Psychology Behind Shame: a Paper by Ellie McEwen
Shame is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as a : a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety b : the susceptibility to such emotion The generation of Veterans coming home from Vietnam had a spike in mental health issues as well as feelings of guilt and shame but an argument could be made that it stems from attitudes back home. Many men coming back from Vietnam had deep rooted shame that was not present before they left, as well as a deep hatred and anger towards people and their own country. The Vietnam war differed from every other war previous to it, as the vast majority of U.S. citizens felt shame themselves that their country took place in the war, so it’s easy to understand hostile attitudes towards the pawns that fought.
It’s common knowledge that war is a very unpleasant experience, and vietnam is definitely no exception. This war was grueling, with many of the soldiers being drafted and not there by choice. Morale was always low, leading to an increase in substance abuse. There was the constant threat of death, and innocent men had to trudge on even after they personally witnessed death of their comrades and friends. Nights were long and the days were frightening, there was no guarantee
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The Vietnam war was constantly broadcasted, with regular citizens being able to keep up with current events. Even though the news, the life of a soldier was not accurately portrayed and didn’t prepare folks back home for the reality of the situation. , There was no level of sympathy for these people as the average day citizen couldn’t compare this to anything in their own lives. Travesties happened overseas, as they often do with war however no Americans back home had been conditioned to
The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975.The nation as a whole began to uproar over the war and the major consequences of the war. There were many reasons why so many Americans were against the war. Public opinion steadily turned against the war following 1967 and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam (Wikipedia). Not to mention, many young people protested because they were the ones being drafted while others were against the war because the anti-war movement grew increasingly popular among the counterculture and drug culture in American society and
By understanding to this killing someone this early, and that men in the war do unspeakable things partly because of impulse but mainly because of peer pressure from other men, Tim O’Brien suggests that the greatest fear of all soldiers is not death or killing but simple embarrassment of feeling emasculated. By pinning the unnecessary deaths of his friends, especially Kiowa, on these false notions of obligation that the men have to bear, Tim O’Brien suggests that the greatest tragedy of the Vietnam War is not its violence but its ability to inspire compliance among the
The Vietnam war took a major death toll in Vietnam, United States, South Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Just in the U.S., “more than 58,000 American soldiers were killed while more than 150,000 others wounded”. On both sides, there were almost 2 million civilians dead and 1.1 simply on the Vietnamese side. The My Lai Massacre, where soldiers brutally killed Vietnamese children and mothers, presents an example where the war mentally changed the soldiers in the war in a very horrendous way. On the other hand, the United States took brutal losses in the Tet Offensive, where the Vietcong slaughtered over 100 towns and twelve United States air bases.
The Effects People Don’t See Perspective is something that many people view differently in this world, some people may never know what it's like being put through hard circumstances and different experiences. But sometimes people never get to share or tell their perspective. This is relevant to soldiers because people never see the bravery or courage it took them in war and out of war. However, Vietnam was a civil war where it came to the needs of American assistance also why it's called the “American war” Tim’ O'Brien the author of The Things They Carried is in this war physically and emotionally, the battles he and his platoon had to go through experienced many different emotions. Tim O’Brien illustrates how soldiers go through
The Vietnam War is known as the first war America “lost.” The loss of lives was a devastating number. The American government was very secretive as to their plans in Vietnam. Although President Johnson said that the US had no desire to get involved in the war, he and close government officials prepared in case they truly needed to go to war. The public was eased into a false sense of security.
They had to go through training that put stress on their bodies and their minds. It is an understatement to go through what the soldiers had to go through, it pushed them to the limit just for them to die and not get to live their lives. The effect after the war and even when the soldiers were on leave was never the same. Like Paul when he went home on leave he felt that something didn't feel right and that he felt like he should be back in the front. I can personally relate to this because I used to feel like I didn't feel in place with the people I hung out with, I didn't feel myself while I was there and with those people.
Rough Draft: The Things They Carried The Vietnam War, was a nightmarish place. It caused paranoia, and made some soldiers insane. Death could come at any moment in any place leaving men in constant fear knowing they could be next. Some men feared it so much they would self inflict wounds in hopes of getting discharged, and others would change their viewpoints on the war and change their actions completely.
Also, newspapers revealed stories and government secrets that proved that the American people were being lied to ( New York Times vs. the United States). The Vietnam war is believed by some to be a war deeply rooted in economics. Many aspects of the United States were affected directly. The Great Society programs were suffering because the money that was put towards the war, could have been used to help poverty programs.
Vietnam has certainly remained as one of the most concerning and controversial wars of all time. One of the most disputed aspects of the war was the draft. As a result of the draft, many young men would never return home. From draft card burnings, to anti-war protests, it is evident that the draft and it’s process was seen as unfavorable in the eyes of many people in America.
Ted Engelmann describes in his article “Who Are Our Fathers?” his own post-war experience, “I can honestly say that I was in an angry fog as a result of the war. I could function, but I had little direction or purpose. For several years I was very angry and could not talk to anyone about my feelings” (165). After experiencing combat there is a lot of trauma and ill effects to cope with.
During the Vietnam War, Americans were very sheltered from the actual events of the war. Much of the exposure to the war was through television, dubbed a “living-room war,” which was easily manipulated by social and political influences to portray war in such a way as to disillusion the American people. The people were getting a
The media was not always interested in the war, ”until many civilians were killed in an attack against the south vietnamese premier Diem” ( f) Because people are usually not as interested in
Media Coverage in the Vietnam War The media played a big role during the Vietnam War and their coverage has greatly affected how the media can cover modern wars. During Vietnam, the media were given almost full access to everything from battlefields, gunfights, the wounded, the dead, and interviews with the soldiers themselves. This was also the first war that was able to be viewed on TV; over 90 percent of Americans had TV’s, and 60 percent used TV as their main source of news (Hillsheim). The “gruesome showing of death and pain” made many Americans squirm on their couches (Burns).
The article Shame resilience theory: A grounded theory study on women and shame researched to understand how woman experience shame, specifically their concerns about shame and the solutions to those concerns. Researcher, Brené Brown, utilized theoretical sampling along with purposive sampling to interview a diverse group of women for this grounded theory research. The research processed data from interviews of 215 women, between 18-75 years old of varying races, which were Caucasian, African American, Latina, and Asian American. Shame resilience theory (SRT) developed from the “grounded” data Brené Brown and graduate students gathered and analyzed after interviewing the 215 participants about their life experiences with shame. The findings
The soldiers in the Vietnams war were there for different reasons, some soldiers were forced against their will and some were there by choice. Because of that, each soldier has their own thoughts about the war, O’Brien has interpreted that “The twenty –six men were very quiet: some of them excited by the adventure, some of them afraid”. This clearly shows how the men