We have been looking at how war affects the individual, the family, the community, and the country. Look at your world. What songs, poems, books, movies have I not shared with you? Choose one of those and then write about how war affects the individual or the family.
You need to explain a little about it so we have a context and then you can explain how war is working in the genre.
40 comments:
War is more than the image that we as Americans get in our minds when we think of soldiers risking their lives to save ours. We have to keep in mind that with a soldier comes a family; mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, daughters, sons, etc. War has, and always will have an impact on the soldier's mind and body, but it also has an impact on the family of that soldier. In the song, "American Soldier", by Toby Keith, the lyrics are a prime example of the impact war has on families. For example, Keith sings, "I just work straight through the holidays" (ln. 13). Showing listeners that soldiers cannot just skip their jobs to join family in celebrating a holiday, their job is all year long, depending on where they are stationed. I do not know what it's like to have a father or brother or grandfather miss a holiday because of the military, however, I can imagine slightly how it would effect me. I'm used to waking up on Christmas morning and having both of my parents there to watch my brothers and I open our presents while drinking coffee and recording what we open. I'm used to ringing in the new year with my parents and siblings by my side. I am used to family and always having them around. I cannot even bare the thought of spending holidays away from them, so could you image how hard it is to be a daughter or son or wife on Christmas morning and not having your father or husband there? Also, Keith sings, "I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekend's been too strong" (ln. 12). Showing us that people who can call off of work after a tough weekend, or just because of a cold, are lucky that they even have that opportunity to do so. We sometimes do not realize how good we have it until we put ourselves in someone else's shoes.
The song "Ohio" by Neil Young is a perfect example of what war does to people. During the Vietnam war most people in the states did not approve of the war and as a result, many people protested the war. At a kent state rally in 1970 the national guard killed 4 students that were protesting the war. They had not even done anything wrong. War affects the communities because it made the community errupt in protest. The war also must have affected the national guardsmen by making them very tense and "trigger happy". It was a tradegy but it is a perfect example of what war does to people, it puts them on edge. The song is straight forward and sings about what happened that day. The line "four dead in ohio" is repeated many times in the song. War can effect communities that are not even in near the fighting.
I chose the song "American Soldier" by Toby Keith is a good example of how war affects people and their family. War affects people in many ways, some shut down, some stay the same, or some develop mental illnesses. In the song American soldier it talked about how he felt when he got home "I'm just trying to be a father, raise a daughter and a son" (lines 1-2). He just wanted to try and become the best person he could be for his kids. He always wanted to be there for them and he wanted to be able to help them grow up. But he sometimes considers going back to the war. Even though he does not want to leave his kids he can not seem to find a job that suites him. He is so used to being in a war fighting for a country that he does not want a normal job "Providing for our future's my responsibility" line (10). He feels that it is necessary to have to be fighting to provide his kids and others with the best future possible. He has trouble when he comes home because he feels he is an American Soldier at heart. Even though he wants to be there for his kids he feels the only way he can truly help them is to leave them and go fight a war. He thinks that fighting for them will give them the best future possible. War affects people in many ways but in this song it talks about a father who just can not seem to let go of defending his country.
The book "All But My Life" by Gerda Weissmann Klein is a written first-hand experience of Gerda herself living in concentration camps and under Nazi control during World War 2. The war for Gerda changed her life and tore her family apart. Gerda was happy in her home with her family whom she adored, especially her older brother. Arthur was the first to be torn from the family, sent to work for the war. Hope was the only thing the family had to keep them sure that Arthur was fine, since he barely wrote home. The war and the Nazis eventually tore the rest of her family and friends apart, one by one, leaving Gerda alone in various camps with people she didn't know and forced to do things she didn't care about for the sake of her life. The Nazis made Gerda and her group of prisoners march for months in the dead of winter because of other countries invading theirs. She writes in her book about how some of the girls' limbs were so frozen and dead that they would crack them off and not feel a thing. The war was so hard on her that she almost attempted suicide by jumping onto train tracks, but something her father told her before the separation kept her from doing it. Gerda was a very strong and steadfast woman who kept her head on straight the entire time, unlike many of the others she stayed with who killed themselves or lost all sense of sanity. The war ruined her family and it almost killed her.
