Review of "The Things They Carried"

The Things They Carried, On the Rainy River

On the Rainy River is a personal narrative of a man who receives a letter from the U.S. drafting department. He is a scholar with high marks and a promising future who becomes faced with a dilemma of moral obligation versus the call of duty. He is a self proclaimed Liberal. At the arrival of this letter he is out of school for the summer working at a slaughterhouse for swine. He comes from a loving family with good morals and values. He has a fondness of being American.
Time has passed in his response to the letter and he begins having thoughts that teeter between going to war and the consequences of running away from everything. His mind is consumed by his reasons as well as his senses of his summer job. Anxiety takes control when he flees the slaughterhouse to return home and pack, he packs leaving only a vague note for his parents. He drives toward the border of Canada and discovers an inn where an old man took him in, no questions asked. Here with each passing day he uncovers within him the courage to go to war, but finds he is a coward in running from it.
There is a sense of bravery when one enlists in our armed forces, but for those who had no other alternative it is a struggle of personal and public scrutiny. Many had to choose love of country over value of life in order to not be chastised by their fellow man. Most take the journey of self-discovery during their service, but for O'Brien he followed the path of self-doubt before uncovering his destiny. Little boys are brought up to believe they shouldn’t cry and even more so in those days. O’Brien even states, “I tried to swallow it back, I tried to smile, except I was crying. Now, perhaps, you can understand why I’ve never told this story before.” (O’Brien) Even as an adult now he believes a man shouldn’t cry. Even in the field of battle there is a phantom rule that emotions must be kept under control. Anger and frustration are accepted, but fear and doubt have no place on a battlefield. It is do or die, kill or be killed. O’Brien concludes, “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war.” (O’Brien) Here is a testimony of personal versus societal demands.

My Response to Hamill

The Necessity to Speak by Sam Hamill can release a person from the bonds that tie them, for “writing is a form of human communication expressing ideas regarding the human condition”. (Hamill) One may agree/disagree with his philosophy, but then he/she may still not be willing to come forth with their truth. For some the written word may be a foreign land for which they had no plans to venture. For others there may be a path they turned on that happened to have less of a wind, the fortunate thing with them is they can be easily enticed to scope out a new direction. “Knowledge is the loss of innocence”, the lack of worldly experience is often the price for knowledge. (Hamill)
Alicia Ostriker’s poem Daffodils touches on this sort of sacrifice of purity. A photographer is seen as someone who has an artful eye for beauty, splendor is found but in the most abstract way and looking for innocence “we can’t bear very much reality”. (Hamill) There are those who would rather turn a blind eye to the thought of cruelty than fight for their philosophies on life. Our conscience often bogs down communication; we are not willing to stand up for a cause for it may offend. Hamill says, “Before the first word is written, the writer is a witness who struggles not to flinch, not to look away.”
That statement also held true in Sharon Olds, Rite of Passage, the poem of a mother’s observation of a young son’s birthday. Her vision of these boys gathered to “celebrate her son’s life”, is one of tiny grown-up men. (Olds) These boys “seeing themselves tiny in the other’s pupils”, begins the ceremony in the transition of their progress of aging. Olds as the poet “invents a being, and that being is her child as a man, stands before her world naked and feeling”. (Hamill) Perhaps the mother is exposing her fear of losing her baby to a harsh world.
“We find poetry embarrassing”; perhaps for the reason of becoming belittled stating that one finds it fascinating or worse neurologically stimulating. (Hamill) In The Necessity to Speak, Hamill discusses various avenues of when/how a person may not want to be touched. Many might say that words are not capable of physical touch, but emotionally they tap into the senses. “Touch is a primary language in the discourse of emotions”, said Hamill for “we think poetry is about emotions, poetry in not about”. (Hamill) Poetry comes from a deeper part of one’s soul, a place that many not visit enough.

Response to Daffodils and Rite of Passage
I believe much can be said about titles of literature and poetry seems to have no exception. When skimming the list of poems two had caught my eye, I suppose it was my imagination that drew me to want to explore beyond the name. For example, Daffodils by Alicia Ostriker only caught my eye because I had been a florist and had always admired how nature could create such a unique flower. The first two lines of this poem give a purpose for what is to follow, “The day the war against Iraq begins”, brought me a bit of sadness. (Ostriker) Until proceeding to the second line, “I’m photographing the yellow daffodils”, which gave me the sense that this could have been a reporter or soldier finding beauty in wartime. (Ostriker) It was interesting how Alicia chose to describe the flower; it felt as though she was comparing the structure of the daffodil to a tiny soldier. I also found it intriguing how a daffodil can bring a somber mood in the lines, “-Which in a sense is also hell because the daffodils do look as if they dance.” (Ostriker) I can only assume that for those who have had their regular daily lives destroyed by war, the simplest flower thriving could cause heartache or disbelief.
Now with my second choice, Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds, was not quite what I was expecting it to be. It begins with a parent describing theirs son’s party, there are no specifics until the fourteenth line that it is a birthday party. I enjoyed reading how the parent saw their son along with the other children. Describing them as, “short men , men in first grade with smooth jaws and chins”, “a room of small bankers. I often feel children look like miniature adults. This parent spent a great deal of time observing children and how they would interact with one another. It made me wonder if this poem was a reflection on the writers own experience as a parent. Great detail was spent in interpreting the children’s communication with each other. For example, “How old are you? -Six. –I’m seven. –So?”, this gave even more of a visual to what the scenery may have been like. There was no indication as to what time period this may have taken place, but it could have been any decade post wartime. The banter back and forth between the children leads up to, “like Generals, they relax and get down to playing war”. After this line was, “celebrating my son’s life”, which sparked memories of when I have observed my children in play and found a sense of joy in watching them enjoy themselves.

Intro of Myself

A Response to Nabokov

Nabokov feels that a reader is a patron to the writer. As if the writer were a host greeting a customer to come on in, table for one? Only at this establishment there are rules for how your business with the writer should be dealt with. Nabokov describes a writer as somewhat of a puppeteer and his words are the puppet from which the strings or plot are derived from. He entices the reader into taking a quiz that undoubtedly makes one feel their reading the latest addition of Glamour magazine. His insight on the mastery of how a writer is deemed great is truthful, however not everyone may form an equal opinion. Nabokov stated after reviewing answers most students submitted he said, “the good reader is one who has imagination, memory, a dictionary and some artistic sense”. As someone venturing into the world of education myself I feel this statement derails from the concept of a persons development. For example, if one is not advanced in his/her vocabulary how pleasurable would a story be if one had to look up every other word? I believe a good reader is someone who allows he or she the time to explore forms of writing beyond tabloids and magazines. The more they dive into the unknown will also spark further interest for literature. Having said that, I believe in myself as a reader and only hope to broaden the horizon for my own status as a good reader.

nabokov.pdf