True or Not? Follow up

One of my class's main topics of discussion last week was the "true or not?" question the book poses. I touched on this in my blog last week, but deciding whether certain aspects of O'Brien's book are true or not is something that I'll never fully be able to do. As an interested reader and granddaughter of a Vietnam War veteran, I want so badly for his stories to be true--the gruesome and sad ones, too. I want to know what it actually was like in Vietnam from a soldier's perspective, maybe because my grandfather always avoided war stories. Maybe, like Elizabeth mentioned in our class discussion, the actions of former soldiers are blurred by all of the violence and shock they face. Maybe a soldier telling a regular civilian that he/she killed someone brings old demons and negative thoughts back.
Maybe thinking of the war is too traumatizing. We as students will never really know the answer.
This question in the discussion really led me to think--are any of the war stories we hear in the present day fully accurate and truthful? While news cameras and reporters can try to share all of the facts and images of the war with its viewers, the only people who really know what is actually happening are the soldiers fighting in the war. I think the reason that viewers and readers of war stories are so fascinated by war and what is happening abroad is because they too cannot fully know if every piece of information they are receiving is true. Like O'Brien's book, oftentimes it's left to one's own personal interpretation and judgement to decide if a story is true or not and whether that person chooses to believe it.

Post Harkness Question

After the Harkness Discussion, Ms. Maxey asked her students why they are unable to relate to any of the war characters from the book. Why are we as readers able to relate to some of the most abstract and interesting of characters, like Holden Caulfield, and not characters from O'Brien's book? I personally believe it is because war is unlike any experience any of us as students have had. The violent environment that the war provides where one is forced to kill is completely unlike anything a regular civilian could possibly experience. In addition, veterans and current soldiers and military officers deserve a high level of respect for their sacrifices for this nation. It would be rude or disrespectful of me to try to compare a situation in my life to that of a soldier fighting in war. The amount of physical and mental stress they go through or have gone through is truly unmeasurable by a civilian, so for me to relate myself or my emotions to that of a soldier would almost minimize their actions and importance to our country.
While I cannot say that I fully relate to Holden Caulfield, I am able to relate my emotions or aspects of my life to that of his because he has not experienced war and the tremendous effects fighting in war has on soldiers. It's appropriate for me as a reader to be able to relate and compare myself to another civilian, not a war veteran or soldier.

TTTC - True or Not?!

O’Brien as a writer plays constant mind games with his reader.  He is the author of these “fictional” stories yet he has a character named after himself.  He as the author has experienced many of these stories in different variations than the ones told.  Before the short story “How to Tell a True War Story,” where O’Brien completely messes with the minds of his readers, one may be led to believe that his stories completely fiction because of the great intensity and severity of some of his accounts.  However, in the short story “Spin,” O’Brien talks about how stories fill in when memories are erased and that stories connect the past to the future.  The way O’Brien describes his memories in conjunction with stories makes it seem like he is sharing his own personal, real-life encounters.  However, as the reader, it is our job to remember that this book is not a memoir but rather a work of fiction.  This tactic of making his reader guess whether each story actually occurred that O’Brien uses in his book is powerful.  While it frustrates me and confuses me all at once, O’Brien’s mind games keep me on my toes and questioning each and every story he tells. In my opinion, this is one of O’Brien’s most useful tools as a writer, which has captured my attention and has forced me to keep reading.