The song "American Soldier" by Toby Keith talks about the duties and responsibilities of a soldier to his family and his country. He states "I'm just trying to be a father,Raise a daughter and a son,Be a lover to their mother" to show how he is trying his best to be there for the people he loves but how he has to go to war (ln 1-3). He also states "I don't do it for the money, there's bills that I can't pay,I don't do it for the glory" to show he is not in the service for the money because " there are bills" that he cannot pay and how he does not do it for the "glory" because at war... nothing is really glorious (ln 8-9). He is stressing how since he is gone, his family is in a state of not being able to pay bills and how hard it is to be there for his family while he is so far away. He wants to be there but just cannot. He also touches on the fact of "providing for the future" and how he is in the service so he can fight for his families and countries future (ln 10). He just talks about the ongoing pressure and not having the life of the average American like getting off for being sick and calling off for holidays (ln 11-13). The speaker also realizes his responsibilities as a soldier and will fight when it is needed. Keith also talks about how this speaker is proud to be an American soldier and how he does not want to die while at war but he states "But if dying's asked of me,I'll bear that cross with honor" to show he would die with "honor" and for fighting for freedom (ln 20-21). He just wants to be the best father/husband he can be while being a soldier and make his family and country proud. War is working in the country genre here because country music always have a story behind it and a meaning. They want to tell a story about the good times and bad times and to let people listen to something that they can relate too. Country music, in this song, is telling a story about a soldier that is trying to be there for his family while fighting overseas.
The song “Soldiers and Jesus” by James Otto is a powerful war song. Otto sings about how his grandfather has died from being in war, and it was a sad day for him and his family. Otto says, “He was one of the brave and the proud and the few” (Ln. 3). His grandfather put a lot on the line and served protecting the country. Otto took this to heart. At his grandfather's funeral, the pastor said, “There’s only two people who have ever died for me, laid down their lives just so I could be free” (Ln. 8-9). The entire song is based from this quote the pastor said that day. Soldiers and Jesus have given their lives so we the people, can be free. War has affected Otto on a personal level. Losing his grandfather was a very difficult time for him. He wrote this song to show how proud he is of his grandfather, and all American soldiers. They put their lives on the line everyday and Otto says, “They both went through hell barred crosses and shells, and both got back up again after they fell” (Ln. 10-11). Otto was affected emotionally and respected every veteran after his grandfather died. A few years later, Otto then joined the military himself because he was positively affected from his grandfather’s tragic event.
War can be expressed in many different forms such as in movies, songs ,books etc. A powerful movie that shows the impact of war on ones life is American Sniper. In this movie Chris goes through many tours overseas. He is forced to leave his wife back home while she is pregnant. Him not being there can affect their family life because she is always worrying about him and hoping that he will make it home safe. While Chris was stationed over in Iraq, he witnessed many things that changed who he was as a person. The war caused him to be fearless and he was willing to put his life on the life for his men and his country. When Chris returns home he is not the same person he was when he left. His wife begins to worry about him and feels that he needs to get help. At one point in the movie Chris sits at home looking at a blank t.v screen but yet he can see and hear all of the sounds from when he was in Iraq. This goes to show that war always stays with the individual no matter where they are. Chris witnesses things that he will not be able to forget. At the end of the movie Chris and his family seem to be getting better working things out and Chris goes to get help. Throughout this whole movie Chris as and individual and his family as a whole are both affected by him going to war. His wife has to live knowing that one day Chris may not return home. Chris Kyle's personality allows him to not be scared because this is truly what he wants to do with his life. War can have a powerful affect on ones life and ones family. This movie does a great job of showing how it effects both the individual and their family.
The song I chose is "Crush Resistance" by Haste The Day. The song has a very powerful meaning singing about how "Storm the halls and all of the rooms/ And break resistance/ All who'll choose the narrow road/ Will be the victims." (Ln. 2-5). This means that some people who are not in the war can play themselves as the victims. Even though they are not completely part of the war, individuals can still be affected. It also means that the U.S. as a country can stop the resistance against us,we can defeat what we need to as a country. This has a lot to do with what was talked about in class as we have seen through "The Things They Carried" how war can not only affect the person who is directly involved but also the people at home, worrying about what will happen to their country, or their loved ones overseas. The song represents the power that one and a country need to have to continue with their strength to continue through the war and to bring home our troops as well as keep the strength of the individuals that are working to keep our country as a great place.
