Tim O’Brien, having experienced the Vietnam War, addresses the violence of war and its hellish, inherent effects on the people’s mind through portraying Paul Berlin as fearful and mad. Throughout the story, Paul was always seen expressing fear. At the beginning of the story, as Paul and the other soldiers were on their way to the ocean, he became too fearful and started regressing Paul pretended he was not a soldier, but an innocent boy doing a campfire while chatting with his father (page 131). Another example would be the time Paul started counting his steps and pretending they are dollar bills to fight fear, which shows he was fearful (page 134). The fact that Paul regresses and starts counting his steps, which shows before entering the war he was carefree and wasn’t used to fear, explains how the violent war poses such inherent effects on Paul’s mind by turning him from such a carefree, to a fearful person.
When Lavender is killed Cross believes it is all his fault because he was too busy daydreaming about his love for Martha. The author says, “…First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched down at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters. Then he burned the two photographs” (723). He becomes so angry at himself that he burns all the letters and pictures that he has received from Martha. He allows himself to be distracted by his unbearable thoughts of Martha and he faces the idea that he loves the thought of Martha more than his men.
Owen then goes on to describe how the mental trauma becomes worse. “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” This tells us the soldiers mind is haunted by the sight of his fellow soldier dying from the horrible gas. He is dramatizing this scene some time after it occurred, and his dreams are still filled with this unforgettable sight, which becomes a regular nightmare for the soldier. Wilfred Owen wrote this to shock the reader, and to make the reader think about what
Experiences such as the loss of close relationships, the horrors of bloodshed and death and the changes in men for the worst can make any once normal man insane, just has it made Robert Ross insane. Throughout the novel we follow Robert Ross as he not only loses those he loves, but also with time, his own very mind. In the novel, The Wars, Robert Ross holds his relationship with his family dearly, but things quickly change for the worse as the war in the battlefront transitions into the war with himself. During the beginning of the novel Robert Ross lives a content and tolerable life with his beloved sister Rowena, his stern Mother Mrs. Ross, his lenient Father Mr. Ross and his brother. Roberts’s relationship with Rowena is one that he holds dearly.
Haie is not doing well. Paul is pretty nervous about being back from his leave. He feels something bad is going to happen. Coming so close to death after a bomb landing right next him he finds a soldier suffering in pain. He calmed the soldier to fight for his life but Paul know he won’t last very long.
“At one point, I remember, we paused over a picture of Ted Lavender, and after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death. It was something that would never go away, he said quietly, and I nodded and told him I felt the same about certain things” (Obrien 27). Another theme is fear of shame as motivation. Tim O’Brien experiences this himself when he is on the boat with Elroy. He decides to go to war because he is ashamed of running from it.
In the beginning of the story, Brother recounts the day Doodle was born, saying that he was a disappointment as soon as he entered the world. The narrator was not satisfied with his brother, which resulted in the horrible things he thought about him. Brother said that “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable…” As a result, the narrator enjoyed torturing Doodle, threatening to abandon him multiple times. He even took Doodle to see the casket that was built for him, and forced him to touch it. The narrator basked in the control he had over his brother.
My View Of Sociology and Suicide Our fourteen year old son has struggled with severe depression and made an attempt to take his own life. We have him hospitalized in a long-term mental hospital. It has been the hardest time for our family as we try hard to understand why that he is suicidal The theorist that best supports my view of Sociology is Emile Durkheim, because his theory has opened my eyes to why suicide occurs, therefore, it has helped me to understand my son’s reasoning for his suicidal ideation. My deployment to Iraq had a toxic like effect on our son. He watched as I left and almost immediately, like the flip of a switch, was overcome with fear.
He and Linda discuss their sons, whom Willy is quite disappointed in, especially Biff. In an effort to quell their father, Biff and Happy, their sons, decide to try and start a business together. Both propositions fail; Biff’s attempt at a loan is met with failure and Willy’s discussion with his boss goes awry. The three have dinner at a local restaurant, where Biff plans to tell his dad of his blunder. When Willy arrives, he refuses to listen to Biff, which angers him.
The soldiers that were fighting at war were dehumanised in many ways. Owen portrays this in his poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. During the war, soldiers were forced to go and fight for their country inorder to be labelled as ‘real men’. Due to the mistreatment, other teenage boys were suffering as they knew their time would eventually come to face their doom. “what passing-bells… for these who witnessed it”.