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Summary Of A Place We Knew Well By Susan Mccarthy

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A Place We Knew Well, written by Susan Carol McCarthy, explores the life of a middle class family in Miami Florida, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Following the life of Wes Avery, a former Air Force member, and his family, readers see the anger, struggle, and fear of Americans in the October of 1962. Beginning on October 19, 1962, Wes begins to notice small differences in the activity of the near by air force base while working at his gas station. His confusion quickly turns to apprehension following the President's announcement about the missile in Cuba. As more army and navy move into southern Florida, Wes does his best to keep his family calm, but there are challenges on that home front as well. Wes' wife, Sarah, struggles with depression …show more content…

While it does a extraordinary job of capturing the reaction of the residents there, I had a hard time imagining the reaction of other people within the US or around the world. Wes kept thinking that this would be WWIII, or how the world would end. However, I had a very difficult time imagining the urgency of the situation without the input of others around the world. If McCarthy had added, maybe in a news program or paper, the reaction of citizens in New York, Germany, or China, (for example), the reader would realize first hand how disastrous the situation could've …show more content…

Before reading this book, i hadn't considered that side of the argument. this is perhaps the opinion that Wes Avery is the most biased about. He sees this idea as cruel and selfish, and doesn't understand why anyone would be okay with killing civilians when there are other possible ways to remove the missiles. I agree with him in that aspect, but it also makes me wonder why bombing Cuba like this is not justified in Wes' mind when severely bombing Japan was. It also makes me wonder about how the relationship between the US and Cuba would have changed if this had happened. NOt only would there have been many Cuban civilian casualties, but there would've been many orphaned cuban children in the US, who would have little hope of seeing their parents again. Emilio reflects this common distress of the other cuban children here during this

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