The things they carried blog prompt 3

1.)  I think that the alter personality created at war is vital in sustaining your sanity and maintaining your composure, as well as not compromising your morals by transforming them and bending them.  I think that soldiers in The Things They Carried know each other less than in a real war.  I think that in a real war people would strive to know the soldier they are fighting alongside.  I do not think that a soldier can carry over their personality from home onto the battlefield.  They just do not combine on every level.  Creating a separate new personality is required because they are being reborn in a sense into a new world.  Through adaptation these soldiers become new people. 

2.) I think that O'Brien had a couple of messages he was trying to portray when he introduced Fossie's girlfriend Marry Anne into the story.  First, I think he was trying to depict that there were no rules out in Vietnam and anything goes.  Secondly, I think she represented the transformation of an individual in Vietnam, specifically the loss of innocence for soldiers there.  This is shown by how she first arrives and is very lady like and worldly.  Her clothing is city made, she wears make up, and talks daintily.  As time goes on she begins to change and become more hardened and curious.  She stops dressing as formally, she goes on nightly outings with Green Beret's, and becomes cold and callous towards Fossie.  Things permanently change and she will never recover from that just as soldiers cannot recover from what they become in Vietnam.

3.)  I believe that O'Brien was telling stories about the things that actually happened to him with falsified details, characters, events.  I think that he did this in order to make us feel what he actually felt as well as his men.  If O'Brien were to just say that one of his buddies was sad that would give the reader many different ideas and levels onto which the sadness would be based.  However, if O'Brien said that this buddy cried for days straight, burned his bed to ashes, and then hung himself we would understand the amount of grief he had even though this story was not true.  The disadvantage is that someone realizes that these stories are not true and so they disregard their content.  The advantage is of course that the readers understand how the soldiers are feeling in detail.  I think that because the stories seem so real it does not take away from the novel but adds to it because I can understand how the men feel.

Questions:

1.) What is the significance of the water buffalo and puppy being killed?

2.) What do you think will happen to Fossie after the war?

3.) How do you feel about Luetentant Cross's leading ability?

4.) Why was Norman Bowker so preoccupied with retrieving the picture of his girlfriend from the swamp?

5.) Who was really to blame for Kiowa's death?

The Great Gatsby: What does it all mean?

      
Throughout the novel, the Great Gatsby there is a lot of wanting but not being able to attain the thing being wanted.  This yearning for something is also considered the American Dream, or the pursuit of happiness and is very prominent in the book because ever character has some desire, and also the driving force of myself and my fellow Americans. 
       
        For one example of a character in the novel that has a desire it is obviously Mr.Gatsby, who wants to be with Daisy but she is married to Tom so she is unattainable. Mr.Gatsby tries desperately to get together with her and does but it is short lived and destroyed by Tom and obviously Jay Gatsby's death.  "So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight-watching over nothing".  Nick said that and it means that nothing will happen between Gatsby and Daisy.  I relate to his predicament because I once wanted to date a girl but she was dating another guy.  We both liked each other but her boyfriend was controlling.  Finally, when she broke up with him and we were going to date, her father was sent to a new base for the military and she left. 

        Another example of someone trying to achieve something and not being able to is Wilson wanting to leave with Myrtle because he knew she was having an affair with someone.  Before they were going to leave she was killed by Daisy in Gatsby's car which is very unfortunate.  "'Auto hit her. Ins'antly killed"' was what the policeman said to Tom when he arrived at the scene.  I can relate to this because when I got a new game for my Xbox 360 I loved it.  I played it all the time and nothing else.  I was about to download the game to my hard drive so I wouldn't lose it and it would run faster.  That very day before I did, my friend came over to play it.  He accidently kicked my Xbox while the game was running and this resulted in the disk being terribly scratched beyond repair.  I havn not been able to play the game since then.  In this case my friend represented Daisy, and his foot was the car. 

     All in all, I related to the characters of the Great Gatsby much more than I expected.  They were in different ways but still quite more meaningful to me than it may seem to others.  Desire without satisfaction was ramped throughout the novel and in my life as well as most Americans.  The characters in the book tried desperately to achieve something and could not, as I have done the same and we all had the same outcome or consequences.  Theirs may have been more severe but the resemblance remains, that we all wanted something and could not obtain it.

The Great Gatsby: Symbolism in Chapters 1-4

            I think that the Great Gatsby is the most interesting character and idea in chapters one through four.  The most obvious reason he is, is because of the mystery that surrounds him and his facade.  Throughout the first couple of chapters little is known about Gatsby, and it seems there are myths and rumors hiding the truth of his origins and acquisition of vast wealth.  Also, Gatsby hints to some "sad thing" that happened to him and I am eager to find out just what that is.  Some symbolisim that related very well to the connection between his image and real self is when the man in his library tells Nick to replace the book because removing one brick could make the whole library collapse.  This relates to the Gatsby because the library represents his image and if one flaw is exposed, or one lie is uncovered then his whole facade could come crashing down.  What also intrests me about the Gatsby is even though he seems to have weaknesses and wholes in his plan I believe its all part of his scheme.  I wonder what his plans with Nick are sense he seems to be treating him special and has no real other friends.  If he really only is being friends with Nick in order to get to Daisy then I think thats why he looked embarresed and left quickly when shaking hands with Tom.  Another symbol that Gatsby embodies is the "glue" that connects the East and West egg.  He has East egg people at his parties but is very wealthy himself.  I feel that he is the american dream and the people that come to his parties are pursuing happiness. 

The Great Gatsby: Characters in chapter 1

Nick is a young educated man who fought in world war 1, people are always telling him secrets. 
                                 "I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores"


Daisy is a beautiful socialite and her husband cheats on her
                                "For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face;".

 Tom is her husband and he cheats on her, he is strong, handsome, sexist, rascist, and a socialite as well
                               "he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body.. "

 Jordan, is Daisy's friend and eased droped on the phone call between Tom and his mistress
'“Don’t talk. I want to hear what happens.”'

So far, I think the novel is intresting and I like the description the author uses however im confused as to wether he is Nick or not.  I thought I remember talking in class about how the narrator was talking in first person but not actually that person. I like the writing style of the author and am not bothered by his description of other men.  One symbol in the novel is light, or sun and it is usually related with Daisy.  Another is water, and it is described around where Nick lives.