House to House, written by David Bellavia, is a memoir about his tour in Iraq, specifically the second battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Born in New York, the staff sergeant joined the war with the desire to be the guy who would play John Wayne in charge of the machine-gun nests as shown in the movies. Over the course of this novel, Bellavia successfully emulates John Wayne’s traits as a hero. He demonstrates valor and instinct leadership as he leads his third platoon into kill zones constructed by Fallujah’s militant insurgents. He uses his past relationship with his dad and the failure to live up to his standards to drive him to gain respect and satisfy his own status as a man tested by trials of combat. Bellavia exposes his readers …show more content…
Bellavia is writing from his first hand experiences. He exists and fights in the most unbearable conditions. He has the ability to easily shape his reader’s perception on war through his opinions and stories he chooses to apprise. Much of the diction Bellavia includes in his writing plays a huge role in controlling the way his reader feel towards certain subjects. For example in the beginning of the novel he writes, “I am a Christian, but my time in Iraq has convinced me that God doesn't want to hear from me anymore. I've done things that He can never forgive. I've done them consciously. I've made decisions I must live with for years to come. I am not a victim. In each instance, I heard my conscience call for restraint, I told it to shut the fuck up and let me handle my business. All the sins I've committed, I've done with one objective: to keep my men alive (44).” Through the use of diction many readers can easily formulate the idea that war forces men to partake in terrible actions and is all bad. He phrases his statement as if god can never forgive him for all the killing and destruction he has committed. These men have …show more content…
Bellavia has a particular style of writing where he has a tendency to tell two stories at a time. As he is explaining a scene that took place in combat he pauses quite often and refers to the past to give emphasis on the story. In contrast to Evan Wright’s, “Generation Kill”, Bellaria’s novel felt more personal and intimate. Evan Wright was a journalist who’s job was to observe and write down those observations. He was present for some time in combat and got to experience what it was like, but he wasn't one of the men that he spoke so highly of. Wright was an outsider coming inside so his opinions were condemnatory which played a huge role in influencing the reader’s opinion. Whereas in Bellavia’s novel as readers we got to be exposed to his thought process and the liability that comes with leading a platoon. When Bellavia speaks on the episodes that took place combat, he is very graphic. In chapter 14 he recounts the conditions in which him and his men are currently in, “Gashes adorn every face. Our hands are skinned raw from climbing through the debris of all these ruined buildings. Between the putrefying corpses, the flies, and feral dogs, Fallujah teems with gut-liquefying bacteria…Our joints ache, our muscles protest every move (192).” Bellavia sets a very intimate and illustrative tone in his writing as shown in the previous quote. He speaks
...his novel believe war to be the most disgusting and most distructful thing in the universe, the Tralfamadorians enlighten one human on their thoughts of war. They don’t feel Billy should put as much time as he does into dwelling on something like war that is inevitable. They ignore it and rate it relatively low on a scale of importance. From World War II, Billy is left with many vivid memories that he would rather not have. He has first handedly seen what he thinks is the most evil thing in the universe. He is frequently haunted by images of his experiences. But maybe if he would just tell himself that there is nothing he can do about war, maybe if he just looked the other way and ignored it, maybe then he would be happy and in a state of peace like the Tralfamadorians.
...display how the average citizen would see war for the first time. Colonel Kelly sees her as “vacant and almost idiotic. She had taken refuge in deaf, blind, unfeeling shock” (Vonnegut 100). To a citizen who even understands the war process, war is still heinous and dubiously justified when viewed first hand. The man who seems to have coldly just given away her son’s life without the same instinct as her has participated in this heinous wartime atrocity for so long, but it only affect her now because she cannot conceive of the reality of it until it is personally in front of her. That indicates a less complete political education of war even among those who war may have affected their entire lives. The closeness and the casualties of this “game” will affect her the most because she has to watch every move that previously could have been kept impartial and unviewed.
Therefore through evaluating and comparing each author’s work we will see how each is utilizing this intermingling effect between conflict and innocence to reveal how the horrors of war can affect individuals mentally. To relate how the authors accomplish this effect we will observe how each utilizes specific devices such as scenarios and specific language to engage the reader into viewing a character as more than a construct but rather a multifaceted complex individual that has flaws and mental issues much like many of us.
But in truth a true war story will stir great feelings, but may not contain a moral at all. In fact, a true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing th...
