The rain fell down in frigid sheets. Ira Whelan stood alone on the gelid deck that was once the Petersburg train station, but now all that remained of the once bustling establishment was the foundation of a prodigious building, and the sooty frozen planks that lay under him. It was winter in West Virginia, and it was the first one after the war’s end. If Ira would’ve had shoes, perhaps the cold weather wouldn’t have bothered him so considerably. However, he was forced to be content at feeling tiny fractiles of cloudy ice and snow drift between his toes, and touch down on the tip of his nose, sending abrupt pain through his body. Everywhere there were piles of dark-colored ice, staining the whole mountainside an intense ebony. Snow drifted …show more content…
Ira shuddered at the thought that almost none of the men would walk this path again. Most of the soldiers would forever lie in a shallow, unmarked grave along the roadside, with families who were persistently waiting for their return. Ira was oblivious of the fact that he, too had a false hope. It was a false hope that when he were to return to the modish house that he had for so long called his home, it would be perfectly erect. There was no doubt in his mind that his family would be vigorously and exuberantly awaiting him when he returned to the large plantation, and like most soldiers who were returning from hell on earth, he could not perceive that the Yankees could hand him worse luck than he already had experienced. He also could not envision that any southern man or woman, of any color, would refuse to do any type of amiable service to a fellow member of the lost Cause. With this aspiration of the warm bed and meal that Ira dreamed was awaiting him, he knocked on the dismal colored door and waited for the occupant to acknowledge him. It was over five minutes and three more raps on the door before the inhabitant of the self-effacing home greeted …show more content…
Behind them, Ira could see that he had no feelings of compassion or kindness towards the starving young boy who stood in front of him, the boy who had fought a war, and he had seen more sickness and death in four years than most had seen in a lifetime. But somehow this man who stood alone frightened Ira. One look at the man and Ira felt a mix of contempt and apprehension. It was the same contempt any real gentleman bore towards a man who did not fight for the Confederacy; anyone who fought in the war could see this man had not known the hardships indistinguishable to their own. The beastly man was not much older than 30, and he towered over the young boy at his door. Although at a glance the man might’ve appeared to have known sickness and death, Ira could see that he was only a gentleman masquerading the knowledge of
“Uh-oh”, said Everett, “Go into the igloo, Frank, an avalanche is coming!” They rushed into the igloo as the snow came rushing down the mountain. So much snow came down in the avalanche that igloo was covered by snow. With limited food and water, bitterness began to grow between them. Frank had all the food, which was some cornmeal and salted pork, so Ruess could only eat if he traded a precious print in exchange.
The biography, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, tells the story of a thirteen year old boy who spends his childhood being compelled to fight in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah tries to avoid fighting for the rebels by running from town to town with his friends as the rebels advanced. Finally, his luck runs out and Ishmael Baeh is forced to serve in the civil war for the rebels. The story goes on to describe his horrific childhood as a soldier in Sierra Leone and his eventual rescue by Unicef and rehabilitation center. In this passage, Ishmael Beah created a mental image that allows us to visualize how disturbing and how unreal living in wartone Sierra Leone during the early 1980’s.
