Class, Exile and Trauma In Rebecca West’s "The Return of the Soldier"

"You won't believe how incredibly ignorant I was. I knew vaguely that a war had started, but I had no idea what it meant (108).” Or they were so happy to be in the position that they war had left them in financially, that they simply wanted it to continue. Peggy Terry remember a woman telling her that, "she hoped the war didn't end until she got her refrigerator paid for (112)." Killingsworth also contributes to the unmindfulness that was associated towards the war, "So right away they started hirin. I think the war had kind of a pleasure. People didn't realize the seriousness of the war. All they were thinkin about is they had lived in these Depression days. It was hard to come by a dollar (116)." Dellie Hahne was a college student at the time, she was in the same position as these other women, she recognized the war but the advantages that were available overshadowed the real casualties of the war occurring (117). "While my conscience told me the war was a terrible thing, bloodshed and misery, there was excitement in the air. I had just left college and was working as a substitute teacher. Life was fairly dull. Suddenly, single women were of tremendous importance (117)." The idea of having a responsibility outside the home and money for themselves overshadowed the cause of their newfound lives. Women benefited from this new beginning, it was surely an introduction towards a movement forward for women.

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.

She uses this quote to point out women did not have much choice before the war came. “Women were expected to keep busy at home and church and to avoid heavy labor, business, and politics.” In this quote, she is explaining how they were viewed before the war. Kathleen also discusses the many roles women were already offered. “Either way, women’s traditional roles and responsibilities were forever changed as many of them adjusted to life during war.” This is the only quote she uses explaining the transformation of women’s role in society. On the other hand, “A Family Affair” by Gina DeAngelis and Lisa Ballinger cite posters and people that had an effect during the war, which she follows through after with the changes that women had achieved. For example, the authors use the Red Cross as an example on women’s role during the war, along with women working in factories because there was not enough men to occupy the decreasing workforce. “Women were encouraged to take jobs in factories and shipyards. Mothers, Daughters, and sisters of soldiers fighting overseas wanted to do their part to help win the war.” Here the authors use the roles of women during the war compared to Kathleen who did not. “Many other women served as volunteers in

Beginning my love of reading an early age, I was never the type of child who was drawn to fictional stories. As an 8 year-old child in West Virginia, I was recognized by the local library for my love of biographies, autobiographies and recollections of world events. This love has continued throughout my adult life, desiring to read novels such as “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore rather than watch the major motion picture “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. Even though the motion picture received multiple awards, when reading the recollection of Mr. Moore’s accounts, the feeling of loss, distress, anxiety and fear can be felt in each word that he has written while reliving this horrendous war.

The book Revolutionary Mothers, by Carol Berkin is a truth telling and eye opening experience for the reader that shows how the fight for America’s independence affected the role of women. The book reveals the unknown side of women during young America’s first major war, the Revolutionary War. It portrays the very important role women played during war despite the fact that war brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into their lives. Women’s lives changed drastically during this time period.

In Our Mother’s War, Emily Yellin provides a compelling and eye-opening account of the many roles of women during World War II. Our Mother’s War was inspired by Yellin’s mother, Carol Lynn, who had lived through World War II and had been a Red Cross volunteer in the Pacific. After Yellin’s mother had died, Yellin had came upon an old manila envelope which contained many of her mother’s letters and dairy. Through these writings, Yellin realized for the first time the sacrifices women made for the war, and after being inspired to know more about the roles of women during World War II, she set out on a mission to unearth stories which have never been displayed before. Being a journalist and daughter of a World War II woman uniquely qualified Yellin to paint a vivid picture of the accounts of women during the war. through the use of letters and writings.

Jeff Keshen’s article explains how the media plays a of the time played a pivotal role in doing two things specifically, one was to get the women out to work, support their families and contribute to the war cause. The second countered the last by telling women were over and over told how important their role in the home was.

The author believes that the war had a positive outcome but it was unnecessarily disturbing. The accomplishments made during the war has indeed undermined the failures, with misconstrued views. People today think this war was “The best war ever.” Adams creates a realistic picture of the war by describing the major aspects as well as topics that have little coverage to the masses. This includes; the development of teen culture, treatment of homosexuals who took part in the armed forces, minority combat during the war, the physical and mental scars, and economic reorganization of war production.

Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for American Independence, asserts that the Revolutionary War was not a romantic time period in our nation’s history. It was one of upheaval, tremendous discord and violence. The Revolutionary War was not one fought on distant shores, but one of blurring the lines between the battlefield and the home front. The war touched all classes of people from those of the new American nobility down to Blacks and First Nation. It provides us in a series of what I call vignettes or snapshots of the war and its effects. We are provided on how these differences between all the differing groups impacted the daily lives of women.

During the Second World War, both married and unmarried women worked in wartime industries and factories to take the place of men who joined the service. Although women didn’t play a significant role on the battlefields in Europe compared to males, it would be logical to conclude that women played an integral role in the participation and victory in WWII both at home and abroad. Yet when one considers their contribution, it is hard to imagine how much more they could have done given the conservative views of gender role at that time. In the context of traditional gender roles and boundaries, women conceivably maximized their wartime efforts by working in a variety of jobs including industry, volunteering, and serving as support staff for

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to

Throughout The Things They Carried, society’s antagonizing treatment towards the soldiers and veterans is symbolized through O’Brien’s characterization of women as selfish, insensitive, and ignorant.

Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,

War, a word that often describes the aftermath of a disagreement tends to often become a topic of conversation amongst Americans today. Since the founding of our fathers we have faced ample amounts of conflict. Justice amongst these circumstances is not easy to reach, sacrifices had been made and will continue to until the conclusion is met. While their loved ones are away, the families of the fighting soldiers face daily obstacles. These sacrifices often become overlooked and taken for granted. Women have always played an important role in the success of family life and the well being of our country under these circumstances; through the years, these tasks have ranged from work on the assembly lines to performing seamstress duties for a soldier’s uniform. Without this unwarranted support, we’d be at a loss during these disheartening times.

I like how you analyze that the women in Return of the Soldier are constantly under the control of the patriarchy even when the head of the household is completely dependent on them and is unable to fulfill his “normal and masculine” duties. Jenny, Kitty, and Margaret all must pander to Chris’s version of reality in one way or another, and they must disregard their own sense of reality to positively affect Chris. Kitty must cast herself aside and let Chris see his old sweetheart, Margaret must dig up the past and be present to Chris even though she has set a new life for herself, and Jenny must throw herself into Chris’s mind to understand what has changed in his mind through shellshock. These women must work together to