The song "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood is a good example of a song that affects individuals. This man fought for our country and it becomes very patriotic. It can inspire people to also fight for our country how he loves this country so much that he was willing to give up time away from his family and friends. I think that his point of view many people see and eventually join the military because of that point of view.
The song ‘We’ve Had Enough’ by Michael Jackson is an example of how war affects the family. In the song there are two children who innocently question why their father/mother has been killed. One being an american child, and one being a boy in a distant village. Both similarly affected by the same war and both too young to understand why this is happening.
The song could be used as an example to show how war has no boundaries. Families on both sides are equally affected. Especially the children on both sides who are too young to understand why their family is being torn apart from this war.
War affects the family, community, country, but most importantly the individual. A song that shows how war can affect an individual is “American Soldier” by Toby Keith in the song it says
“I’m just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to everyone.” (1-4)
In these lines of the song it shows you how being a soldier and having a family can affect the individual by having all these responsibilities and still trying to have a family and keep everything good. Also in the song it says “I can’t call in sick on Mondays when the weekend’s been too strong, I just work straight through the holidays, sometimes all night long.” (12-14) Here these lines in the song show that war affects the individual because if you have a bad day during war you can't just call off and deal with it the next day. You miss holidays and that's something you can’t really make up for. Little things like this affect the individual. Therefore you don’t realize how these things can affect someone unless you were in their spot.
The song I chose was Dress Blues by Zac Brown Band. This song represents how war affects the community and country; but most importantly, the family and individual. This song is about a fallen marine, and the lives he affected with his passing. The song describes the views of the war and how the community and the soldiers around him were affected. The song starts off in the perspective of the fallen marine. He asks what can you see out your window? The question is answered by the narrator the rest of the song. The imagery the speaker is trying to portray is the marine being dead, and seeing nothing from the hearse window. The song goes into detail about who loved the marine, and his plans for the future. In the first chorus, the narrator tells that the marine never expected "bombs in the sand" or to be "sleeping in his dress blues". Which are the formal attire of The United States Marine Corps and shows how the marine died. The second verse is the most meaningful and important part of the song.
"Your wife said this all would be funny
When you came back home in a week
You'd turn twenty-two and we'd celebrate you
In a bar or a tent by the creek
Your baby would just about be here
Your very last tour would be up
But you won't be back. They're all dressing in black
Drinking sweet tea in styrofoam cups" (14-20)
The marine's family never prepared for him to not come home. The second verse makes the reader imagine what the family is going through and how this death is affecting them, because war not only affects the individual, but everyone around them.
In the song "We've Had Enough" by Michael Jackson, two boys question their mother and fathers' deaths. They come from two different areas but are brought together by war. They feel each others pain but still don't understand why it has to happen to them and why God would take away their parents. This song is an example by the emotions and thoughts that both boys share that come from war. They are not from the same family nor area but experience the same internal questions of why war would separate a family's bond.
I chose the movie Dear John which is based off the book by Nicholas Sparks. In this movie John Tyree played by Channing Tatum is a strong young man who chooses the path of the Army. John is usually deployed in some foreign dangerous places that he cant speak of but when he is home he is a typical chill hangout kind of guy. On one of those relaxed summer nights he meets a girl named Savannah that he will quickly fall in love with,and she will do the same. She is away at college and John is away in the Army which is never a good combonation. John sends her letters everyday about how he is doing hoping she is doing well and they keep the love going this way. The being away at war not being able to fully be there for Amanda really gets to John, he looses sleep over it and isn't as focused at his job with her on his mind. The community feels for sweet little Savannah when John is away and hopes for her sake he comes home is one piece. Johns family is always worried about where John is and when he will be back. In the movie they show his parents watching the news and reading that paper for war status avidly. John being away was hard on the love he and Savannah shared but in the end John comes home happy that he had served his country but even happier to be back in Savannahs loving arms knowing he made everybody especially her proud.
