The Things They Carried: week 2
Post your second response by Tuesday, February 13. Throughout the week, engage in discussion by replying to a combination of six posts and replies.
The Road: Week 3
Post your second response by Tuesday, February 20. Throughout the week, engage in discussion by replying to a combination of six posts and replies.
The chapter “The Man I Killed” really confused me at first with the third person point of view and all of the unconnected thoughts within that piece. I really like the quote “He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.” He killed this man with a grenade and then went and looked at him and saw what he had done to him. That just blows my mind because I would never be able to go look at someone I had just blown up. And then the way he describes the body, he isn’t gory about it but more descriptive. In “Speaking of Courage” it really confuses me with the perspective. I’m not sure if Norman is talking from first or third because it seems like it switches back and forth. But the story really gets to me because it is about how he tried saving a friend but didn’t have the “courage” to finish the job and get him out. “He released Kiowa’s boot and watched it slide away.” He saved himself instead but lost a close friend. Because of that the mood of the squad had changed because Kiowa had kept them intact. But I’m confused on how exactly he died. Was he stunned from the shell and then drowned in the water and crap or was he already dead when he was sinking deeper? Norman was able to pull himself out.
ReplyDeleteThe description that they gave of the man was kinda descriptive, like very. But it gives you a better feeling of what it is like being in war. I agree with you on the point of view, the book seems like this throughout the whole story, you don't know what perspective you are looking at these events from.
DeleteAgreed, it seems to keep going back and forth between point of views.
DeleteYes, very.
DeleteStarting off with they dentist Curt Lemon was scared to go see them, he ended up passing out I think he felt embarrassed about doing that then having to relate to be as scared as he did going to the dentist you can some what feel how scared he was. Going onto the next chapter Mark Fossie had his girlfriend because he missed her and they guys where saying how much fun it would be to have a girl around her name was Mary Anne and the guys seem to enjoy her commenting they say she's turning into a little native and she loved to learn everything they where doing. But later they find out she's been doing something with they Greenies. So one night Rat had said he couldn't sleep so he watched her get up and leave with six shadows. Fossie was hurt, you could understand why he was really sad but also he was angry because he couldn't believe that his middle school sweetheart would do something like this. I like how Rat and Fossie are in this together they aren't really telling anyone whats going on but the guys know something is up. There are a lot of things that happen in this book that happen in real life.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think that Curt Lemon was scared because he passed out but I don't understand why he went back to get a good tooth pulled out and then had satisfaction. Why do you think he did it?
DeleteIn the chapter "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bond," Mary Anne Bell fully embraces Vietnamese culture, while Mark Fossie ignores it. “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” gives me the idea of women as beings who serve only to offer comfort to men. Fossie assumes that if he brings Mary Anne over to the camp then he and his men will gain her comfort and companionship and she will be unaffected by her surroundings. This fantasy is immediately shattered as Mary Anne is instantly curious about the things surrounding her such as the language, the locals, the ammunition, and the war itself. She becomes empowered by war. The influence of the war kinda forces her to make plans for future travel and to attempt to steer her path away from the life she earlier considered desirable. Although her soldier boyfriend brings her over to be a comfort while he is in the midst of war, in the end, Mary Anne’s surroundings makes her hungrier for adventure than he is.
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