The Things They Carried Blog #2

     A theme that seems to be surfacing within this book is the crumpled psychological state of the American soldiers in the Vietnam War.

      One thing that distinctly struck home for me in the chapter "On the Rainy River" was the indecisive "battle," for say, that O'Brien was mentally having with himself. He had a "moral split" where "[he] couldn't make up [his] mind" about whether to go to war or to rather run away to Canada. When he ventured out into the wilderness and stayed at the Tip Top Lodge, O'Brien was experiencing immense amounts of emotional turmoil. Between not wanting to disappoint family, friends, and his country, and simply not wanting to go to war, O'Brien was forced to consider the pros and cons of following through with his draft notice. To me, this chapter is on a very relatable level to almost anyone. Personally though, this parallels the pressure put on us high school students to go to an acceptable college to major in an acceptable subject.

     Another element of this section that I'd like to discuss is the blurred line between allies and enemies. The fight between Jensen and Strunk parallels the war in Vietnam (Where it is quite unclear which Vietnamese people are enemies and which are civilians).  In actuality the two soldiers in this situation are allies, but emotional stress causes the men to turn on each other in the chapter "Enemies."  The concept of "enemies everywhere" creates distrust throughout their team (Which is ironic simply because their fellow soldiers should be their most trusted allies.) Almost instantaneously after the fight, however, in the chapter "Friends" the bond between the men is repaired. The extreme and sudden contrast in emotional states exemplifies the fact that the young soldiers in Vietnam were incredibly unstable on a emotional level and felt the need to release that stress in some way.

      Emotional tyranny is shown yet again in this section on page 79 where Rat takes a great deal of time shooting the baby buffalo “not to kill; to hurt.” In this case the buffalo is vulnerable and helpless possibly paralleling how Rat feels in his situation in the war. Do Rat and his fellow soldiers feel like they’re being “blown to pieces” bit by bit as Rat is doing to this animal? Or possibly, has Rat become emotionally and morally numb by the immense killing he and his fellow soldiers are ordered to do and therefore feels no regret in torturing the buffalo? Lastly, maybe killing the baby buffalo was Rat’s way of symbolically killing off the enemy, ceasing the war all together.

     The final example of psychological decay within this section is Mary Anne. To summarize, she arrived at the American’s base camp in Vietnam as “over clean” with “bubbly personality and happy smile” basically any positive and optimistic characteristic a person could think of, but because of the intensity of the war, she left “dirty” and “never the same.”  So dramatically different that she wore a “necklace of human tongues.” This incredible shift in personality emphasizes the terrible intensity of the Vietnam War, and extent of stress it places on those people that experienced it.

      Example after example of mental and moral distress is shown throughout this section and, after a while, it seems almost poetic in nature. In each incident, the soldiers are symbolically releasing stress created by the chaotic scrambled emotions about their morals and relationships. As we can clearly see “the terrible things” that the young American soldiers are put through are hard to cope with, causing spontaneous outbreaks of destruction and recklessness. 

The Things They Carry Blog #1

The Things They Carry
     As we the reader are introduced to Lieutenant Cross, the first thing that struck me was the incredible detail Tim O'Brien spent listing the weights of the different personal items and/ or job related items that each soldier carried with them: "flak jacket which weighed 6.7 pounds; an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father." The individual "carryons" per say, must have special importance placed on them for a soldier to deem them worthy of taking up the precious weight upon their backpacks during war, because "necessity dictated." If an item was not significant to a soldier, it wouldn't make the cut. The things they carry make them who they are, an individual, and the continuous listing of said items aids in the readers familiarizing with the characters. Ironically these things that are labeled necessities and whose purpose is to build a soldier up,but, ultimately, weigh them down.
     Another thing that struck me about this idea of carrying your morals, was how Lieutenant Cross reacted when he thought of his love for Marsha. When he is in his dream world, "walking barefoot along the Jersey shoe, with Martha," he physically feels light "carrying nothing." In his real world, filled with war, where every necessity or belonging weighs him down, simply the thought of being with the one he loves lifts that burden.
     The final thing I'd like to discuss is the amount of repetition found within this book. Every time there is a major indentation, the following paragraph begins by talking about the things the soldiers carry. Where as this repetition, I'm sure, is used to emphasize the importance of the items they bring along with them, other repetitions aren't as clear to me. For example many times when a character is brought up within the story line, a fact or tidbit about them is also brought up. Whenever Henry Dobbins is discussed, so is the fact that "(he) was a big man." When Ted Lavender is talked about, he is described as "scared." At this point in the book, I don't know if this repetition is used just to familiarize the reader with all of the characters, or whether this adds to another part of the story. Does the narrator have some type of short term memory loss, and occasionally repeats himself? Or are those characteristics just so important that they basically define who that character is, therefore necessitating to say that Henry is big or that Ted is scared?