A Pink Floyd song "When The Tigers Broke Free" sang by Roger Waters deeply reaches out to him with the death of his father in war, World War Two. The death of his father who he was close was something never forgotten, World War Two meaning more than the world to him afterwards. This song was a heart breaking story being broken down and made into lyrics which is what lead him into taking her song and singing it himself.
"It was dark all around.
There was frost in the ground
When the tigers broke free.
And no one survived
From the Royal Fusiliers Company Z.
They were all left behind,
Most of them dead,
The rest of them dying.
And that's how the High Command
Took my daddy from me."
The tone of these lyrics strong and powerful to any listener or reader reading them. With it being "Dark all around" the darkness describes what he was going through at the time. Any boy would never want to hear of any of this happening to their father, who they've looked up to and the last two sentences in this quote "And that's how the High Command took my daddy from me" wraps the whole song together and makes it even more meaningful than any other part. A familys bond is strong and war can break and tear it apart with the deaths of loved ones being as to how war not only affects them but everyone around you and especially your family member.. or parents.
The movie I chose that shows how was affects the individual is "The Lucky One". The scene in the movie that shows the affect war has on Logan Thibault, played by Zac Efron, is when he comes home from war, and has to recover from post traumatic stress disorder, and survivor guilt. When he comes home from fighting in the war, he stays with his sister and her family. One day while Logan is taking a nap, his sisters son plays a joke on him and jumps on top of him in his sleep, causing Logan to react and jump on top of the little boy and start to strangle him. He then realizes what he is doing, and stops. He then realizes he needs to leave that house before he hurts someone. This movie shows the affect war has on the individual because even when they are home with nothing to worry about, they are still in defense mode and suffer from PTSD, which can drive them away from their families and the people that care about them.
The books I chose are a group of books from American Girl.This particular series is the series about Molly McIntire, a girl who is living during World War II on the American homefront. Her father is off at war being a doctor who is taking care of wounded soldiers. This affects Molly greatly as the series progresses. In the first book, she keeps thinking of how her life was before Dad left. Molly's dad would say things like "Gosh and golly, olly Molly,what have you done today?" , showing his concern and care for Molly. Molly would constantly talk about things were before the war in the other books in the series as well, especially around Christmas time in the third book. Molly's father loved Christmas and always made it fun to celebrate.However, Christmas gets worse and worse until Molly's family gets a surprise package from her father. The reader sees that the individual, Molly, is being affected by the war. The role that the war plays in this series is that it reminds the main character of the past and makes it difficult for Molly to be happy because war took her father away and is making her life difficult.
The song i chose was "The girl" by city and colour. in it, the dude singing is both happy and saddened about the relationship he is in. Not because he doesn't want to be in it, or doesn't like her, but because he feels bad about being in the navy and traveling all around the world without her. War does that to a lot of people, separating from those that they care about most. He vows to do better by her her because that's what she deserves, but that doesn't make him feel any better. in the end, he still thinks she is cheating with no evidence and it eats away at him. tragic.
In the show Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Owen Hunt was an Army Surgeon before he started working at a hospital. Even though this was a minor occurrence in the show, it was something that was easily remembered. Hunt was suffering from PTSD and it was very hard for him to build relationships with other people because he was always on his guard. He had bad dreams, and a lot of the time the PTSD was caused by a revolving fan, reminding him of a helicopter. He was never able to build strong relationships with others and that shows the effect that PTSD can have on someone else and people around/close to them.
The movie Saving Private Ryan shows a change in multiple of the characters throughout the film. The movie is about a squad of army soldiers in World War II showing up on the shores of Germany on DDAY that are sent to recover a missing soldier named Ryan that went missing. You can see the change in the main characters as they have to suffer through fighting and traveling among their enemies. The mood of the characters as the film progresses becomes more and more depressed and hopeless. There is a time when they think they have finally found the missing private but it ended up being someone else. After this their morale was at the lowest point of the movie. When they do finally find the private towards the end of the movie they are surprised he is even still alive. While in a ruined town the German army starts to approach and they hide as well as they can. The battle ensues after some time and several of the group die. The mission had been successful though, and all that had mattered was getting Private Ryan back to his mother because both of his other brothers had died in the war. Not all that were sent on the mission made it back home, but they did what they had to, but you could tell every single one of them had thoroughly been affected and changed. I think it made all of them realize that nobody else but them will understand the struggles they went through, and gave them a perspective in life that helping others and doing what you need to do is one of the most important things in life.
