The Correlation Between Happiness and Morality Talia Holtzman Steven Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo is an incredible story about strength, hope and how war changes people. The story follows three different characters and the difficult situations they are put in. It shows Dragan’s path to get bread from his bakery, the journey Kenan takes to get water for him, his family and a neighbour and Arrow, who kills enemies to save thousands of innocent citizens. Despite challenging and difficult circumstances when people maintain their morals it leads to a happier and more fulfilling life. Dragan keeps his morals and refuses to let the world see something he knows not to be true and because he does this he feels better about himself. When he …show more content…
Kenan is beginning to become weak, but instead of making it easier on himself, he chooses to put his family’s safety and security before his own needs and continues to fill the bottles alone. He thinks of his family’s pain before his and he realizes that, “If he is killed he does not want anyone in his family to witness it, as much as he would like their faces to be the last thing he sees” (27). Kenan also rejects the idea of asking for assistance from his son, because, “He knows his wife will never recover” (27) if he and his son die and he does not want to think about what might happen if, “his son alone die[s]” (27). Kenan’s rejection of help despite the fact that if the two of them made the trek for water it would result in a safer and faster trip shows that he would rather risk his life and risk his family’s. After this profound realization Kenan becomes a better person who is proud of his family’s life. This gives Kenan the extra strength he needs to continue living, thriving and continue his long solo journey to get water. Just the thought of his family suffering causes Kenan to become even more determined and thus he has a much happier life. Kenan’s moral obligation to be loyal and considerate for his family’s safety and their well-being leads him to …show more content…
The hardest one; whether to kill an innocent civilian was a decision that only she could make for herself, however thankfully, she remains moral and ethical and refuses to kill the man. This gut wrenching decision ends up having a tremendous positive effect on her life. When Hasan gives her the order to kill an innocent person those three little words saves the man’s life, but unbeknownst to him kills Arrows’. “No, I won’t” (226) she says and just like that her life changes forever. From that moment on Arrow is on the run for ten days straight. Finally when she was ready to give up running and surrender, she spends her last few days and moments in peace because she knows she makes the right decision. The persona of Arrow is a character that she creates so she would be able to live with the fact that she has to kill people. When she is about to die, “She says, her voice strong and quiet, ‘my name is Alisa’”(258). She refuses to kill for no purpose and because of that her Arrow personality is gone and right before she dies she utters her real name knowing and understanding that maintaining her morals is the only thing that the war does not take from her. Her decision to not let the war take her integrity despite the difficult circumstance leads her to a meaningful end to her
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Over many centuries, Poetry and song has been a way for people to explore their feelings, thoughts and questions about War & Peace. Rupert Brooke's “The Soldier” and Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh” provide two different insights into the nature of war. . “The Soldier” conveys a message of bravery for soldiers to go into war and fight while “Khe sanh” conveys a message about post-traumatic stress and the horrible factors of coming back into civilization after war.
When the man and boy meet people on the road, the boy has sympathy for them, but his father is more concerned with keeping them both alive. The boy is able to get his father to show kindness to the strangers (McCarthy), however reluctantly the kindness is given. The boy’s main concern is to be a good guy. Being the good guy is one of the major reasons the boy has for continuing down the road with his father. He does not see there is much of a point to life if he is not helping other people. The boy wants to be sure he and his father help people and continue to carry the fire. The boy is the man’s strength and therefore courage, but the man does not know how the boy worries about him how the boy’s will to live depends so much on his
In the book “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien uses imagery, figurative language and repetition to convey his message. O’Brien’s purpose for story telling, is to clear his conscience of war and to tell the stories of soldiers who were forgotten by society. Many young men were sent to war, despite opposing it. They believed it was “wrong” to be sent to their deaths. Sadly, no one realizes a person’s significance until they die. Only remembering how they lived rather than acknowledging their existence when they were alive.
