The story that has meant the most to me so far has to be How to Tell a True War Story. In this chapter Rat Kiley found a water buffalo and began to torture it. He began by shooting its leg and it got up, he then proceeded to shoot its nose, ear, tail and contributes to shoot it even more. “He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn’t to kill; it was to hurt.” (Pg 75). He did all of this because earlier his best friend Curt Lemons died because he stepped on a land mind. From the explosion Lemons body was launched into the air and then got stuck in a tree. There was just a lot of graphic detail in this chapter and it really shows the harshness of war.
The character that stands out to me so far has to be Jimmy Cross. We all have been at love once in our life and when we were we could not focus on anything other than that person. Jimmy went a little crazy about what he thought about Martha, but he still though about her all day long. Even in war he was unable to stay focused on the simple daily things until one of his men died. This again happens to a lot of people you care so much about that person you can mess something up and not be able to fix it just like when his friend was killed.
I really agree with your first paragraph. I actually wrote about Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon in my second paragraph. I think that Rat torturing this water buffalo really shows how hurt and upset he was about Curts death. There was a lot of imagery used to describe what was happening which made the chapter feel more alive, and caused us to feel more sympathy to Rat, and really connect with his character.
ReplyDeleteI too wrote about the Buffalo story. I think you are right, the story shows the graphic horror of war. It also shows how people vented during those times.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about the buffalo story as well. I defiantly think it was a breaking point for Rat. I wonder if things like this happen in modern wars as well when soldiers hit their breaking point, or what they do to help with losing someone close to them
ReplyDeleteHow To Tell a True War Story has meant the most to me also. It allows you to see people, like Rat, that let the war and the bad things that come with it get into their head. He had hit a low point when he lost his good friend Curt, and let it get the best of him, so he took out his frustration on the water buffalo.
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