I choose the song "War" sung by Edwin Starr hits around the Vietnam War era and focuses on the anti-war feeling America had during that time. This song talks about what war stands for and what it does to people, to families and how they are hurt by it.
"Oh war, is an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction, then destruction who wants to die
Oh, war has shattered many young man's dreams
Made him disabled bitter and mean
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days
War can't give life it can only take it away, ooh"
In these lyrics, the speaker talks about how the Vietnam war has caused unrest in the younger people of America. He then exemplifies that war sends them to die. The speaker then talks about the affects of war on the individual soldier. When the men were drafted, they were forced to go into war, any dreams of becoming a doctor or a lawyer were taken away. And to make matters worse, many men were injured during the war both mentally and physically. It took whatever positive outlook on life and diminished it, it made them bitter and mean. When talking about the physical injury, many soldiers came home as amputees, in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. War took their lives from them mainly their youth. I choose this song because it talks about the affect of the war on the individual, and how it changed them forever.
I chose the movie Dear John which is based off the book by Nicholas Sparks. In the movie John Tyree, the main character is played by Channing Tatum. John is a young man that chooses to be in the Army. John is deployed in foreign dangerous places that he cant speak of. In the summer he meets Savannah, Savannah is a girl John met and quickly fell in love with. The hard part about them being together is that Savannah is away at college and John is away in the army but somehow it ends up working out. John sends her letters everyday about how he is doing hoping she is doing ok and they keep the love going this way. But it ends up getting hard for John, he wishes he could see savannah more than he does and care for her. He starts to lose sleep over it and isn't fully focused on the Army like he should be. John being away was hard on the love he and Savannah shared but in the end John comes home happy. He is proud of what he has done for his country but even happier he was able to make Savannah proud and be with her again.
I chose the song Taro by Alt-J which is based off Gerda Taro, a war photojournalist in the late 40's/early 50's. She died in her line of work when a tank collided into the side of a car she was riding on. The other important name in this song was Gerda's romantic interest, and colleague, Robert Capa. During the First Indochina War, Capa retreated from his Jeep in a hostile war zone to take pictures. He stepped on a landmine however, which blew apart his left leg. He was taken to a medical station where he died with his camera in his hand. The lines "Do not spray into eyes - I have sprayed you into my eyes." give a detail the affects that war holds and how it impacts the individual If you take into account what Taro and Capa did as a living, taking photos of war, and how dangerous that is to do, then add in the fact that Taro died while doing that job years before Capa did, you will get the meaning. Basically, to me at least, Taro's death is the warning to Capa of how dangerous their job can be, "Do not spray into eyes". But, Capa ignores this and even knowing full well, he still continues to do that job until it kills him as well, "I have sprayed you into my eyes". It really gives sight into how, even though not fighting, people are affected and how intense and unforgiving war can be but how its still a thing people go through and are effected by in their everyday life. And there are scenarios not just from those fighting it but all kinds of people being in all aspects of profession.
The song "Letters Home From The Garden Of Stone" is a good example on how war affects an individual. The song is about the struggles that the narrator has during the war and at home even though he is not there. in war, he has to worry about himself and his buddy making sure that they do not get hurt. But, on the outside the narrator does not want to think about his family because it is too hard. The narrator only wants them to know that he is doing fine. The narrator questions his mother if he is right for what he is doing. The last line "Cause I won't know the man that kills meAnd I don't know these men I kill We all wind up on the same side Cause ain't none of us doin' God's will" explains that the narrator really does not know if he is doing the right thing but he knows that he is not doing what God wants him to do. War affects the person individually in many ways including his family, but also the choices he has to make and if what he is doing is right.
The song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen voices the impact of war on family and the individual. The song starts out describing the start of a steel yard in Youngstown, Ohio. This steel yard built the supplies for multiple wars including the Civil War, all the way through World War II.
"Well my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two
Now the yard's just scrap and rubble
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do." "
War demands a great quantity of supplies, which put thousands of people to work. Finally when the war ended, and the supplies were no longer needed, the steel yard was shut down and put people out of work. The speaker's family in this song had worked in the steel yard for generations and generations, and the owners, "Did what Hitler couldn't do" by closing down the steel yard and ending the creation of supplies.