Norman’s story is a way to help Tim portray the feeling that many veterans experienced when arriving home. Constantly, Norman reminisces of his mistake he feels he has made “the truth… is I let the guy go” (147).A feeling of emptiness, loss of motivation, regretfullness makes readjustment take a toll on a soldier’s mental health. Readers are able to grasp this feeling as if Norman’s chapter contains the whole truth, however, the mention of specific details allow for also seeing the addition behind
Doyle’s anecdotes, imagery, and varying sentence lengths allow us to interpret the physical and emotional transformation of snow. Throughout Doyle’s essay, there is the prominent use of anecdotes, allowing the audience to connect with his piece, whether or/ not they have seen snow. His opening: “I met a small girl who told me she had never seen snow.” sets a rhetorical situation. Doyle’s use of a rhetorical situation allows the audience to read from the point of view of a young and curious mind while also presenting his purpose, “snow is inarguable”
O'Brien also has outside parties that he felt pressured by to make a decision. for example “ I feared losing the respect of my parents”(O'Brien 42). O'Brien presents these contrasting feelings through his writing to highlight the complexity of courage and cowardice in the midst of War. By doing this he encourages his readers to reconsider their understanding of these qualities and to recognize their significance in the lives of those who experienced the realities of War. He asks readers to embrace a more nuanced understanding of these
The struggle of war is more than a physical struggle. It is the emotional and moral struggles that weigh soldiers down even after the war. In O’Brien’s chapter “On the Rainy River,” he experiences different thoughts on whether
First Snow The ghastly precipitation fell in the skies as if hell had poured to impose judgment. Snow bleed down with crisp edges that were as sharp as a spinning wheel that landed upon all the living and the dead. A cacophony filled my ears with the sound of nature and fearful humans. Within all the chaos something so ghoulish yet alluring caught my eyes. The figure sat atop the steel edifice observing the night city with an expression filled with disinterested.
This draws meaning about the war from their relationships. O’Brien addresses shame and storytelling and memory of the people that do not know about what really happens in war. The chapter, “ In The Field,” readers can view that the soldiers carried shame and guilt. The chapter is talking about how three men managed their guilt over
(Ce) O’Brien declares how guilt is emoted through imagination. (De) He contemplates the reason a dead soldier was participating in war: “he was afraid of disgracing himself, and therefore his family and village. But all he could do, he thought, was wait and pray and try not to grow up too fast” (O’Brien 121). (A) Many soldiers in war are drafted and forced to participate–whether that is physically, emotionally, or socially–and how this thought is an attempt to alleviate O’Brien’s guilt.
The guilt of the war is present within Norman and O’Brien and is unshakeable even decades after the war. In addition, the repetitive disturbances of the war highlight the flaws of those present leading to lifelong self-condemnation. The vast gap between civilization and war establishes a tretourous path for the soldiers back into society. The illustration of post-war life provided by O’Brien serves not to reveal the whole reality of the war, but its impacts. A cause and effect analysis, leaving out much of the gore and inhumanities of the war, in hopes that the glimpse provided would be enough to allow the public to see not the questionable ethics of war by both sides, but the impact that the life of a soldier has.
Heavy rain and snow caused enormous suffering.” Many did not have shoes and had to walk barefoot through
David Laskin’s The Children’s Blizzard explains the devastating force of an intense blizzard, which caught several people unprepared, and it tells the tragic stories of these people. On January 12, 1888 a massive blizzard struck the center of North America, killing between 250 to 500 people and affecting thousands. There were many factors that made this blizzard exceptionally deadly. Many farmers and children who were outside were unprepared to deal with any cold conditions, “a day when children had raced to school with no coats or gloves and farmers were far from home doing chores they had put off during the long siege of cold” (Laskin 2).
This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.
Although the soldier he killed was an enemy soldier, instead of vilifying him he was able to humanize the man. O’Brien was able to describe the physical appearance of the soldier and imagine her life before war. The author was able to portray an emotional connection and made the line between friend and enemy almost vanish. This was able to reveal the natural beauty of shared humanity even in the context of war’s horror. O’Brien is able to find the beauty in the midst of this tragic and horrible event.
There was no doubt in his mind that his family would be vigorously and exuberantly awaiting him when he returned to the large plantation. Like most soldiers who were returning from hell on earth, he could not perceive that the Yankees could hand him worse luck than he already had experienced. He also could not envision that any southern man or woman, of any color, would refuse to do any type of amiable service to a fellow member of the lost Cause. With this aspiration of the warm bed and meal that Ira dreamed was awaiting him, he knocked on the dismal colored door and waited for the occupant to acknowledge him. It was over five minutes and three more raps on the door before the inhabitant of the self-effacing home greeted