The things that are still carried

When Wes Hamilton came to talk to us he told us that he doesn't know the names of the people he was with in Vietnam and this really got me thinking because it shows the change that war can bring upon you. The alter ego of war is that not of a man but a shell of a man masking for what is supposed to be more of a man, an exterior of a tank but the engine of a Vespa. The change seems to be that of a dramatic change in the psyche of the mind because they have to put up this shell and long enough they start believing it and then when they leave they realize they are not that and it changes them and so as Wes explained someone is not John Doe they are something like hamhock. In the things they carried i see the similarity in this, although their names are mentioned it is very possible he only knew them because of the writers state of mind or he went back to find them. In the book all of them changed like Tim O'Brien himself he went from a scared boy who ran from his problems into the shell of a hard man with the same little kid inside, like a kitten inside a lions body. I can tell it hurt Mr. Hamilton when he said that he didn't know their names but thats the choice he made then not to get to know them because he could have but the thought of loss, then, was worse than the regret that he feels now.
Women not being able to serve in the military is a Façade mostly because the battle for the rights of women have come so far and the have acomplished many things even in just the last thirty years. But during the Vietnam war it is a very different story, because then it was taboo for a women to do it especially sucsessfully because it was so hard for it to be done. Tim O'brien introducing a strog women into the mix did many things for the story. Adding the women first showed that it wasn't just men that were changed while being involved in the war but it was everyone and anyone that is able to withstand can be accepted because it turns from the obvious sexism to a united from. Also having a strong women in the book took away from it just being a Mens club to seeing it from the perspective of a momen or atleast being as close to that perspective as possible and made it possible to see it through the eyes of someone besides a 20 year old guy.
In the end Fiction and Non-Fiction fade into one, a famous quote by a famous man, Me. The realm of obscurity and exaggeration in a story only extend so far, and as he said sometimes you just have to make up a good war story. I do believe that most of the story's in there have at least a basis of truth, like many story's i tell, when i come up with them on the spot i base them upon a true event in my life and build upon that. In the story it seems like alot of what he said was made up but im sure most of it was true because crazy stuff happens in war and im sure a little embellishment is a good thing.
To be to fact based takes away from the allure of a story, yet another quote from a famous man, Me. That is the fallacy of the human working, we are so bogged down with paperwork and facts that we have no time for reality, we are concerned with what did or what might happen next that we are so cautious life at some points isn't even worth living. Living through the day and age of the computer and all of the agree to this so we don't get sued bull shit and the are you 18 or older websites it seems as if they have taken the fun out of being a human and being a person. Even though some or even most of Tim O'Brien's stories seem fabricated that is the best thing about this book because you can see what was in their heads and what they either wanted or wanted not to happen and that is what makes these things amazing stories to gain knowledge from.

I, a stranger and afraid in a world i never made.
-Housman
This poem shows how i think they felt out being in Vietnam they weren't in their comfort level and were scared for their lives every day so a woman, Wes Hamilton and Tim O'Brien can all say they experienced all the same and even though they weren't there together (although some were) they can say they did make that world because their choices brought them to that point.
Questions:
1: Why do you think that they allowed Mary to be with them all of that time?
2:Do you think they agreed with all of this or not
3:What did they do to cope?

What did they carry?

The soldiers carried many things, that of memory's of home and of loved one's and that they may not be home to see them. They carried that of burden and of sacrifice that they must be hero's for their country and for themselves. They carried Love, lust, hate and remorse of their time in Vietnam, the love of the feelings the lust for blood, reward and accomplishment the hat of themselves for a fallen comrade and the remorse of the measures taken to protect their land and home. Most of all they carried themselves, they were forced to carry all of these things and many more inside and outside of themselves, and it seems to me the one's that would carry it all on their sleeves would be the ones that would get through this all and not the ones who pretend that they love the kills and the death and the terrorism that it is to be at war in a foreign land.
Ted Lavender was a scared individual, he needed drugs to keep him calm. I cannot say he is the only person that has ever suffered from this affliction, as a man at war he knew that scruples were that of which you could not carry with you for a weak man is a man who gets killed, as he did. He was one of the lucky ones as far as i am concerned, to not have to experience all of the turmoil and grief which is caused through the war and get to experience the loving embrace of death and get to experience the ethereal dream that will undoubtedly happen to all of us one day. Ted Lavender is that of a man that was not scared of the war but scared of himself, he did not want to have to live with himself and death was the greatest thing he could have bestowed upon himself.
THE NOVEL, THE MOVIE AND THE RESEARCH ALL GO TOGETHER BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY ABOUT THE SAME THING.