"When I die I don't want no part of heaven
I would not do heaven's work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell"
The speaker describes how war has affected him as an individual. This type of work was all that the speaker knew. When he dies, he wishes to continue what he knows, by avoiding heaven and working with hot, fiery furnaces in hell. The war made this individual wish to spend eternity in the depths of hell.
The Thin Red Line was the movies that showed the impact of war, not initially but over time. I never liked The Thin Red line as a child because i didn't understand the message. Which was how war can strip a man of his humanity. Stuck in a phase of blood and guts i saw the main protagonist as a cowardly lunatic for deserting the military (during WW2 in the South Pacific) and often having self dialogue sounding similar to "I couldn't handle it. That isn't what i signed up for. These children are saving me. This island is healing me.". The blood lusting twelve year old me couldn't understand why a soldier would run away from battle. He is suppose to stay and fight to the last ounce of energy, never lose morale, resist to the last bullet and after he ran out he would charge into battle bayonet erect. But instead you see a hurting main protagonist scared and being taken back to a military establishment in cuffs by MP's; because he wanted to live in an island with the natives instead of storm heavily fortified Japanese beaches. I called him crazy but now five years later it was me who was crazy. Finding peace in the simple life of fishing, story telling, a sense of honor when he is adopt into a tribe of Native Islanders and i see now why he wouldn't want to go back. Where is the glory in death? Does anyone shake your hand and say "Thank you for giving your life"? No a man dies, no one can thank him or reward him, his family is crushed and for what, Sand? An island with no natural resources. Watching this man socially be branded as a coward is tough because i would do the same in his situation. That was the moment that i understood the difference between John Wayne and real life.
I chose the song “Been Here All Along” from Hannah Montana’s album, “Hannah Montana Forever”. The song premiered on the sixth episode of season four of Hannah Montana. The song is about how the speaker believes their guardian has always been with them, either in physical sense or a spiritual sense. I believe this song shows the true hope that contact with someone overseas will bring to a person. The song doesn’t directly state that the ‘you’ addressed in the song is a family member fighting overseas, but the context of the episode offers this outlook on the song. The speaker says that they “...keep you in my heart and in my prayers” (in. 29). The speaker keeps hope that one day they will be reunited. The speaker reminisces on memories they spent with the guardian figure, listening to a band playing on Independence Day, walking to school together, and being taught to drive. This figure was very important to the speaker, and they just want to see them again. There is also a sense of unity between the speaker and the guardian figure, when the speaker says, “If there an ocean lies between us/ I’ll send a message across the sea… I believe that you were listening to my song” (lns. 9-10, 13). The speaker feels connected with the guardian figure even though they are physically separated. The distance is almost bringing the two together, as the anticipation for when the guardian figure returns is building up every day.
“The Lucky One” is a book written by Nicholas Sparks and later adapted into a movie. The plot consists of a soldier, Logan Tibolt, stationed overseas who finds this photograph of a woman and this picture ends up coincidentally saving his life numerous times so he decides to find her and thank her for saving his life. Even though the main plot of the story is centered around the romance, I mean it is Nicholas Sparks, there is still a small amount of after-war adaption. When Logan returns home from war he lives with his sister and her son. Her son and friend were playing Call Of Duty of some war game on an entertainment device and the gunshots triggered a bad reaction in Logan. He ducked for cover in fear the gunshots were for him. In another scene, the son and friend were sneaking up on Logan when he was sleeping and Logan attacked him with no intention to. Logan then ends up leaving the family to search for the girl. He walks hundreds of miles to North Carolina where he works as a dog trainer on the woman’s ranch. He is very disciplined which originally got him the dog, which was most likely learned during the war. Individuals do change based on war, and “The Lucky One” is a great representation of that.
I chose the song "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood because i thought it was an excellent example of how war affects people all around the world. War affects people mentally and emotionally, it is a very serious situation to deal with for citizens and their family. In the song God Bless the U.S.A. it talks about how you should be proud to be an American and how you should love everything about being an American, "And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me and I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today 'cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A"(lines 9-17) It also talks about how he wont forget the men who died and who gave the right to him, it relates to war and the men who are serving for us. War can have many different affects on people you just have to find ways to get through it.
