TTTC Reading #2

A theme that is very noticeable to me is the fact that many of the soldiers in Vietnam are having mental disorders and can't always think straight while over in the war.

A chapter that really stuck out in my mind was "On the rainy River" because not only was O'Brien having to decide whether to go to war, he was also having a war with himself with what he should do. He didn't know what the best thing to do was. So he decided to go to Northern Minnesota and stay at the Tip Top Lodge and live in the wilderness a few days to try and get his mind straightened out. The biggest fear which none of ever want to do, is to dissapoint his family and friends and his community by not going to war to fight for his country. O'Brien didn't want to be that guy always known as a "coward" and mainly didn't want to let down his beloved country. As much as O'Brien hated the fact of going to war and knowing that he would be better off staying home and continuing on with his life which he already had planned out, he decided to take up the draft and go become a hero. This really connects with all of us in our everyday lives because none of us want to let anyone down in life and always want to make the right decisions which may not always be the ebst for yourself. For me it conects the best with sports because you may not like a sport, but you still do it because your town knows who you are and maybe because your parents did it and now they want you to follow in their footsteps.

Another point i noticed throughout this reading was the fact that all of the soldiers have trust issues because of the fact that the enemy is everywhere around them and sometimes there is no one around them excpet for their own companions which they will turn on each other in a state of surpriseness. The emotional melt down that each of these men can have will make them turn on one another. The trust and friendship though is cured after a battle that they have with the true enemy. All these soldiers are young and are unclear of what all is going on all around them.

The last thing I would like to point out is on page 79 where Rat starts shooting the buffalo and can't stop, or won't do it quickly to put it out of it's misery. This shows that Rat is showing how he feels and taking it out on the buffalo and how he is getting torn apart piece by piece as well as all the others around him. I think Rat killing the buffalo is him, in his head, killing of the enemy and ending the war.

The effects of the war on soldiers are always with them and show how someone can become mentally ill and plainly just chaotic in their thoughts and actions and not think about what they do. Our soldiers deal with this everyday of their lives and relive the events that have hapeend to them over and over again in their heads.