Billie Armstrong 21 Gun Analysis

In the Dakota 38 documentary, Jim Miller a Native American leader had a vision in which he rode on horseback across a majority of South Dakota. At the end of his vision, he saw the execution of 38 of his ancestors after the US-Dakota War of 1862. The documentary goes on to explain that the trials were not conducted fairly because the evidence was sparse and the people were bias, along with them being conducted in a language unknown to the defendants. Miller says he wants to plan a horseback ride to honor his tribes struggle with this event, so he and a few other tribe members planned a route to ride which followed his vision ending at the location of the executions on December 26th, the same day that the hangings happened. Miller said one

Strikes and protests have always been a way to unite people in their fight to object certain practices or demand certain change. In 1914, first generation immigrants went on strike after working under horrid conditions and not getting paid fair wages. All they asked for was a small raise and to work eight hour days. The outcome was, a militia firing machine guns at strikers along with other deadly attacks. The Rockerfellers were some of the wealthiest and corrupt minded men in the world. Rockerfeller owned the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, and some sources say that he supplied the militia with the guns used in the massacre. If money is the root of all evil, then the Rockerfellers weren't shy of showing it.

One example is when it is said, “Machine gun...tearing my body all apart” (Hendrix “Machine Gun”). This quote focuses on how war can tear someone apart. Before soldiers go into war, normal citizens uphold certain codes of conduct and display traits of morality and innocence. This all changes in war and in the battle of returning back home. War destroys all moral and ethical values. Another example is the lyric, “He’s been shot to the ground...Oh where he can’t survive no on” (Hendrix “Machine Gun”). Based on this quote, it is seen that once soldiers hit “rock bottom,” it can be extremely hard to get back on their feet. People come to a point where all the parts of war consume them and get too much for them. The days of living a life of innocence and morality are in the past and all the current issues continue to follow the soldier into his post-war life. The song, “Machine Gun,” by Jimi Hendrix, demonstrates how war can cause a person to lose his innocence and

Since the song was originally written in 2005, and then re appeared in the Fight With Tools album it makes sense that the song would by influenced by the war America was fighting in Iraq at the time. In 2003 the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq, and from then on until the present many Americans and non-Americans have died as a result of wartime violence. Even though the war went on many Americans really started to question the reason why the war was still going on if the weapons of mas destruction were already found, the reason given for the invasion of Iraq. Some also questioned the entire reason for the war; according to a MSNBC Documentary, “Some of the most senior officials in the U.S. government, including President Bush himself, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, asserted these claims in public with absolute confidence, even while privately, ranking U.S. military officers and intelligence professionals were voicing their doubts”(“ How the Bush Administration Sold the Iraq War”). However, the people did nothing and the war continued. The song was meant for people who wanted to change what is happening around

On January 31, 2013, with the country still reeling in the wake of the Newtown School Massacre, Mallory Simon produced an essay and online video segment for CNN titled “Gun Debate: Where is the Middle Ground?” to facilitate discussion about gun violence and gun control. Simon makes a claim of policy stating that something needs to be done to prevent massacres in public places. The author is trying to get the general public to accept a position of tighter gun controls.

U.S. Navy SEAL ,Chris Kyle was just the average die hard Texan. He aspired to become a cowboy, but it wasn’t working out in his favor. After seeing the horrors of terrorism on 9/11 he was ready to fight for his country and enlisted into the military. He goes on to fight in four tours and becomes the deadliest sniper in American history. After each tour, he felt that he had to go back. He had two goals that he couldn’t give up on; protecting his team and taking out the deadliest enemy sniper, Mustafa. Chris would not stop until he achieved his goals, when he finally did, he faced a new battle. He struggled with normal daily life, but even then he persevered and found a new passion to aid him. Throughout this film, Clint Eastwood portrays the theme of perseverance through the use of setting, camera angles, and the main character Chris Kyle.