TTTC - Enemies

The chapter titled “Enemies” is perplexing to me as a reader.  When I first read the title of the chapter, I was expecting to read about a war battle or an encounter with enemy troops, not an inner platoon fistfight between Jensen and Strunk over a missing jacknife.  As I read this chapter, I begin to more fully understand the paranoia and mental battles these soldiers have with themselves as a result of the war. If Jensen and Strunk were on a team of some sort together back in the United States without experiencing war, I would like to think that there is no way that the two characters could get into a fistfight over a missing object.  With the stresses of war, however, every little argument or tiffy between fellow soldiers is largely escalated, causing a soldier to result to violence and physicality because that’s what they have been living and always doing in Vietnam.  The aftermath of the fight and mental state of Jensen is by far the most shocking part of this chapter and fight between the two men.  The visual and auditory imagery of Jensen shooting the sky with his gun while yelling “Strunk” really shows the reader his deep anger and twisted mentality as he is unable to separate his feelings of war with the way he treats and regards his colleagues.  “For two or three hours he simply sat there,” O’Brien writes as Jensen collapses after displaying his anger towards Strunk. This demonstrates the impaired mind of Jensen and the physical toll that the fight and the war at large have taken of Jensen as a person.  He has lost sight of himself being involved in the war.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost presents readers with a recognizable situation that they have probably encountered numerous times in their lives: a moment where they have to make a choice. This choice is typically between two things that are similar but have the ability to lead you in completely different directions. It is a free choice that we are given, but have no exact knowledge of what we are fully choosing between.
 During Poetry Week last year, I saw this poem plastered on the door of a bathroom stall, and it caught my eye and immediately had a profound impact on me. I read it over and over again as certain lines resonated with me. "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference," kept standing out in my head as I read the poem. Clearing my mind and easing my indecisiveness, I had made my decision. For me, I wasn't choosing between what tennis shoes to buy or what to eat for lunch; I was choosing my college.
Poetry has the ability to bring all sorts of emotions to people, making them react in different ways than maybe their friend would. That, however, is the lovely thing about poetry. It can be as small as four stanzas, like "The Road Not Taken," but can impact a life or decision so greatly.
My favorite aspect of this poem is that Robert Frost really leaves the meaning of the poem up to the reader, allowing them to insert parts of his/her life in the cracks. This also allows the reader to find a slightly different meaning to the poem every time he/she reads it because it is so flexible and adaptable.
I think it was fate that I found this poem while I was going to the bathroom in the middle of math class. It is by far my favorite poem because of the effect is has had on me. I also knew it was important to me when it was the first thing I shared with my parents when I came home from school. This poem, as weird as it sounds, saved me from my own insanity at a time of tremendous stress and indecisiveness. It has eased my mind and made me find clarity and confidence in my college decision. Thank you, Robert Frost!

(I'm excited to start the poetry unit!)

The Magic of Books!

In every high school English class, students are required to read multiple works of literature--short stories, poems, long novels, etc. These students, who are often tasked with many assignments from their four or five other classes, tend to lose desire to read assigned books, viewing the reading as a burden and not as a joy. Oftentimes, students required to read to a specific section of the book a night, like "chapter four" for instance, see that marker as a finish line for the night. Cramming two hours worth of reading into a forty-five minute time slot, especially when it is late at night and one's eyes start to fade in and out of the light because of his/her exhaustion, does not allow for one to fully grasp the "magic" of the book. Some of my favorite books to read have been school assigned books that I have re read during a school break because I could fully enjoy the book without feeling overwhelmed or having my mind wonder to the thoughts of my incomplete math homework or my biology test the next day.
Reading should remain a joyful yet impactful activity that can be done in an academic setting or on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon. Reading allows people to reflect on their own lives, connect with characters, and imagine the plot coming alive in their minds. When reading is rushed and not read for meaning, the reader is not able to pick up on the important details that make the book and its message unique. As a result of rushed reading, the reader is also unable to really use his/her imagination to interpret the book as they please. This is one of the biggest points Hermann Hesse makes, as he believes that books are what is "keeping our imagination from dwindling away." So while assigned reading can seem unnecessary, extensive, and boring, we should all try to give the book and its plot or utmost attention so we are able to subconsciously allow are imaginations to translate the thoughts we develop from reading the book into an image that plays as we read in our heads. Everyone's "internal movie," the image one sees when reading a book, is original to each individual, and that's the special and magical thing about books! Allow them to take you where you want them to go. Read for enjoyment, to better yourself, improve your imagination, and expand your views. Experience the magic in each book, and do not just simply let it skim by!