Love:
This short Chapter left me with numerous questions, and not a whole lot of answers. Who is the narrator of this section? Could it possibly be the same one as the first chapter? All I know about this person is that he served in the war with Lieutenant Cross, and knows about Martha. Also what did Lieutenant Cross mean by, "don't mention anything about--?" What is this understood unspeakable event?

The Great Gatsby Chapters 8-9

    The first thing I'd like to discuss in Chapters 8 and 9 is the reoccurring phrase of "ash heaps." I find Fitzgerald's use of the phrase, like on page 167, really intrigues me. My best guess is that ash heaps in the landscape, shows the denigration of not only the city around the characters, but also the moral wasteland. The comparison adds great emphasis to how horribly trashy the characters are in the book.
   Another reoccurring symbol is "Doctor T. J. Eckleburg's eyes." I've discussed this before in other blogs, but haven't been entirely sure of its' meaning until now. Within chapter 8, Wilson reflects on the fact that his wife, Myrtle, was in an affair. Michaelis and Wilson have a conversation about it. When observing the advertisement, Wilson makes the statement, "God sees everything." I've come to the conclusion that this is the moral of the whole book. Although the characters are completely unaware of their unmoral state of mind, God, or the voice of reason, is always watching. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg represent how disappointingly degraded society was at this time, and how God is observing the calamity of the world.
   The next thing I'd like to discuss is Gatsby's funeral. I found it incredibly ironic how all of the reporter and paparazzi reacted to his death. The amount of untrue, distorted stories that surfaced about his death were unreal! To me this parallels the gossipy stories that went around during the beginning of the book (Gatsby's parties.) If you recall, the people that went to his parties really didn't know much about him other than the stories they had heard. Similarly, the press distorted the story of way Mr. Jay Gatsby died. Is this not how every society reacts to famous people? Do we let the media influence what we hold to be true? This again, adds to the theme of a corrupt society.
   Great Gatsby really has gotten me thinking about the way society runs, and yet how nobody realizes how incredibly rotten we've gotten. "God sees everything," good or bad, and whether we realize it or not; a bad deed is a bad thing whether we are caught in the act and accused or not, and I believe that is what Fitzgerald really wants us readers to take from this book. We as a society can either ignore our God, the true voice of reason, and do whatever we want,  or we can fight for a clear conscience by doing what we know is right.

The Great Gatsby Chapter 6-7

   Throughout Chapter 7, numerous symbols stood out to me. The first of these was the heat that Fitzgerald described in great detail, over a whole three page spread. From the beginning of the chapter, “the day [was] broiling” to the point where “[the] seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion,” and “people lapsed despairingly into deep heat.” The descriptions of the heat of the day are so immense that it makes the reader really question what the significance of this heat is. Maybe the boiling heat simply symbolizes some type of passion or other strong emotion that will transpire within the chapter. Or possibly the warmth represents a fiery build up of events, maybe an explosion (of sorts), like a fight or other intense situation.

   To find out, the steaming heat lead up to Wilson and Tom realizing that their wives were in affairs with other men. Neither of the men takes this realization well. Wilson actually gets physically sick at this fact. This situation is incredibly ironic simply because both of the men have also been in affairs throughout the complete book. How hypocritical is it that the men hold their wives to higher standards than they hold themselves to? Neither of the men really thought marital affairs were immoral, rather just a part of their upper class lives. How easily a person of this time period would jump from one relationship to another really astounds and confuses me! For example when Gatsby and Tom Buchanan get into a fight about who Daisy loves, Gatsby claims that, “[Daisy’s] never loved you (Tom Buchanan). She loves me (Gatsby).” Throughout this, though, Daisy goes back and forth between her love for Gatsby and for Tom. By the end of the fight she, surprisingly, goes to her husband, but yet Gatsby is still willing to sacrifice everything for her. (Willing to take the blame for Daisy killing Myrtle) How ridiculous! Does Daisy only like Gatsby for his money and possessions? Is she just as greedy as everyone else? Can any of the characters, but Nick, be trusted?

    The last symbolism I’d like to discus is one that had appeared earlier within the book, but that I hadn’t processed: the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. I personally don’t understand the entirety of this symbol yet. Is this an actual doctor from somewhere in America’s history? Do the eyes symbolize God looking down upon the moral wasteland of America? Is this an actual character we readers will meet later on? What significance does Fitzgerald want the reader to realize? 