Another event that eroded support in the war and US Government occured during a protest at Kent State University. During a protest on May 4, 1970, twenty-nine National Guardsmen gathered at the university to oversee a Vietnam War protest. In the midst of the protest, the National Guardsmen fired into the crowd of protesters killing four people in the process (Gordon Page 35). This event sparked an enormous uprising from the public and “the event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close” (Lewis). This strike had a huge social impact and through the constant strikes and protests that followed the shootings caused the US Government to lose the trust, respect, and support of many American citizens (Gordon Page 35). The Kent State shootings were also able to reach the international stage through the abundance of news broadcasts and songs following the shooting. Ohio, a famous song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, focuses heavily on the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings with lyrics stating, “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming. We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming. Four dead in Ohio” (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) as a direct reference to the Kent State tragedy. “A tin soldier is a toy soldier, mindlessly controlled by its owner” (Songfacts Staff). Neil Young was implying with these lyrics that the National Guard was mindlessly following orders from Nixon. This song became wildly popular and is

"I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag", by Country Joe and the Fish expresses bitter feelings towards the draft. This song stirred up a variety of emotions among people towards the draft. It sent a powerful message conveying that sending inexperienced young adults to fight experienced guerrillas on their home ground was immoral and soldiers had a high risk of dying in battle. "I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag", conveyed the message to millions that politicians and US military were to blame for the Vietnam War. It also expressed the thoughts of civilians being trapped by the draft and being forced to go to war. Country Joe and the Fish's song gathered hundreds of thousands at the Woodstock Music Festival and their song was used as a method of uniting US citizens with the emotional lyrics of their song. It was a way of uniting a large amount people who were unhappy with the draft and ultimately the war.

Film noir is a famous era of filmmaking that defined the cinematic experience in Hollywood for a whole decade. No film can correctly represent such a influential cinematic era like Gun Crazy directed by Joseph H. Lewis. Gun Crazy is a unique expression of film noir of the 1950s that utilizes many cinematic elements in unparalleled ways to tell its story in a distinct fashion. Lewis uses cinematic techniques such as lighting, composition, editing, music, and mise-en-scene of the opening sequence to establish the tone and character motivations of the story.

In Barbara W. Tuchman’s book, The Guns of August, she argues that each competitor in World War I did some very feebleminded things in the first month of war. Tuchman quibbled that the first month was a disaster of headstrong generals, who were determined to stick with military plans that weren’t succeeding. The author explains that both sides lost in the first month because of foolish mistakes.

One Bullet Away is a military memoir written by and about Nathaniel Fick’s terrifying journey through blood, sweat and tears in Iraq and Afghanistan. The story is divided into three parts: peace, war and aftermath. During the “peace” phase of the story Fick is introduced as the main character as he develops useful skills while going through military training. This part mainly takes place in Quantico, Virginia and San Diego, California. Taking up the majority of the story is the “war” phase. Even more characters are introduced and the plot is thickened as Fick meets his platoon and is shipped to Afghanistan and later Iraq. While on tour, Fick experiences a lot of action filled moments and hard times that keep the book fast paced and easy to read. The “aftermath” section of the story consists of Fick returning home and the struggles of returning back to his normal life. The purpose of Fick choosing to write this book was to show what life was like fighting overseas and to provide the community a first hand account of a global event. No civilian living back in The United States could ever truly know what war is like, but by writing this book Fick helped people understand. Overall, Fick choose a more downbeat and serious tone for this book. Without even having to try, it makes sense and fits perfectly seeing how the story is mainly about war, which is usually not an upbeat event.

In this song the band uses verses to show violent norms and states about how society still has hatred groups. The verses wrap around hatred groups with terrorism living in the United States. The song was written in the 2003 and states about then 9/11 attacks. “Nations droppin' bombs, Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones, With ongoing' sufferin' as the youth die young, So ask yourself is the lovin'

The lyrics, “situation, aggravation everybody allegation… bang, bang, shot dead, everybody gone bad” refers to the amount of violence that is occurring and how everyone is making decisions that are controlled

"First, there's the shooting." On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took 26 lives, most of them belonging to children. Sadly, too many situations similar to this have occurred prior to and since. In January 2013, Stephen King published an extended essay called Guns exploring the issue of gun violence in the United States.

The american sniper is a very awesome topic that i wanted to write about for my last year. The reason why i wanted to do it is because i have four relatives in the army marine and the navy and the Airforce. So i want us to remember the sniper which is chris kyle he was a very awesome and couraging person to me. when me and my dad went to watch the movie i didn’t move one time except for a drink and food.so i hope you have a chance to watch the movie american sniper. Chris kyle was a character that would do anything for the freedom. When i heard that the veterans give us this freedom i was shocked about it, plus i have some relatives that are veterans that i really care about,but one the characters is my loving father he was in the army for 24 years.he started at the age of 18. I willing to bet u that chris kyle started being a veteran when he was young. Chris Kyle was one of my favorite characters in the movie american sniper, but when i read that Chris kyle died i was so sad for a month that i really didn’t want to do anything at all with war games or watch any war movies because every time i saw someone