week 5 the things they carried

http://www.google.com/images?q=vietnam+war+memorial&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P8JhTd-QDYe-sQOA9cjDCA&ved=0CGgQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=565

My Tho, Vietnam. A Viet Cong base camp being destroyed. In the foreground is Private First Class Raymond Rumpa, St Paul, Minnesota, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, with 45 pound 90mm recoiless rifle. 04/05/1968

The Things They Carried

      "The Things They Carried" is an extremely understated title. Whereas other war novels blandly plod through checklists of items used by soldiers, and offer detail of battles fought, Tim O'Brien's story presents the intangible hopes, demons, fears, and horrors that were carried, but could not be weighed. The way he blends in these intangible burdens, as he runs through the checklist of death and destruction that each man carried, is literary genius. The approach taken in this story gives the reader the ability to visualize the grisly task assigned to these soldiers, as well as insight into the emotional trauma reaped by carrying out such tasks.
     The Vietnam War was a dark time in American history. Like many atrocities, people tend to push it away, or not speak of it. This story doesn't push it away, but instead places it under a  microscope. The very cells and molecules that make up the beast of war are examined. This story is not of war; nor is it of those who participated in it. It is a story of what makes those men continue; of what makes them live; of what makes them men. In order to understand war, you must first understand the battles. In order to understand the battles, you first must understand the men in battle. In order to understand the men, you must look deep inside them. I applaud Mr. O'Brien for taking us in deep; deeper than we may be comfortable with sitting in our middle class homes, but deep enough to reach a fuller, deeper, more appreciative understanding of the things they carried.

week 4 assignment poetry of witness

                                                       http://www.jimmysantiagobaca.com/

   




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Afghanistan Conflict

Our Troops are There Right Now.

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Soldier Writing Home by DGTate (43)

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     I found "Immigrants in Our Own Land" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and "Letters Composed During the Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin Powers, both to be refreshing in their descriptive prowess. Both writers present the world of which they're writing, in a way that is dry and to the point, yet is visually stimulating to the imagination and full of emotion. Both of the poems jump off the page and pull at your heartstrings with their opening lines.
     In "Immigrants in our own Land", Baca opens up with this line: "We are born with dreams in our hearts, looking for better days ahead"(Baca 1-2). Most people, when asked their opinion of inmates, have something negative to say. It's easy to forget that these are people too. They are people who once had hopes and dreams, just like us. For many, that chance for self-betterment never comes to fruition. They tried to take an easy out and were caught. Now they have to pay for that for the rest of their lives. This really hits close to my heart, because I grew up in a place where you're expected to go to jail, or not amount to anything. I've seen many people try to better their lives, in the only ways they know how, and wind up in prison. There are many good people in prison who will never get another chance, even if they are released.
     The opening sentence of "Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" grabs your attention in much the same way. Powers offers this opening: "I tell her I love her like not killing, or ten minutes of sleep beneath the low rooftop wall on which my rifle rests"(Powers 1-4). I find that in most poetry, English majors recycle the same mundane simile and metaphors that every other English major has used throughout time. Comparing love for her to love for not killing is amazing and fresh. Just that one line alone makes you wonder about the horrors of war that could cause a writer to even think this. It is a perspective that ninety-nine percent of people would not be able to articulate: but, we all understand. It's easy to think of war as a whole, but this poem helps you to see each individual, on each side, as a person, trying to keep in touch with whatever they love; with whatever keeps them going.

Works Cited

Baca, Santiago Jimmy. "Immigrants in Our Own Land". www.poetryfoundation.org 

     Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11

Powers, Kevin. "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting". www.poetryfoundation.org

      Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11

The necessity to shut up

(Immortal Technique, "Dance with the Devil", Revolutionary Vol. 1)


The Necessity to Shut Up

     Like every college reading assignment, I find Sam Hamill's essay to be ridiculously over the top, sprinkled with a slight touch of sense. Why our education hinges so greatly upon the ramblings of "educated" idiots; I do not know. Why is it that a man who, like Immortal Technique says, probably only did a month for minor offenses"(I.T. Dance with the Devil) is an expert on all the problems in prisons? Why is it that a man who was a conscientious objector, and never actually fought or shed blood, can speak of war as if he understands?
     O.k., before you think I'm just writing myself into a frenzy, let me state this: things do need to be spoken of and brought into the open. People do need to be made aware. People need to be shocked by the raw reality of this life. It is easy to go to work and return home, oblivious and blinded by the "matrix" around us. Remember this though; the world is an evil place.
     Whether you base your beliefs on Adam and Eve falling out in the Garden of Eden, or just on the countless wars, rapes and tortures throughout history; the world is evil. We can drop our guns, but the country that hates us regardless, will not drop their own. We all want peace and harmony but, with the exception of Sam Hamill, are wise enough to know that it's just not plausible. I agree with him that violence, such as hitting women, has no place. But, war is necessary. Death is necessary. Without it, there would be no freedom to be a conscientious objector. There would be no freedom to speak against the violent. So go ahead and speak your guts out, but remember this, as I quote Immortal Technique one more time, "there was always the wicked who knew in advance." (I.T. Dance with the Devil)