At the end of the story, Bonaparte experiences a chasm between him and the morals he once knew. He is alienated from everything and states even the "birds and the bloody stars were all far away" (1030). He also admits he feels "very small and very lost and very lonely like a child astray in the snow" (1030). The last sentence is the most gripping, revealing the full scope of his situation. He says, "And anything that ever happened to me afterwards, I never felt the same about again" (1030). Here we see the evidence of regret. Bonaparte cannot change what has happened and sadly, he must live with it for the rest of his life. We must believe him when he says he will never be the same again and feel empathy for the man that must live with his guilty conscious forever. Murder must be a horrible weight to bear and O'Connor makes it palpable in this scene with Bonaparte feeling so small in the forest. O'Connor uses the setting of "Gusts of the Nation" to emphasize the brutality of war. These men were forced to make a decision that went against their personal leanings. O'Connor allows these men time to get know one another like neighbors or coworkers; he allows them to engage in friendly arguments about politics and religion and we see a bond developing between them. This is a human experience; this is how men behave when they are put together. O'Connor's deliberate tactic of placing the men in a situation where they would become acquainted is no mistake. War is the least likely place one might think to make a friend but as this story demonstrates, it happens. What we are to...
We often hear the phrase "war is hell" and this story makes this statement more true but also more sad because they had it within them to stop but they did not. Bonaparte could have resisted on the way to the bog and perhaps Donovan would have agreed with him. A poorly-executed escape would have served all men better than a pointless execution. O'Connor is telling us this is what war does to men.
The Scriptures also speak of dreams and prophesies which come through God's servant, delivering words of God's will to the people Though the preacher may not want to preach these words, like Jonah, he or she is commissioned to do so or he or she is no preacher. The Holy Spirit also is the comforter (John 14:16) and through the words of a preacher, God's people find relief and
The Problem of White Normativity In a multi-racial world, defining anyone as “black” or “white” makes as much sense as believing that all issues are “black” and “white” and that there are no shades of gray to anything. Almost everyone will certainly agree that from politics to economics to religion to any subject under the sun, there is a great deal of leeway to be given because to rigidly peg something
Black Women in Law Profession Early Twentieth Century Black women attempting to enter careers in law during the period from 1900 through 1970 faced a variety of unique challenges. During this era, many women of all races began to question their role and place into society; it was during this time that civil rights campaigns were beginning to flourish, and African-American women as faced the prospect of not only being a
Black Death in 14th Century Europe Pivot Point In History causes and effects in history 20/20 HISTORICAL HINDSIGHT The Black Death of the middle 14th Century in Europe was a major pivot point in History. Three ways it was a turning point can be seen through social hierarchy, the Roman Catholic Church and Medicine. Social hierarchy, the Church and Medicine were all different before the Black Death, they all failed during the Black Death,
The advent of World War II saw and end of the period of economic turmoil and massive unemployment known as the Great Depression, and thus was a time of increased opportunity for many of the nation's citizens and immigrants, but the experiences of some groups during and following the war were far less positive than others. Some of this was due to the different histories that different immigrant groups
Historically black colleges and universities are becoming much more important in the st century considering the contentious racial issues currently outstanding around the world. Here, the recent events related to the killing of unarmed black men while in police custody highlights many of the issues that are currently facing the African American community. Even more important, is the lack of wealth and financial acumen with the African American community, which
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