Interview of an Older Man

War changes the lives of each and every soldier who participates. It continues to change the way they experience events and the way their perception of the simplest things. Many veterans do not realize what truly happened until much later in life, if at all. Many live in denial of the truth, consciously or subconsciously, and many continuously remember their darkest moments. This is the case in “Salem”, written by Robert Olen Butler. The short story is about a man, late in life, recalling a past event from the Vietnam War. He remembers a man, alone in a clearing, whose life he ended. He starts to understand his actions and their true outcomes. The author uses symbolism, setting, and character to enhance the idea that one should always be aware of how his/her actions affect others.

L was married for 20 years. She has 2 daughters; one is going to school and the other lives in Texas. Her mother has been living with her for 3 ½ years. She enjoys movies, having coffee with her friends once a week, and her two grandchildren. She is active in her church, and used to do prison ministry. She works in Gerontology at the Health Sciences Center and has been a Tech employee for 25 years.

The Social Development in Late Adulthood LaTricia R. Scott BHS 325 May 20, 2013 Jane Winslow, MA, LMFT Social Development in Late Adulthood Late Adulthood is a time in people’s lives when they come to terms with their lives and reevaluate what they have done or accomplished in the lieu of what they still would like to accomplish for the remainder of their lives. During this stage of life adults around the ages of 65 begin to experience a variety of changes in their physical appearance and a decline in their health. The process of aging in an individual occurs at different speeds and during this stage older adults are being treated as second-class citizens especially by younger adults. The skin begins to wrinkle at an

“My life is storytelling. I believe in stories, in their incredible power to keep people alive, to keep the living alive, and the dead.” Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, was filled with embellished stories and memories of war veterans. O’Brien’s reasoning for writing that particular book was because

For this assignment, the author interviewed an elderly woman who is roughly in her early eighties. Discussion occurred over the phone as Irene lives a relatively far distance from Denver, CO. The first conversation went over well and she was very open to discussing her life further. The author became confident enough to ask more personal questions later in the conversation. The elderly woman agreed to a second interview to continue patient education which will be discussed in detail. For this paper, the individual will be referred to as Irene, so that her privacy is protected. This paper acts as an organizational tool to detail the process and considerations taken, including therapeutic communication skills, to provide Irene with a

However, Moore chooses to de-emphasize a few things. Such as how he went to school while his soldiers went to fight, and that he got into trouble when he was younger. All he says is how he lacked the combat tour patch, he often thought about his soldiers fighting, and that he caused trouble when he was young so his mother threatened to send him to military school. Despite this avoidance, Moore is still convincing. As Moe tells his own story, he builds his ethos or personal credibility. The listener knows Moore is knowledgeable in the subject of veterans because he is a veteran. Moore also uses the emotional appeal to cause his audience to think deeper and to take action. Here, Moore tells the stories of two other veterans. One veteran, Taylor Urruela, who lost his leg, but still tries to achieve both of his dreams and creates a group called VETSports. The other veteran Moore tells a story about is Tammy Duckworth. She is an ex-helicopter pilot, who lost both of her legs while serving, and now is a congresswoman who advocates for veteran’s issues. Both stories are powerful as they both give perspective on what a veteran has gone through while serving. That perspective is not one an average American knows or has for themselves, which causes the listener to think deeper about veterans, their experiences, and what “thank you for your service”

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote in a letter to President Harry Truman that, “No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.” As civilians it is hard for us to imagine the unspeakable horrors that soldiers face while on the battlefield. It is equally hard to understand how they come back home so very different than the men and women we saw off at the airport all those years ago. Many soldiers have said that they went to war as a boy and came back without a mind; even though they ‘won the war’, the costs outweighed the benefits because they have to carry all of the things they did in the war zone with them the rest of their lives. In The Things They Carried, Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien repeatedly says that he has an intense need to write down the stories of his oversees experiences even though the memories are too painful to think about. With that in mind, this essay seeks to answer the questions: Does writing about their experience help soldiers cope? What about Tim O’Brien; does writing about his experiences seem to give him any sort of relief at all?

At the time, many that were drafted into the war didn’t know what they were fighting for and why they were there. Not only is war physically exhausting, but many soldiers suffered from psychotic breaks and from PTSD. A method to interpret Tim O'Brien's experience in war is to look at his mental state through Psychoanalytical Criticism.

War can be and has been proven to be a deeply scarring experience for many soldiers. Evidently, nothing can prepare them for warfare, seeing close friends die, and narrowly escaping death themselves. Yet, the worst part of it all is having to live with those memories for a lifetime and the inability to forget. “But the thing about remembering is that you don 't forget” (O’brien 34, 1998). The war which is fought in the minds of soldiers lasts a lifetime, and its effects stretch far beyond the actual battle that is being fought. War can significantly affect a soldier mentally, as seen in the novel “The things they carried” by Tim O 'brien, an interview with Richard Dlugoz, and the poem “Coming Home” by Joe Wheeler.

“War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; makes you dead.” (80). This cluster of paradoxes and emotions genuinely defines what the soldiers felt during and after their service in war. Explaining a war story is a difficult task. As a person attempts to explain what they experienced, they become overwhelmed, get caught up in their own emotions, and in result the truth about war is never expressed. “Because she wasn’t listening. It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story. But you can’t say that. All you can do is tell it one more time, patiently, adding and subtracting, making up a few things to get at the real truth” (85). In order to relay the truth about war, Tim O’Brien believes in shifting the truth for a greater

He realizes that “both [his] conscience and [his] instincts [tells him] to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop.” Because going to a war means facing unpleasant events that could occur, such as possible death, he wants to break free from it. Similar to Tim O’Brien, Korean veteran will empathize with Tim O’Brien because he also experienced similar hesitation and desire to desert from the army. On the other hand, modern female high school student will not experience the same empathy Korean veteran felt towards Tim O’Brien because she believes there are different roles for each gender. Specifically, men’s role in her society is to serve military services and participate in the war if necessary without any hesitation. In given circumstances, it is highly likely that she will regard Tim O’Brien as a young coward who lacks responsibility, courage, and patriotism to protect the

As Joe talked about working in the hospital, he never took his eyes off of his grandson, who was asking the questions, and pleading for the answers. His voice was always firm and steady, until he spoke about the victims of the Battle of the Bulge. Then Joe’s eyes teared up, and his steady voice began to waver. Just talking to Joe, you could almost hear, see and smell what he

What do memories have to do with a war? In The Things They Carried, O’Brien reveals the horrors of war by using memory moments. O’Brien uses memory moments to reveal the theme, relate to the plot, and develop the setting--all helping to form the traumatizing effects of the war. O’Brien, forty-three

In Tim Obrien’s text, Where have You Gone, Charming Billy?, the fear and turmoil caused by war are explored through the eyes of Private First Class Paul Berlin. Throughout his first day in Vietnam Paul encounters tense and fearful moments, but the experience that most affects him is the death of fellow soldier Billy Boy Watkins, who stepped on a land mine, lost his leg, and proceeded to succumb to his own fear and panic, ultimately dying from a shock induced heart attack. This event deeply affects Paul who feels unprepared for the reality of war. Throughout the text chronicling his first day at war, Paul Tries to conquer his fear but despite small victories he never succeeds in being unafraid.

A Literary Analysis of How to Tell a True War Story The short story that will be discussed, evaluated, and analyzed in this paper is a very emotionally and morally challenging short story to read. Michael Meyer, author of the college text The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, states that