An action, a statement, one instant, has the power to alter your life and for young Patricia Bergen in the young adult fiction novel, The Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene, many different conflicts she had to face caused her to think very poorly of herself. Fortunately, with the influence of one German soldier her whole mindset was revised. In the beginning of the novel , Patty Bergen portrays as an insecure, desperate, and a solitary young girl, but at the resolution of the story we see Patty as a confident, mature, and hopeful young woman who dreams of life away from the hardships she faced.
When Patty Bergen is first introduced, we get an impression of Patty’s life at home and her parent’s behavior towards her. Patty’s father physically abuses her for misbehaving yet he beats Patty mercilessly for foolish reasons in particular Mr. Bergen on page 106 and 107, “ God damn you! He shouted at me. You’ll obey me if it kills you!”. In this quote, the harsh treatment Patty had to experienced is displayed, the reader can notice that at the point, the quote occurs, Henry Bergen assaults his daughter for a very foolish reason, explaining the reason why Patty is very unaccompanied and how she is very determined to be adored by her parents. Not only is Patty physically abused, but her mother verbally abuses her with insults and comments that cause Patty to think she needs to revise her appearance. Mrs. Bergen’s actions are demonstrated when Patty enters their general
As I enter my last week as a twenty-year-old, I find myself nostalgically looking back on the past two decades while wondering what life has in store for me over the next two. Where will I be in twenty years? What will I have accomplished? Where will I be living? Will I be married? Have chil… wait a minute, no, that one will have to wait a few more years. These questions have all passed through my mind at one point or another over the last few weeks, but I realize that they are really quite a luxury. Paul, the narrator of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, never had the opportunity to lean back from his desk and daydream about
In William Styron’s book Sophie’s Choice Styron explains the effects of World war 2 on an American, a Polish person and a Jewish person. Sophie, the polish women, who is forced to make a very difficult decision during the war, a choice that, affects her mental state of mind for the rest of her life. Stingo, the American and narrator of the story struggles to find inspiration for his writing career while also discovering his families past. Nathan, the Jewish man who is hopelessly in love with Sophie a holocaust survivor, lashes out in anger and questions her about her past. Sophie’s Choice uses three characters guilt to portray the hardships of World War 2 and the mental instability it has caused.
It is a well known fact that experiencing war changes people; there is an innocence that is forever lost. In Tim O’Brian’s, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, Mary Anne Bell is an unusual example of the innocence that is lost in war because unlike the rest of the soldiers, she is a woman. Mary Anne’s transformation from innocent “sweetheart” to fierce warrior left readers with mixed emotions because although Mary Anne felt at peace with her transformation, she was also disconnected from reality.
Ellie, from Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden, is a typical country girl who likes the rural way of life. She is the narrator in the book, which suggests she has a lot to say. She starts out as a stubborn, headstrong person who is very loyal to her friends and family. While she still has a determined and reliable character, Ellie’s character has further developed. She steps up to whatever is required of her in the dangerous situations she and the group find themselves in. During the novel, we see her character grow because of her situation and experiences.
In Revolutionary Summer, Joseph Ellis attempts to display the importance of the summer of 1776 in a narrative form. In doing this, Ellis must balance his knowledge as a modern-day historian with his desire to ensure that the reader sees the narrative as it was in that time period. In his presentation of facts throughout Revolutionary Summer, Ellis recognizes that hindsight can be both a powerful historian tool to provide context as well as a negative mindset that can skew the true facts of the time. Therefore, he uses hindsight only in order to provide context and importance for certain actions, and, similarly to a textbook, strives to present the facts as they were at the time, without any modern perspective. However, Ellis’s writing
It’s no surprise that soldiers will more-than-likely never come home the same. Those who have not served do not often think of the torment and negative consequences that the soldiers who make it out of war face. Erich Remarque was someone who was able to take the torment that he faced after his experience in World War I and shed light on the brutality of war. Remarque was able to illustrate the psychological problems that was experienced by men in battle with his best-selling novel All Quiet on the Western Front (Hunt). The symbolism used in the classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front is significant not only for showing citizens the negative attributes of war, but also the mental, physical, and emotional impact that the vicious war had on the soldiers.
One main theme of this book is how war can change people and this shows how it changed just an ordinary girl who ended up getting "dirty".
impacts on the soldiers. This novel depicts the life as a soldier in the German Army fighting
Growing up in a wartime environment affects the identities, confidence and adolescence process for many people. In the books, The Diary of A Young Girl, Farewell to Manzanar, and Night, World War II accelerates Anne’s, Jeanne’s and Elie’s precious maturity and coming of age process. World War II, the Nazis and their identity of being Jewish forces Anne and Elie to grow up and mature much sooner than expected. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, World War II have a negative impact on Jeanne’s confidence and she starts to lose respect towards her Japanese heritage. All three of them are struggling to find out who they truly are. Anne Frank, Jeanne Wakatsuki and Elie Wiesel all are greatly affected by the war, but in different milieus and in
Dry September is a story where citizens of a Jefferson, Mississippi have heard a rumor that Will Mayes, a black man has raped a white woman named Minnie Cooper. The story explores the reactions of the town’s citizens as this rumor is spread. Individuals begin to make individual conclusions and assumptions drawing hasty ideas based on insufficient or miniscule evidence, even going as far as to make up some of the evidence to draw a conclusion. There is a relationship between racism and violence in the world of the text.
As a young man coming back from the war, Krebs expected things to be the same when he got home and they were, except one. Sure the town looked older and all the girls had matured into beautiful women, Krebs had never expected that he would be the one to change. The horrific experiences of the first World War had alienated and removed those he had cared about, including his family, who stood naïve to the realities and consequences only those who live it first hand would comprehend.
War forces young soldiers to grow up quickly. In Stephen Crane’s Civil War novel, The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming is no exception. He is faced with the hard reality of war and this forces him to readjust his romantic beliefs about war. Through the novel, the reader can trace the growth and development of Henry through these four stages: (1) romanticizing war and the heroic role each soldier plays, (2) facing the realities of war, (3) lying to himself to maintain his self-importance, and (4) realistic awareness of his abilities and place in life. Through Henry’s experiences in his path to self-discovery, he is strongly affected by events that help shape his ideology of war, death,
The speaker lets the reader know right away about the reality of war. The invincible, fearless soldiers that are envisioned by the reader are quickly transformed into
The story I found most interesting and decided to write about is Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home.” Hemingway writes a bizarre story depicting the cruel effects of war. War is the evilest event/element any human being can unfortunately be exposed to. The chaos and carnage which come as a result of these sometimes-senseless wars can cause traumatic and dark memories which can linger around in a person’s mind, altering their perspective for the rest of their lives. Hemingway certainly does a magnificent job in illuminating those exact effects throughout the story.
Do you ever get mad when your parents say you can’t do something or go anywhere? Well, imagine how Anne feels being isolated in that room all day long, every day. The story "Diary of Ann Frank" reveals what it’s like to transition from childhood to adulthood in the modern life. The theme of the story is living in oppression and how it affects Anne as a person, both physically and emotionally. For two years, Anne and her family along with another family are locked up in hiding in a secret loft. “The diary of Anne Frank” shows us that sometimes family is all we got but we have to make the best of it and be thankful we have our family. Anne Frank quoted “we all eat and read like one family” (page 230) This statement tells us that no matter what