You can make a case to go in several directions when discussing the book Born on The Fourth of July by Ronald Kovic. At the very least you can make a case to touch on each point that have been laid out for us. For this paper I will evaluate how Kovic adjusted back to civilian life, not just as a veteran, but one who very literally gave up three-fourths of his body for his country. I will also analyze how Kovic dealt with his experiences involving sexuality and how a sense of community helped Kovic through even his most difficult of times. The books retails the story of Vietnam War Veteran Ronald Kovic. Kovic retails his American Story aptly named Born on The Fourth of July, a birthday he shares with American herself. Right after high school …show more content…
“I didn’t even have time to learn how to enjoy it and now it is gone, it is dead, it is as numb as the rest of me.” On numerous occasions Kovic writes just about the pure fact he isn’t able to use his penis to his full capabilities. Kovic goes on to say “I am left with the corpse, the living dead man, the man with the numb legs, the man in the wheelchair, the Easter Seal boy, the cripple, the sexlessman, the sexlessman, the man with the numb dick, the man who can’t make children,” and that he would give anything to be inside a woman again. In American culture the genetic passing of your genes is one of the biggest honors we perpetuate in our society. For women unable to bare children, it’s disheartening, for men who cannot procreate it’s emasculating. In his case he acknowledges his “want to,” in terms of establishing his sexuality, but he simply can’t. How much more American can you get than just simply being able to express yourself sexually. Kovic’s birth marks the first years of the Baby Boomer generation. In this era moving forward the expression of sexuality isn’t a forbidden staple anymore – at least in terms of being talked
Penned during two distinctly disparate eras in American military history, both Erich Maria Remarque's bleak account of trench warfare during World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Tim O'Brien's haunting elegy for a generation lost in the jungles of Vietnam, The Man I Killed, present readers with a stark reminder that beneath the veneer of glorious battle lies only suffering and death. Both authors imbue their work with a grim severity, presenting the reality of war as it truly exists. Men inflict grievous injuries on one another, breaking bodies and shattering lives, without ever truly knowing for what or whom they are fighting for. With their contributions to the genre of war literature, both Remarque and O'Brien have sought to lift the veil of vanity which, for so many wartime writers, perverts reality with patriotic fervor. In doing so, the authors manage to convey the true sacrifice of the conscripted soldier, the broken innocence which clouds a man's first kill, and the abandonment of one's identity which becomes necessary in order to kill again.
Imagine you’re lying on the muddy, damp Earth and all around you can hear the screams of people you know dying. Shells explode, bullets race through the air, and poisonous gas seeps around you, all with the intent to harm you in some way. Yet, you willingly put yourself in that position day after day, year after year. The question surrounding this situation is, why? Who would be masochistic enough to choose to put their lives in danger and live in the most perilous environment possible? Two very different books give us insight into the thoughts of the soldiers who continuously put themselves in these environments. Your Death Would Be Mine by Martha Hanna and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque lets us into the minds of Paul Pireaud and Paul Baumer as they try to survive life as a soldier in the Great War. I argue that Pireaud and Baumer had very different reasons for continuing to fight despite having suffered beyond belief. In this paper I will analyze how the varying degrees of patriotism, brotherhood, family life at home, and age affected how these two men endured the treacherous life on the front of World War I.
From two different perspectives of the war, the author of this book showed that, depending on location and timing, everyone can be affected differently by warfare. It followed the story of two children who grew up on opposite sides of World War II. When their paths crossed, they developed feelings for one another, disregarding the fact that their historical circumstances placed them on opposing sides of the war. In the book All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr depicted how internal principles were able to overpower external pressures.
If Philip Caputo’s memoir is meant to be the story of an American soldier, Trâm’s diary becomes the story of the Vietnamese people and their struggle. On May 7th 1970 Trâm recounts her feelings on the history of war in Vietnam, and how the people still remain undeterred. “Twenty-five years immersed in fire and bullets, we are still strong.” Not only after all this fighting and after all that Trâm herself has witnessed and endured she is still confident in her country. “We will persevere and be courageous and hold our heads high and take the offensive.” Trâm’s diary makes it clear that there was never any doubt in
The Vietnam War was a psychological and physical battle for all the young men who were drafted or volunteered. Caputo's own reasons for volunteering illustrate the mentality for some of the men entering into this journey. Those who are inducted into Vietnam face disturbing moral dilemmas that can be expected in an "ethical wilderness." The draft introduced a myriad of young men to the once forgotten moral ambiguity of war. Average American citizens must balance right from wrong in a world without morals or meaning. Caputo himself struggles with the idea that killing in combat is morally justified.
