Monday, January 25, 2010

The Things They Carried- Favorite Chapter

The chapter "How to tell a true war story" was the most engaging in my opinion. This chapter represents what is unknown to those who didn't experience the war. The stories that the soldiers tell whether true real or fabricated give insight to the intensity of war. Even when things are calm and there isn't any violent "war-like" situations, there is always something stirring under the surface. Although heartbreaking, and disturbing to read the part about Rat torturing the baby buffalo says a lot about the condition he was in. To engage in something so pointless and cruel out of frustration says a lot about what he was feeling.

So far, this book has opened my eyes to war. I'm not sure if things like the buffalo torture or Mary Anne coming to Vietnam are plausible today (or even true) but seeing how the men responded to what was going on around them was interesting. Even in such a mentally disturbing atmosphere there was a sense of normalcy. " Though it's odd, you're never more alive than when your almost dead", is a quote from my favorite chapter. The soldiers realized that at any moment they could be gone like Curt or Ted Lavender. I thought that it was sad that as much as they could repeat a story and try to make people understand, the reality was that no two soldiers experience of war was alike.

2 comments:

Jessica said...

This book has also opened my eyes up to alot and to knowing alot of stuff i didnt know, i thought that the quote was stood out as well, it woould be hard to have to deal with the struggles they di and having to carry the burden they they felt they all carried in their own ways.

Kristina said...

This chapter really made me think about what was really going through my grandpa's head when he told me his old war stories. I never thought that there may be a deeper meaning behind his words.