The song “Devils and Dust” by Bruce Springsteen shows how war affects the individual. In the song, the speaker talks about how war has caused him to have a pretty major conflict within himself. He wants to stand for what he believes in, but war and fear has caused him to lose faith and to do things he wouldn’t normally do. The song also talks about how he is confused and a feels little guilty, as it implies that his friend died in battle and how he had to leave him on the battlefield. He is just trying to survive the circumstance he is in because the lyrics directly say “I got God on my side/ And I’m just trying to survive/ What if what you do to survive/ Kills the things you love/ Fear’s a powerful thing baby/ It can turn your heart black you can trust/ It’ll take your God filled soul/ And fill it with devils and dust” (lines 9-16) which implies that he is only doing what he has to because he is afraid. The song is talking how war changed him, and how it essentially stripped him of his beliefs, not only religiously, but also his faith in himself. He says “I’ve got my finger on the trigger/ And tonight faith just ain’t enough/ When I look inside my heart/ There’s just devils and dust” (lines 39-42) showing that he is searching for an answer somewhere to tell him what to do, whether it’s his conscience or God, but nothing can help him. This is an example of how war changed his personality and his confidence. It made him feel lost and unable to even turn to a higher power because of the tragedy that he saw in all aspects of war, both losing his friend and internally debating if he would be okay with taking the life of another in the extreme measure to survive.
War affects families greatly, kids can grow up without a parent, and widows are created. I choose the movie We Were Soldiers, a movie based on the war in Vietnam. The main character Lt. Col. Hal Moore was a family man, he had a wife and five kids and the youngest being a daughter who asks him about the war which he wanted to preserve her innocence and was able to put the concept of war delicately to her. That scene and another scene where one of Moore's men 2nd Lt. Jack Geoghegan had just had a baby girl, they both were in a church absorbing the moment and Geoghegan was wearing a bracelet with his daughter's name on it. Moore noticed it, which was out of uniform, Geoghegan immediately apologized and began to take it off but as he was about to take it off Moore said "You keep that right where it is and that's an order" showing Moore valued family and how important it was. This moment brought heavy feelings to the audience as it created an emotional bonding between the two. These two scenes were a perfect entrapment of how family was involved and effected by war.
In Creedence Clearwater Revival's song "Fortunate Song" Fogerty speaks about how the Vietnam war was fought by poor boys that were forced into the war while the connected rich people didn't have to go. This connects to the poem, "A Rich Man's War" that we read in class. The song also shows that war particularly in this case the Vietnam war can have a profound affect on the family of those who have to go to war because rich connected people can make sure their son didn't go to war. This can be seen in lines such as, "I ain't senators son" "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand" and "I ain't no millionaire's son". These quotes show that the speaker points out the fact that the rich people get out of war but the majority of America is not that fortunate and is forced to go war which has an impact on the family that these boys left behind and has an impact on themselves because often times people were drafted at a very young age.
I chose the song “one” by Metallica. this song is one of the most chilling songs i have listened too.It’s about how he feels after war. The songs shows how war affects the individual. “Now that the war is through with me/I'm waking up, I cannot see/That there is not much left of me/Nothing is real but pain now” (lines 5-8). These lines show that the soldier that fought in war doesn't know what to do now that he is out of war. he also talks about how he wishes for death after war. “Hold my breath as I wish for death/ Oh please, God, wake me” (lines 9-10). This also shows how it affects family when they have a loved one in the war and they are scared they could never see them again, but also how the soldier acts after war. The person can change and have a completely different view of the world around them.
Music is a genre heavily influenced by events happening in the world. Iron Maiden has a song called "Run to the Hills", and it is about the white men coming from Europe and into America in order to take over the land and claim it as their own. It is a song of how the explorers pillaged and forced the indians out of their homes, murdering anyone in their way in order to conquer and causing a "war" for the land between them. This song can be shown to affect the individual because each native american was impacted as their world was brutally torn apart by people coming into their territory. They had their lives turned around, as they now could not worship how they wanted, could not praise the land the way they wanted, and instead had to allow the settlers to ruin their land and force religion upon them. The war that occurred between them was an example of the individual being effected.
