The Things They Carried: Blog Prompt #3

1) When Wes Hamilton visited our classroom to speak about his experiences of the Vietnam War, he told us that nobody went by their real name during war time. Each of their names was given to them by their peers because of something they did or they where known for. For example Wes Hamilton's nickname was Baron, for reasons he didn't disclose. Baron was Wes's new identity during the entire time he was in Vietnam he regards it as a highly cherished gift. In The Things They Carried none of the characters had nicknames, and Tim O'Brien seems to know all of them by their first names. For example Tim O'Brien uses Norman Bowker's real name in the book, even tho Bowker asked him not to. I think that this means that the characters in The Things They Carried were closer than Wes was to his squad.

2) For me, Mary Anne Bell is a character that represents the changes that being in a combat zone during a war has on a person no matter how innocent and pure. Mary Anne went from a fairly innocent and pretty girl to a war savage who cuts out the tongues of her fallen enemies to use as a necklace. Being in the military camp somehow inspired Mary to want to aid her country in the conflict with Vietnam to the point of savagery. What specifically changed her Tim never really says, but is apparent that something affected her.I think also Mary was put in the book to show that it wasn't just men that fought and died in Vietnam.

3) I think that Tim O'Brien's stories are both true and false.  I think that the general story is true, but some of the details are fake or over exaggerated. I think most of the tragedies that occurred in the book are true, like when Kiowa and Ted Lavender die but most of the other stuff is made up. An Example of made up text was when Tim talks about the Vietnamese man he killed, and how he tells the man's whole life story. It isn't possible for Tim to know all of that info about a man he didn't know at all, and had no way of contacting his family.

The advantages of telling false information about the story is those who have a weak stomach for war can read the book without reading about the grotesque details. The disadvantage is for those who want to really know what happened with out the made up stories, and the exaggerated heroism. I don't like reading this book specifically because every time I pick the book up to read, I know that most of what i'm reading never happened and is made up.



Questions
1) How much of Tim's story is actually real?

2) Is it right for Tim to include Bowker's real name in the book even though he asked him not to?

The Things They Carried Part 1

My thoughts about war are often very different than those of my peers. Sometimes I try to believe that War is something that can always be avoided, and there is always a peaceful way to settle a conflict between two nations. Then at other times I view war in a more realistic point of view, in which war is sometimes not a choice but a necessity. While there are times when war could be avoided through peaceful actions, there are consequently times when no peaceful resolution can be found. When two nations have extreme hate for each other, or religion is involved things get too out of hand for a peaceful end. While I wish that war was a thing of the past and can always be avoided, my realistic part of me knows deep down that as long as there are men, there shall be war.

I think that America should be involved in war if the nations safety is at risk. If a nation has serious accusations to "destroy the West" I believe that America has enough grounds to declare war. I don't disagree with the Iraq War because its a precautionary measure to keep the al-Qaeda from erasing the entire Western Hemisphere off the face of the world.

I know that America was involved in the Vietnam War because of the spread of communism throughout the world. North Korea was under the rule of Ho Chi Minh who was a radical communist dictator in Korea. I also know that for some reason South Korea disagreed with communism and there was rebellion in South Korea. We sent troops to South Korea to aid them in seizing the spread of communism in South East Asia.

The Things They Carried Part 2

Other than tangible items that soldiers during the Vietnam War, soldiers also carried emotional baggage such as fear and anger. Also they carried the burden of knowing that their fathers and families expected them to bring home the glory and medals. Those with families back in the states had to worry about making it home alive and well to help support their families.

 One of the characters that the author describes and talks about a lot is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who has a huge fantasy for a woman named Martha. Martha is an English major who writes to Jimmy in letters about various things. One thing that is mentionable is that she never talks about the war or ask Jimmy what it is he is doing in Vietnam. Jimmy Cross later notes that she is not involved in the war at all just like most people were during the Vietnam war.

All of these pieces of literature had to do with emotions and feelings about or during the Vietnam War. They were all responses to how they felt about the war, or how the war made them feel whether they were involved or not. The general emotions that were presented in this literature were either anger, fear, or sadness. It seems as if the pieces that were from people not involved in the war had a more anger tone to them, while the pieces written by people actually fighting the war had a sense of fear and sadness.

Gatsby: What does it all mean?

In the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald there are many people in the novel to relate to, and most people have a certain character in which they feel the most connected to. For me, I relate to the most to Nick and how he acts around others throughout the novel. He is always the middle man in all of the conflicts, that tries to remain neutral and not cause any more conflict. This aspect applies to me more than I would like, but nevertheless it happens.

 Nick is my most related character because of how he is the person everyone goes to when they have issues and need someone to talk to. I'm also tolerant and always slow to judge others just like Nick perceives himself. The downfall of being the middle man of all drama is eventually you find yourself not sure of what's right and what's wrong in the world. You find yourself dead center in every fight with people asking for your  help from both sides and eventually you  have to take a stand. This happens to Nick throughout the story plot and eventually he takes sides with Gatsby who he believes is the better choice.  Good evidence of this is when in Nick yells "They're a rotten crowd... Your're worth the whole damn bunch put together." in chapter 9.

To conclude, being the middle man in a conflict like Nick and I try and be never really works out quite like we would hope. In the end of the Great Gatsby Nick eventually sways his favor towards Gatsby and takes his side over the snobby rich kind and throws out his neutrality.

Great Gatsby Characters in Chapter 1

In the first chapter of the Great Gatsby we have learned a lot about the main characters with the exception of Mr. Gatsby who remains a mysterious character. The first character we meet is Nick the narrator. He has a sarcastic aura to him that he omits to everyone he meets. His entire life seems ironic at this point in the book. He is from a rich family, yet he lives in a poor neighborhood by himself. Daisy is the next character we meet and she is very odd. She is married to Tom and she is very effervescent. Tom is very serious and cocky. He tries to appear more intellectual than he really is by saying that he read books about white male dominance over the world. The last character we meet is Jordan Baker. She is very snobby and acts like she is better than everyone else. She "balances an imaginary book on her head" by keeping her chin up and looking down on everyone. My first impression of this book is that it isn't  going to be very good. There is no story plot yet and there is no conflict going on. The writing style is boring as it strays away from possible points of focus for story plot.

POL My poem

My poem is "A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe and its a great poem that I can connect to. The poem is about Edgar's theory that were all just living an dream or nightmare in which we have no control. He starts off by saying "take this kiss upon the brow, and in parting from you now, let me thus much avow, you are not wrong who deem that my days have been a dream." This poem also has great imagery. One example of imagery is when he says "I stand amid the roar, of a surf tormented shore, I hold within my hands the grains of the Golden Sand, how few yet how they creep". This is an imagery of the "golden sand" or time as it slowly slips away from him into the deep. Overall this poem is amazing and I will always remember it word for word.

Winter Break

I had basically no plans over the winter break except to recharge my mental batteries by getting lots of sleep and not doing much academically. The only time I went out of Olympia was to go snowboarding at the Summit at Snoqualmie. This was the most fun I had over the winter break, because snowboarding is my most favorite thing to do in the world. There was lots of snow and I had a great time.