Was Eleanor mentally healthy or unhealthy? In the book The Haunting of Hill House, written by Shirley Jackson, the main character was Eleanor Vance. She was a 32-year-old woman that showed signs that she was mentally unhealthy. After receiving an invitation to stay at Hill House from Dr. Montague, a stranger to Eleanor and the rest of the invited guests, she made the carefree decision to accept the invitation to the comfortable country home (2). She felt as though Hill House was her calling, even though she had never laid eyes on the property and had no knowledge of what to expect. There was no way to know if the doctor could have been a psychopath that wanted Eleanor for some crazed morbid “experiment,” yet she had
In the excerpt “The War Escalates” by Paul Boyer, the author clearly shows how war influences the self by utilizing the descriptive literary devices tone and mood. Throughout the excerpt, Boyer informs the audience on the situation of the Vietnamese war. Boyer mentions the experience of a nurse who worked in the military aiding injured soldiers. Using the voice of the nurse, Boyer includes her experience, “‘We really saw the worse of it, because the nurses never saw any of the victories. If the Army took a hill, we saw what was left over. I remember one boy who was brought in missing two legs and an arm, and his eyes were bandaged. A general came in later and pinned a Purple Heart on the boy’s hospital gown, and the horror of it all was so amazing that it just took my breath away. You thought, was this supposed to be an even trade?’” (Boyer 2). The author expresses his tone by adding the memoir of the nurse. The nurses of the Vietnam War suffered after effects of the sights of war. This particular memoir exhibits the change in the nurse’s mentality after having to watch the horrors of injured people and deaths. The post-war devastations negatively affected ...
In Slaughterhouse Five the reader is encouraged to show contempt for war and to abandon all hopes of thinking war as a place where deeds of heroism are and bravery are performed. A character in the novel, Roland Weary, seems to think the very opposite of what Vonnegut is trying to communicate in the novel. He sees war as an adventure, a time for exploration, not as a time where horrible atrocities are committed and where massacres take place. Even army personnel turn on each other. Billy Pilgrim who is being beaten by Roland Weary is saved from death, ironically, when a German patrol finds him. Another bunch of characters that seem to ‘mistake’ war as something fun is the English officers at the POW camp. In the words of Vonnegut, “they made war look stylish, reasonable and fun.” Another interesting thing that Vonnegut does is that he frequently uses the phrase “So it goes,” after every death or mention of dying in the novel. He uses the phrase very often, and after a certain amount of time, it begins to remind the reader that the reader is powerless to stop all the killing that is going on.
“You may know principle, Sam, but I know war,” (Collier and Collier 21). Mr. Meeker is trying to tell Sam about the brutality of war because he has been through war and knows the actuality and Sam does not. Sam wants to fight, but does not know the reality of war where as Mr. Meeker does and does not want to fight. “After a few things like that you don’t give a damn for anybody but your friends anymore,” (Collier and Collier 173). Sam’s views on war have changed after he finally experiences a battle for the first time. Sam realizes that his father was right and that, “War turns men into animals,” (Collier and Collier 173). Many people still today face the grim brutal realities of war after being misled about the glories of
He states, "The myth of war is essential to justify the horrible sacrifices required in war, the destruction and death of innocents. It can be formed only by denying the reality of war, by turning the lies, the manipulation, the inhumanness of war into the heroic ideal" (26). Chris Hedges tries to get the point across that in war nothing is as it seems.... ... middle of paper ...
What is war really like all together? What makes war so horrifying? The horror of war is throughout All Quiet on the Western Front. For example Albert says the war has ruined them as young people and Paul agrees. “Albert expresses it: "The war has ruined us for everything." He is right. We are not youth any longer. We don't want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war.” (Remarque, Chapter 5). The way the war has affected each soldier has changed them forever. The boys who were once school boys will never be the same.
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times go by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings, especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital. Training camp was the first actuality of what war was going to be like for the men. They thought that it would be fun, and they could take pride in defending their country. Their teacher, Kantorek, told them that they should all enroll in the war. Because of this, almost all of the men in the class enrolled. It was in training camp that they met their cruel corporal, Himelstoss.&nbs most by him. They have to lie down in the mud and practice shooting and jumping up. Also, these three men must remake Himelstoss’ bed fourteen times, until it is perfect. Himelstoss puts the young men through so much horror that they yearn for their revenge. Himelstoss is humiliated when he goes to tell on Tjaden, and Tjaden only receives an easy punishment. Training camp is as death and destruction. Training camp is just a glimpse of what war really is. The men do not gain full knowledge of war until they go to the front line. The front line is the most brutal part of the war. The front line is the place in which the battles are fought. Battles can only be described in one word- chaos. Men are running around trying to protect themselves while shooting is in the trench with an unknown man from the other side. This battle begins with shells bursting as they hit the ground and machine guns that rattle as they are being fired. In order to ensure his survival, Paul must kill the other man. First, Paul stabs the man, but he struggles for his life. He dies shortly after, and Paul discovers who he has killed. The man is Gerald Duval, a printer.&n Having to deal with killing others is one of the horrors of war. The men who are killed and the people who kill them could have been friends, if only they were on the same side. The other important battle leaves both Paul and Kropp with injuries.
