"Nick went over to the pack and found, with his fingers, a long nail in a paper sack of nails, in the bottom of the pack. He drove it into the pine tree, holding it close and hitting it gently with the flat of the axe. He hung the pack up on the nail. All his supplies were in the pack. They were off the ground and sheltered now" (as quoted in Vernon)
However, with time Nick is able to find some semblance of his early self. He overcomes challenges and moves forward the best he can. Despite the fact that he is walking uphill through burned land with a backpack that is too heavy, he is now in a familiar place and happy to be here:
Nick slipped off his pack and lay down in the shade. He lay on his back and looked up into the pine trees. His neck and back and the small of his back rested as he stretched. The earth felt good against his back. He looked up at the sky, through the branches, and then shut his eyes. He o pened them and looked up again. There was a wind high up in the branches. He shut his eyes again and went to sleep. (213)
Nick finishes each of his tasks in a very slow and methodical way that forecasts his emotional breakdown. Yet, this is the only way that he can gain some familiarity with normalcy and stability, and he does not want to make a mistake. He stresses his patience when waiting for his hot food to cool: "He knew the beans and spaghetti were still too hot" and was not going to burn his tongue by trying to eat it too soon (216). Nick shows this same degree of care when baiting his fishhook: "He tested the know and the spring of the rod by pulling the line taut. It was a good feeling. He was careful not to let the hood bite into his finger" (223). He was trying to use these simple acts of familiarity to become a whole person once again.
As Vernon (2002) continues: "Military and war experiences affect the soldier's sense of gender identity, which for the male veteran means his masculinity, his conception of himself as a man, and by extension his general conception and experience of gender relations." Therefore, even when a veteran does not actually express his feelings about the war directly, it is possible to see the impact on him by recognizing the changes in his behavior specifically...
Vietnam Antiwar Lit Review Vietnam Anti-War Literature Review The Vietnam War marked a lot of "firsts" in relation to the course of American history. It is the first war that the United States lost. It is one of the first major military actions where actual war was not declared. It is also the first war that was brought to a halt by a public uproar and political fallout. The people were a
" In the context of a war poetry, this metaphor emphasizes the greatest honor a citizen of a state can embrace is to die for his land. Obviously, Owen uses this phrase in an ironical manner, circularly ending his poem by noting: "The old lie; Dulce et decorum est Pro Patria Mori." In terms of word registry, the poem is pretty much similar to the previous ones, meaning it emphasizes the
American Literature War Writing War Themes in American Literature War is one of the toughest topics for writers to handle. They have to deal with extreme inner demons based on their traumatic experiences in the field, but have to do so without completely isolating their characters from their readers, many of whom have never even been to war. Overall, there is a clear trend that has developed in American war writing. As
It makes sense, then, that H.G. Wells once "said he would 'rather be called a journalist than an artist'" (Wells qtd. In McConnell 176). If the dangers of the twentieth century would come from the way unrestricted scientific advancement coupled with self-interest results in new, terrifying methods of industrialized slaughter, then the particular mode or perspective of the artist, as an opposed to the journalist, would be insufficient or irrelevant.
War Is Permanent "Nothing, nothing will ever be the same" is the last line in Peg Lauber's poem "Six National Guardsmen Blown Up Together." And it's true; nothing is the same after war. The ravages of war and conflict are permanent, indelible. This is a theme that is explored in the aforementioned Peg Lauber poem as well as in the poem "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa. It is the purpose of
War on Terror & Human Rights The so-called "war on terror" -- initiated by former president George W. Bush after 9/11 -- has not succeeded in ending terrorism but it opened the door to numerous violations of human rights. A survey of verifiable, peer-reviewed sources in the literature show clearly that the Bush Administration and members of the military under Bush's command carried out human rights violations in the name of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now