The author, Tom Brokaw; a part of of The Greatest Generation, has plenty of experience around the military. His fathers, Red Brokaw, was the typically role model for his son. “Between the ages three and five [Tom Brokaw] lived on an Army base in western South Dakota and spent a good deal of my time outdoors in a tiny helmet, shooting stick guns at imaginary German and Japanese soldiers” (XVII). In addition to his father being an inspirational imagine in his childhood, it also included memorable images of the Fourth of July and the moment after his father returned home from the service. The military was all around Tom Brokaw and inspired him to honor the veteran’s lives as well as sacrifice during the war. From a young age good morals and values were influencing Brokaw, much like many other members of The Greatest Generation.
Abraham Lincoln has said, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who firsthand experienced the atrocities of slavery. Within an excerpt from “What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?,” Frederick Douglass employs syntax, juxtaposition, and imagery in order to demonstrate the irony around the celebration of freedom on the Fourth of July. Douglass illustrates his purpose by displaying this irony because during the celebration of freedom by the white men, there are still a myriad of slaves who have yet to receive emancipation.
O 'Brien illustrates to us the necessity for each man to be connected to their old life, telling a story of Mark Fossie flying in his girlfriend to ease his loneliness (104-05). Each soldier found himself facing insurmountable barriers throughout the war, and these small effects and coping mechanisms were often the only necessity that would give them reason to return home again. They needed personal methods of coping with the war, and this primeval survival was the only way to remain a man.
This book was incredible! In all truth this was the first book I have ever read cover to cover. The book, by Ron Kovic, as compared to the film, by Oliver Stone, had some impressive similarities. Both the book and the film did a great job of portraying Ron’s childhood in Massapequa, Long Island. From the little league games to playing war in the woods, leading charges and setting ambushes. This was especially well done in the movie, and exactly as I pictured them while reading the book. The time that he spent in Mexico was well defined in the book as well as in the film. While there were many similarities, what I feel is more important is to focus on the differences.
Throughout the book, Bailey argues that in cities around the country in the 1960’s, the “ordinary” person battled the constant struggle of both private and public sexual behaviors, which came to follow post WWII in America. Throughout the text, Bailey
All Quiet On The Western Front is a novel known for a realistic and vastly negative portrayal of war. Remarque sheds light on the unrepairable suffering soldiers have throughout and after war, a subject little touched, and if so, war is usually adulated. Remarque paints war as a horribly inhumane act, therefore ideas such as patriotism, often a sole reason for entering war, are questioned. Remarque renders patriotism as a belief based on false hope, a belief used for the gain of the authorities, one that eventually hurts the citizen. Remarque’s novel portrays a deceitful and damaging patriotism, one that dangerously resides in extremely allegiant countries like the U.S. Patriotism has become a belief that one should not challenge, and that is where the danger comes in.
Since the beginning of time, humans have sought after power and control. It is human instinct to desire to be the undisputed champion, but when does it become a problem? Warfare has been practiced throughout civilization as a way to justify power. Though the orders come directly from one man, thousands of men and women pay the ultimate sacrifice. In Randall Jerrell’s “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner”, Jarrell is commenting on the brutality of warfare. Not only does Jarrell address the tragedies of war, he also blames politics, war leaders, and the soldier’s acknowledgement of his duties. (Hill 6) With only five lines of text, his poems allows the reader to understand what a soldier can go through. With the use of Jerrell’s poem, The Vietnam War, and Brian Turner’s “Ameriki Jundee”, the truth of combat will be revealed.
In Soldier’s Home, Ernest Hemingway depicts Harold Krebs return home from World War I and the problems he faces when dealing with his homecoming and transition back towards a normal life. After the fighting overseas commenced, it took Krebs a year to finally leave Europe and return to his family in Oklahoma. Once home, he found it hard to talk about all he had seen in his tour of duty overseas, which should be attributed to the fact that he saw action in some of the bloodiest, most crucial battles towards the culmination of the war. Therefore, Krebs difficulty in acknowledging his past is because he was indeed a “good soldier” (139), whose efforts in order to survive “The Great War,” were not
This is an essay on the short story “Soldier’s Home” by Hemingway. Will the life of a soldier ever be the same after returning from war? Many generations of young adults have gone from their homes with tranquil settings to experience war and come home to a different world. Many have witnessed the devastations and atrocities that occur with war. Harold Krebs, a young man from a small town with a loving family is no different from those before him and those to follow. The anguish of what war is however cannot dispel the thoughts and memories of what many young men come home to face in the real world. Many have trouble coping in the new world known as home.
Theodore Dalrymple, in the essay “All Sex, All the Time” reflects on the change of view of the people about sex and how it has lead people into more confusion and conflict than before. Dalrymple’s real name being Anthony Daniels, he picked up the pseudonym of Theodore Dalrymple for the purpose of his essays. There were times when virginity was a pride to men and women. However, it still prevails in some countries, this custom and the people have been changing. He states that the world is now free to enjoy sexual pleasures without any fear of the myths and taboos that existed in history. Although people feel that they are satisfied and are free to choose this path of life, sex has lead people into “confusion, contradiction, and conflict” states Dalrymple (Dalrymple 1).