The things i've carried

9/11 2001 i wake up in my house and everyone is silenced and as i wonder why i head upstairs and there is my Father, Brother and room mate Hank all sitting there in stunned silence as the a plane hit tower 2. When i went to school that day i had no idea that an incident of such magnitude had happened, and even though they tried to explain it to us my second grade mind all i cared about was getting to recess and playing Pokemon. Now that i look back on this incident and if it happened today there are a few things that roll through my mind, that it was a horrible incident and if it truley had nothing to do with any of the recent conspiricy theorys then it was a horrible horrible thing. My views upon it are entirly different (as if this is any surprise) i believe that it was a tool used to build fear among the citizens of thi contry and those in the middle east and to build the term coined "Post 9/11 patriotism" as a way to get the American citizens to along with this war and the search for WOMD, but really it was just a way to infiltrate, get oil and set up a democracy instead of letting them figuring it out for themselves but i digress, we shoulld not be in Iraq but to pull out now would show weakness, i mean pulling out over time is the definate plan of action we should take just like they did in vietnam and the vietnam war was also the same story as iraq, just fake an attack to build suppport and go in for oil. "Fight wars for virtue. your virtue is greed, Say it's for god but your god is naive".

School...could it be cool?

This place is hell. We have to ask permission to use the bathroom, have to raise or hands to speak and god forbid we send a text message during class then they send us to their New World Order cell they call ISD to correct our behavior and if that doesn't happen they kick us out in order to not "infect" the others so that they can shape them into "working members of society" and give them a job and a credit card to rack up debt and be a product of the capitalistic system while the higher-ups sit their and laugh at our foolishness.
If I could snap my fingers and change the school for the better it would be a place to actually be a scholar and learn all that is not essential to living. It would be a place where people are stimulated in their strong suits rather than being forced to learn what they're not good at and be mediocre at everything instead of a master at one one thing. School would be a place to come and be a sanctuary to those who truly want to learn and the one's who don't can get out. School would be a place in which to hone our skills to live in a progressive society rather than a society that is in regression and only focused on money and getting their agenda across and ruining the private sector in this country. If school were in any way like this it would be for the better.

The great Gatsby greatism

The symbols that have popped up as symbols have been huge, First they describe the place where Tom's mistress lives as the valley of ashes which was showing how it was a horrible bleak place to live and how he was bringing her out of the ash and into the brightness. Another thing was when Tom's mistress blocked out the light which was the opposite of his wife which the light radiated to her. The next symbol was the glasses which symbolized gods eyes watching their every bad mood. The Theme's of the book so far have been deceit and secret-ism with Tom cheating on his wife and the unknowing of Gatsby and his plan to try and win Daisy back. The rest of this book is going to be really enticing because the symbols that have come up are ones that will drive the book to new lengths, and money, secrets, lies and deceit will play a huge part in the rest of the book.

How am i supposed to know?

THe first character that is introduced in the story is Nick and he is the narrator and he is kind of a weird character, he is a stock broker who just moved to New York in the escape of an engagement, he told us that he lives his whole life not judging anyone because e was told by his father "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." (Chapter 1, pg. 1) and he seems to live by that. Daisy was introduced next, she is Nicks cousin in a really loveless marriage and is only in it for the money that her husband has, she also is caught in a world of herself because she wants her young daughter to grow up stupid so she can be rich "I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool....You see, I think everything's terrible anyhow....And I know. I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything." (Chapter 1, pgs. 17-18). Tom is Daisy's husband whom is cheating on her, he is a total meat head lost in the world of the past trying to relive his star football days and being young "[Tom] would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game." (ch.1 pg.6). Jordan is Daisy's friend who is just like Daisy, she is from somewhere else but will be staying at Tom and Daisy's and they are trying to hook Nick up with her but she is very nosy "Tom's got some Women in New York...you think she would have the decency not to phone him at dinnertime" (ch1. pg 13). The novel seems like it will be really good but the writing style gets on my nerves but i will get over it. Overall this should be a great unit.

Anticipation Station.

The Great Gatsby, I've herd this is a wonderful book and i am in fact actually looking forward to reading it. I think that this book will be about somebody in organized crime back in the prohibition era based on the research we did. I think that it will be a great book because first of all I've been told that it is by multiple people and because the prohibition era was one of the most exciting times in American history.
The thing that i most enjoyed researching was organized crime during the prohibition era. I enjoyed it because it was actually interesting, and it was really cool. I enjoyed learning about Al Capone and the rise in crime during that time. I also enjoyed reading about how prohibition started with the whole temperance movement and people  thinking it was wrong to drink. Really it was all fun to research and i think that this will be a really great book.