In this chapter, O’Brien contrasts the lost innocence of a young Vietnamese girl who dances in grief for her slaughtered family with that of scarred, traumatized soldiers, using unique rhetorical devices
The conflict that the individual faces will force them to reinforce and strengthen their identity in order to survive. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” all the characters experience a brutal war that makes each of them struggle albeit in different ways. Each of them have their own anxieties and rage that eventually makes them grow as characters at the end of the book. When looking at what makes a person who they are it becomes obvious that the struggles they have faced has influenced them dramatically. The individual will find that this development is the pure essence of what it truly means to be
The violent nature that the soldiers acquired during their tour in Vietnam is one of O'Brien's predominant themes in his novel. By consciously selecting very descriptive details that reveal the drastic change in manner within the men, O'Brien creates within the reader an understanding of the effects of war on its participants. One of the soldiers, "Norman Bowler, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a Thumb. . .The Thumb was dark brown, rubbery to touch. . . It had been cut from a VC corpse, a boy of fifteen or sixteen"(O'Brien 13). Bowler had been a very good-natured person in civilian life, yet war makes him into a very hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying about a severed finger as a trophy, proud of his kill. The transformation shown through Bowler is an excellent indicator of the psychological and emotional change that most of the soldiers undergo. To bring an innocent young man from sensitive to apathetic, from caring to hateful, requires a great force; the war provides this force. However, frequently are the changes more drastic. A soldier named "Ted Lavender adopted an orphaned puppy. . .Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the firing device"(O'Brien 39). Azar has become demented; to kill a puppy that someone else has adopted is horrible. However, the infliction of violence has become the norm of behavior for these men; the fleeting moment of compassion shown by one man is instantly erased by another, setting order back within the group. O'Brien here shows a hint of sensitivity among the men to set up a startling contrast between the past and the present for these men. The effect produced on the reader by this contrast is one of horror; therefore fulfilling O'Brien's purpose, to convince the reader of war's severely negative effects.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
Tim O’Brien is an accredited writer who writes mostly about war. Although, I can conclude that Tim O’ Brien is different from other war writers because he brings war stories to life. O’ Brien does not explain the strategies of the war, he describes the guys that he fought amongst in the war. His novel, “The Things They Carried” is an emotional retelling of the Vietnam War. He allows readers to experience the thoughts, feelings, and conflicts of the characters throughout the book. By allowing readers to experience the character’s moods, readers are able to relate to the characters through their own memories, thoughts, and feelings. I related to many of his stories, especially, “On A Rainy River”, “Stockings”, and “The Things They Carried.” Throughout this paper, I will express my reflection of the short stories, “On A Rainy River”, “Stockings”, and “The Things They Carried.”
O’Brien, Tim. How to Tell a True War Story. Literature and Ourselves. Sixth Edition. Eds.
Just as with “All The President’s Men”, one can investigate the ethical issues in accordance to the SPJ Code of Ethics. Set in 1992, during the besiegement of the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo, American and European journalists risked their own lives to report on the tragic and horrific incidents that took place. Flynn, an American journalist, and Henderson an English journalist, are the two main journalists who are featured in the film. Since the journalists are in the middle of a war scene, their lives were inherently in constant jeopardy. In order to report on the incidents that are occurring, they often found themselves in the middle of a shooting or in the aftermath of dead bodies lining the streets. Flynn and Henderson are both passionate about their work; Flynn especially is determined to catch the best story at all costs. Whereas, Henderson begins to find himself emotionally attached to one of the victims in Sarajevo. In the midst of life threatening chaos and terror, both Flynn and Henderson sought the truth and reported it. They were both courageous and respected the lives of whom they were
...it may help us arrive at an understanding of the war situation through the eyes of what were those of an innocent child. It is almost unique in the sense that this was perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to directly give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century: the rise of the child-killer. While the book does give a glimpse of the war situation, the story should be taken with a grain of salt.
In the short story “Chickamauga”, the author Ambrose Bierce uses a young boy to connect to his audience with what is the disillusions of war, then leads them into the actuality and brutalities of war. Bierce uses a six year old boy as his instrument to relate to his readers the spirits of men going into combat, then transferring them into the actual terrors of war.
War is cruel. The Vietnam War, which lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975, was a horrific and tragic event in human history. The Second World War was as frightening and tragic even though it lasted for only 6 years from 1939 to 1945 comparing with the longer-lasting war in Vietnam. During both wars, thousands of millions of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Especially during the Second World War, numerous innocent people were sent into concentration camps, or some places as internment camps for no specific reasons told. Some of these people came out sound after the war, but others were never heard of again. After both wars, people that were alive experienced not only the physical damages, but also the psychic trauma by seeing the deaths and injuries of family members, friends or even just strangers. In the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh about the Vietnam War, and the documentary film Barbed Wire and Mandolins directed by Nicola Zavaglia with a background of the Second World War, they both explore and convey the trauma of war. However, the short story “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” is more effective in conveying the trauma of war than the film Barbed Wire and Mandolins because of its well-developed plot with well-illustrated details, and its ability to raise emotional responses from its readers.
... war, but: “Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.” (O’Brien 233). The stories by the veterans of war, struggle with their own mental illnesses in their stories of fiction. Both stories are about their reflection of the war they served in.