suits to get attention or impress anyone, instead they forgot what they were wearing until it was rather brutally called to their attention by Lengel, the manager, when he scolded them. The girls blushed and tried to explain that they were just running a quick errand, implying swim suits and bare feet were not what they would normally wear for a trip to the A & P. Although no one said anything to me directly, I did experience some interesting looks and feel more than slightly awkward. Except why is it that a swim suit is completely fine to wear in the pool, even when adults or teachers are around, but about 300 yards away on the soccer field, it is inappropriate? Although I would not regularly walk around with my entire midriff exposed, it is just my standard uniform for swim practice and when it is obvious that I’m coming from something where it is totally normal, just like the girls in A & P who were coming from the beach, why should anyone judge or feel awkward? If the judgers had been at the beach, the meet, or swim practice they would not even bat an eye at someone in a swim suit. It is just interesting how standards are different for everything from clothing and places, to culture and even standards for girls and boys are sometimes different. (614)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
5.15 - The Who, "My Generation"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUl9Tum0BMg
In response to “Teenage Wasteland”:
As a mother it is Mrs. Johnson’s first priority to “mother”. I believe that the way different members of the family act greatly effects the other members. Home is where children spend the majority of their time and their parents and siblings are the people they see most frequently. Speaking from experience, I know what it is like not to want to come home, like Donny. To feel like a dark cloud is constantly looming over your house, no matter how bright and sunny it is in reality. Once you step through that door, the atmosphere and your emotions/attitude immediately darken to match the gloomy feeling in the air. It is almost like dementors [magical creatures in Harry Potter who literarily suck the happiness and warmth from the air] have become the resident gargoyles around your house. To know that as soon as you enter that house, no matter how much you fight it, you’re fighting the inevitable, you will enter “grumpville”. It is horrible, to feel that everything would just be better if you could only escape this dark cloud, your home, your supposed sanctuary. Now, why does a house come under this dark cloud? Maybe because of fighting, divorce, financial troubles, etc.: the soap opera issues. Or maybe as in “Teenage Wasteland” because someone in the house has given up. I believe that Mrs. Johnson has forgotten/given up her role as a mother, as the adult. Mrs. Johnson thinks she has failed as a mother, which she has because she has stopped being one. Mrs. Johnson simply gives up, she sees that she has failed and succumbs to hopelessness and self-pity. Mrs. Johnson does nothing to correct the situation with her son, instead she hands over her job as a mother to Cal. She hides behind the inadequate solution of a tutor, pretending everything is alright. Even when someone [Donny’s teacher] tells Mrs. Johnson directly that she needs to step up and help Donny, Mrs. Johnson still refuses to accept the truth. The truth that she is part of and a cause of Donny’s unhappiness and unruliness.
By not helping herself Mrs. Johnson is also affecting the way Donny acts. When someone you are constantly around and emotionally attached to, like a mother, is unhappy and is letting herself fall apart, it affects you too. Mothers are supposed to be people that you can look up to and that you can go to for help, someone with the answers and someone children can rely on. Except how can a child like Donny go to his mother for help when she can’t even help herself? I think it is selfish, sad, and pathetic when people do not help themselves and instead decide to wallow in self-pity, to just give up. Of course that person is not expected to do everything themselves but no one can help you if you do not decide to help yourself and realize you need help first. As the adult it is Mrs. Johnson’s job to get the help she needs then properly help her son. Her feeling of self-pity and unhappiness affects and “rubs off” on everyone else in the house. Her depression and hopelessness are the dementors in the house. [534]
In response to “Teenage Wasteland”:
As a mother it is Mrs. Johnson’s first priority to “mother”. I believe that the way different members of the family act greatly effects the other members. Home is where children spend the majority of their time and their parents and siblings are the people they see most frequently. Speaking from experience, I know what it is like not to want to come home, like Donny. To feel like a dark cloud is constantly looming over your house, no matter how bright and sunny it is in reality. Once you step through that door, the atmosphere and your emotions/attitude immediately darken to match the gloomy feeling in the air. It is almost like dementors [magical creatures in Harry Potter who literarily suck the happiness and warmth from the air] have become the resident gargoyles around your house. To know that as soon as you enter that house, no matter how much you fight it, you’re fighting the inevitable, you will enter “grumpville”. It is horrible, to feel that everything would just be better if you could only escape this dark cloud, your home, your supposed sanctuary. Now, why does a house come under this dark cloud? Maybe because of fighting, divorce, financial troubles, etc.: the soap opera issues. Or maybe as in “Teenage Wasteland” because someone in the house has given up. I believe that Mrs. Johnson has forgotten/given up her role as a mother, as the adult. Mrs. Johnson thinks she has failed as a mother, which she has because she has stopped being one. Mrs. Johnson simply gives up, she sees that she has failed and succumbs to hopelessness and self-pity. Mrs. Johnson does nothing to correct the situation with her son, instead she hands over her job as a mother to Cal. She hides behind the inadequate solution of a tutor, pretending everything is alright. Even when someone [Donny’s teacher] tells Mrs. Johnson directly that she needs to step up and help Donny, Mrs. Johnson still refuses to accept the truth. The truth that she is part of and a cause of Donny’s unhappiness and unruliness.
By not helping herself Mrs. Johnson is also affecting the way Donny acts. When someone you are constantly around and emotionally attached to, like a mother, is unhappy and is letting herself fall apart, it affects you too. Mothers are supposed to be people that you can look up to and that you can go to for help, someone with the answers and someone children can rely on. Except how can a child like Donny go to his mother for help when she can’t even help herself? I think it is selfish, sad, and pathetic when people do not help themselves and instead decide to wallow in self-pity, to just give up. Of course that person is not expected to do everything themselves but no one can help you if you do not decide to help yourself and realize you need help first. As the adult it is Mrs. Johnson’s job to get the help she needs then properly help her son. Her feeling of self-pity and unhappiness affects and “rubs off” on everyone else in the house. Her depression and hopelessness are the dementors in the house. [534]
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