The movie "American Sniper" shows the different ways that war impacts an individual. The main character, Chris Kyle, was a United States Navy Seal and this movie was based off of the true events of his life. This story was first told in his autobiography by the same name, and later transformed into a film. This movie shows his journey from joining the Navy and the trials he had to surpass, to his time in combat, and finally once he returns home to the United States. War impacted him both positively and negatively. He became a strong leader and helped save the lives of many U.S. soldiers throughout the war. Also he seemed to become more responsible and hardworking due to the lessons the military taught him. Furthermore, he became known as the best and most lethal sniper in U.S. Military history. Some negative things that happened were even when he finally returned home, his mind was still thinking about combat and little things would set him off. At one point in the movie he is at a child's birthday party and almost kills a dog when it starts biting one of the kids. This shows how he is still wired for battle and automatically goes into this mode where he feels like it is a life or death situation, when in reality the dog was probably just playing around and just got a little rough. The war really changed who he was, both in a positive and negative manner.
In the movie American Sniper the hero Chris Kyle has to face all of the hardships that come with taking a life and trying to surive in the military. He was a very highly decorated soldier but he was a forced to personally kill dozens of people. While he has a usually calm and cool appearence it is apparent that mentally at least Kyle wasn't all there. He was forced to kill children to save his squad and had to watch as friends and loved ones died because he couldn't save them fast enough. Kyle shows how war can change an individual.
I'm going to choose the movie Top Gun as my reference to a war movie. In top gun, Maverick (Tom Cruise), Goose and others are training and fighting to be the best fighter pilots. This movie shows how war and being in service affects the individual and others around them. One example from this movie is when Maverick and Goose are in the same plane together and when Maverick is flying it, something goes wrong and the plane nearly goes into flames leading them to land in the water leaving his best friend Goose dead. Maverick was messed up psychologically for a long time because he blamed himself for killing Goose even though the plane malfunctioned. He also was of course upset because Goose was his best friend. This goes back to Yellow Birds when Bart lost Murph. Murph was Barts best friend. In the service, you never know what the future holds for you or your best friends. Another example from Top Gun is in the beginning scene where they are in the air training and practicing when one guy who was losing his mind in fear ends up quitting the service and going home. This is an example of fear on the individual.
In the movie lone survivor everyone died except mark wahlberg the main character. They had to take out people from Iraq and they were on a secret mission. Unfortunately it back fired on them when they found a shepard. It reminds me of the the things they carried because of war and deaths that occur. Bad things happened in the movie and so does the book. That battle will definitely scar wahlberg for the rest of his life. War is something you cannot just brush off and forget about especially if bad things happen just like it did in Lone Survivor and the things they carried. Watching your friends die and get shot or killed in some other way has to be one of the most heartbreaking things ever. When mark lost his friends that reminded me of kiowa's death with the landmine incident and they had to watch their friend die.
In the movie Dear John, John enlists in the Army at a young age. He is deployed and has to spend time away from the love of his life, Savanna. He writes her letters every day, letting her know that he is okay and that he loves her. it is hard on them to keep their relationship in tact because he is far away and can not tell her a lot of information. Throughout the whole movie they struggle with this but they find a way to make their relationship work no matter how hard it is for them.
I did not choose a book, poem, or movie. Recently I have been talking to my dad and his friends about what we recently have been learning in school. As I was sharing I was able to learn about a friends kid who was in the army. As he was in the army he was able to serve two tours in Iraq. He was a leader in one of his groups in Iraq. When he returned home the hardest part was not trying to adjust back to the normal life, but he said that it was the thoughts at night that got to him. He explained that it was hard to cope with that since he was a leader, all of his buddies would risk their own lives for him. How it was unfair that he is still under the age of 27 knowing that half of his friend risked their lives and have passed away for his sake in Iraq. As I heard this story my heart went out to him. I never thought about the men who had other men risk their lives for them because they were a leader. This did affect the individual because he said it still haunts him til this day about everything that happened. Knowing my friends would risk their lives and pass away for me would be very difficult, especially the people who are just 18 and 19. This definitely affects the individual and alters the way they live for now on. This would definitely make the individual more grateful with life.
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