"How can we adjudge to summary and shameful death a fellow creature innocent before God, and whom we feel to be so? - Does that state it aright? You sign sad assent. Well, I too feel that, the full force of that. It is Nature. But do these buttons that we wear attest that our allegiance is to Nature? No, to the King. Though the ocean, which is inviolate Nature primeval, though this be the element where we move and have our being as sailors, yet as the King's officers lies our duty in a sphere correspondingly natural? So little is that true that, in receiving our commissions, we in the most important regards ceased to be natural free agents. When war is declared are we, the commissioned fighters, previously consulted? We fight at command. If our judgments approve the war, that is but coincidence. So in other particulars. For suppose condemnation to follow these present proceedings. Would it be so much we ourselves that would condemn as it would be martial law operating through us? For that law and the rigor of it, we are not responsible. Our vowed responsibility is this: That however pitilessly that law may operate, we nevertheless adhere to it and administer it. . . .
People who have actually been through war know how horrible it is. Society on the other hand, while it believes it knows the horrors of war, can never understand or sympathize with a soldier’s situation. The only people who can understand war is those who have been through it so they can often feel alone if they are out of the military. Paul cannot even give a straight answer to his own father about his dad’s inquiries about war. Paul’s dad does not understand that people who have been in the war can in no way truly express the horrible things that that have seen and experienced. Nor can Paul fit in with the society who does not understand him. Paul and so many others were brought into the war so young that they know of nothing else other than war. Paul held these views on society as he said, “We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;-the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall in to ruin.
In 2005, the Iraqi war was one of the worst times to be in Iraq for the United States Military. The number of IEDS have increased and become more dangerous as the Iraqi insurgents started to perfect them as the war went on. The majority of the book took place Baghdad Iraq also known as the Triangle of Death. During this time the IED’s, indirect, and direct fire were common and resulted in a high number of casualties and injuries of US soldiers. This placed a lot of stress on the soldier and showed the different types reactions caused by stress. Many images and sites a soldier sees during deployment disturb the soldier and shown differently from each. The toll of the destructive and disturbing scenery would change soldiers’ lives forever. The description a soldiers described when going out on a patrol was that he was always tense. He knew there was going to be an IED but he didn’t know if was going to get him. An example a soldier gave out was if a person who routinely checked the mail box every day, had his routine changed up with an explosive having a one in four chance to be in the mail. The person knows it is there but has to open the mail box. The example describes the anticipation ...
To go to war is to engage in a fight with another Nation. Many view war as being an appropriate action that can only solve problems. Others believe that war is a violent action that leads to nothing but casualties. In the article, “Regarding the Torture of Others” Susan Sontag writes about the torture soldiers are inflicting on prisoners. Some torture was done so brutally that the some of the soldiers deem that acts as correct and in the process seem to try to dehumanize the victims. The bush administration considered torture as being mistreatment not evil. The Blog “Military Blog” by Zachary Scott-Singley deals with the day by day life and thoughts of a solider at war. Zachary Scott-Singley is a soldier struggling with the wrong of his actions. At one point, he believes that the killing of Iraqis is okay, but he then believes it is not. He was torn between he believes is right and not. The story “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche is a story about a young girl and her families struggles during the Nigerian civil war of the 1960’s. Her family has pride like much of the people of Biafra. That all changed when her younger brother Obi died, and the family realizes at that point the war was lost. While Sontag still maintained that war was not bad, she still believed that it was the torture of others that made war such a brutal action. On the other hand, Zachery from military blog was lost trying to find out if War was correct or not. The characters from “Half of a Yellow Sun” share a belief that war is necessary to defend their nations honor and pride but as the war progresses and it began to affect them they begin to see that the war was not as productive as they hoped it would be. Looking at pictures of war is like l...