He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (103). Cross was ashamed; he is a leader and was not there for his soldiers. Now he has the burden for a soldier that died at his hands. The last personality trait that First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross demonstrates is bravery.
When his soldier Ted Lavender died all he could do was cry and blame himself for his death, “He felt shame. He hated himself.... this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of war.” (O’Brien, The Things They Carried 42) but he didn’t let that very heart-wrenching emotion of feeling responsible for someone’s death cloud his judgment or cause him to take his job lightly. Towards the end of the story he stepped up, over-coming the guilt he felt after the death of Ted Lavender. Learning from his mistakes and changing the way he lead his platoon “He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself.” (O’Brien, The Things They Carried 100) He showed courage while seeing the bigger picture telling himself “that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead.” (O’Brien, The Things They Carried 101) Masculinity is very apparent in this platoon.
The cream of British manhood was shattered in less than 6 hours.” This suggests that he wanted Haig to be punished due to his loss of so many of his own men, but also due to his own resentment towards him. Letters from the home front were censored letters soldiers could not express their true feelings about the war and the generals, however the soldier in source B2 could be honest as he was writing in his diary, and these are his
Nick Gregory English 10b Mrs. Phillips 2/14/2012 All Quiet on the Western Front: A Brief Summary and Analysis In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of a group of youths through Paul Baumer, as he comes to realize the horrific reality involved with serving his homeland of Germany during World War One. Paul discovers many negativities of war and this changes him forever. Many aspects of war caused soldiers to develop serious conditions forever altering their lives. Paul watches his friends fight and die for their country. There was a serious story told about the character Paul Baumer and his friends in World War One.
Uncle Andy made Arnold feel abandoned and hurt when he stated “Not a tear in his eye”, this statement proves to show that his uncle did not care for him at the time and did not help comfort him. The community within this story also intertwines with this theme. It is shown when a member of the area, Sullivan, expresses his feeling through the following “He don’t give a hoot, is that how it goes?” Each word that comes from his mouth pierces Arnold’s heart and has him left in the dust. Finally the abandonment of his mother was what hurt him the most. People argue that the perspective that your family has on you, is what matters to a person the most.
He is overcome with grief as he vividly recalls the flashbacks that he faces when visiting the Memorial for the first time. He is confronted by raw emotion and is determined not let his thoughts consume him. He fights back the tears, “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No Tears (Komunyakaa 3,4)” that he promised himself not to allow anyone to see. While a simple goal it was not one that is easy to achieve. Although he was a Veteran of the Vietnam War, his grief and pain are reminiscent of most war veterans.
The novel shoes the misery of war and the everlasting effects it has on the soldiers; even Baumer cannot escape those circumstances. Before the war Baumer was a nice, empathetic, and gentle person but the war has him almost disconnected from his feelings. He becomes numb to the evil surrounding him. His friends are quickly lost to the cruelty and horror of war. Some died a quick death while others died a slow, painful death, showing the reality of war.
Little did they know Kemmerich’s death marked the beginning of lost hope. Paul becomes faint, all at once and he could not do anything more. This is expressed by Erich Maria Remarque on page 31 of the novel. This is the response Paul displays over the news of his fellow country men’s death. Paul’s display of grief is emotionally charged, but much different than his first display of his feelings on the war where everyone was full of pride and arrogance.
The way Komunyakaa illustrates the action by saying he lost his arm in the wall it’s like saying the wall is the war and the event where the other veteran lost his arm. He is lost and confused in a mixture of feelings, to my perception he does not know better said he cannot assimilate what has happened. He cannot help but to feel depressed and wretched when he sees all those names. Like he says in lines there and four “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: no tears.” he is wretched by then fact that all those names on the memorial represent many of his lost comrades. Remembering each so vividly, that he feels part of the wall himself when he says “I’m stone.
The ego explained that the reason for his resentment was that adultery is looked down upon greatly in his culture, and it is something to be ashamed of. Also the status of the grandfather is unknown, because he went missing as a prisoner during a war. I was not sure whether or not to put the grandfather as deceased; my consenting consultant seemed hesitant and sensitive to the topic. The ego’s father side of the family was relatively small and simple besides the half sibling situation and the grandfather situation. I was shown many photographs of the father’s side of the family and it was truly fascinating hearing the stories behind his family and culture.