The Great Gatsby Chapters 3-5

     Within chapters 3 through 5 there are numerous symbolic examples that aid in Fitzgerald's telling of the story which I am would like to discuss. 

     The first symbol I found interesting is the presence of the green light that was mentioned in a previous chapter. When I first read of the green light in Chapter one, I thought that it might simply refer to Gatsby's mysterious character, but as it reappeared in this reading, other possible meanings were revealed. The green glow of the light that "burns all night at the end of [Daisy's] dock" may symbolize a beacon of hope for Gatsby's love for Daisy. Because loved her to the extent that he even “bought [his] house so that Daisy would be across the bay,” I find this the single best explanation of the light. But if that is the true meaning, the significance of the light dissipates as Gatsby's dream of being with Daisy is fulfilled so I’m not positive this is the correct meaning of  the symbol.

     Another plausible meaning behind the light may simply be the hope of people to become significant, to mean something, to be someone. People of the thirties, especially in this community, put a enormous emphasis on possessions, social status, and social presence within the popular high class people.  

    The final possible symbolism behind the glow is America's striving for individuality, financial stability, and freedom. "Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs (lower class,) have always been obstinate (determined) about [not] being peasantry," or in other words constantly refuse to be "below" or under the control of their peers. Like a distant light, the possibility of freedom was visible along the horizon but yet so out of reach.

    Gatsby’s personality is another item that intrigues and confuses me as a reader. As the reader blatantly knows from the proceeding chapters, Gatsby lives an obscured life of luxury. Between hosting drunken parties, his unorthodox business operation, and his non-conclusive back story, Gatsby is, as Nick states a "character," we just cannot trust. The “increasing rain” that suddenly appeared shortly before Gatsby and Daisy's date demonstrates an important shift in the story. As Gatsby fulfills his dream of being with Daisy, though, we observe a personality metamorphism. He was symbolically cleansed of his narcissistic behaviors! This is not apparent until after the rain ceased and “there were twinkle-bells of sunshine in the room.” Fitzgerald described Gatsby with a series of similes: “[Gatsby was] smiling like a weather man, like an ecstatic patron of recurrent light.”

   All though I’m not certain that Gatsby’s new personality will stick around, I’m hopeful that he will get rid of his frivolous old behaviors. 

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1:
   The Great Gatsby opens by discussing moral lessons and concepts that the main character has been taught.  As in this lesson that piqued my interest, "Conduct may be founded on hard rock or the wet marshes, but after a certain point [he doesn't] care what it's founded on." This statement offers insight to the speaker's philosophy on life. Not only does the statement suggest that conduct is important in society, it also conveys that the moral conducts of society can be either set in stone, "on hard rock" or completely unstable and topsy-turvy, "...the wet marshes."
   We readers were also introduced to "Gatsby," presumably a "gorgeous" man who may or may not have had a dark side. Although, "Gatsby turned out all right in the end," the character says, "it's what preyed on Gatsby that... temporarily closed out [his] interest in the ... sorrows and... elations of men." We also learn that, like the main character, Gatsby is pretty well set in the financial department. As a reader, the speaker's conservative description of Gatsby and his life style really adds some obvious foreshadowing about Gatsby's character.
   Along with introducing some of the characters like Gatsby, Miss Baker, Daisy, Nick, and Tom Buchanan, the first chapter really sets the stage for what is to come. Not only is the time frame set, "in the Spring of [nineteen] twenty two," but also the setting, "east,"the eastern New York area in a very opulent district of town. Symbolism is present in the "a single green light," along the waterline which may have some significance possibly referring to a mysterious character or setting.
Chapter 2:
   The second chapter opens by explaining in detail some different things. For example the "grey" setting with the "ghastly creak," adding foreshadowing to the story. The melancholy setting emphasizes a dreary event that may happen within this scene. The way that Nick describes, Tom's woman, "Continually smoldering " also provides foreshadowing and insight to the story. The events in chapter two elaborate the lifestyle of the characters, very elegant and beautiful. Also within the chapter we see how low the morals are of these people, especially Gatsby.They live eloquent lives on the outside, but have hugely corrupt morals. Between affairs and drunken parties, these characters thus far, other than Nick, live a facade life as Nick was "amazed at the elaborateness of the lie," told by his peers.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Final Chapter! 26)

Chapter 26- Is He Serious? and other ironies (Irony Trumps Everything)
     Irony is one of the most difficult concepts for a reader to master. And the author tells us that irony can come in an infinite number of forms: comic, wry, perplexing, or tragic etc. To find irony a reader needs to dig deep in literature.