Spin; Is it Peace? Or is it War? (Entry #4)

“All that peace man, it felt so good that it hurt. I want to hurt it back. “

As Tim O’Brien introduced this phrase in the chapter Spin, I felt that he was addressing peace in a newfound interesting way. He’s saying that when one world has a lot of peace without any conflicts whatsoever, it hurts—meaning that peace is actually a cause of conflict. As one has too much peace in mind, the urge for conflict surges and with a blink of an eye, they are involved in a war that they cannot escape of. So the reason of why he says, “ I want to hurt it back.” is because as one is tempted to conflict by too much peace, he attacks, and what follows is the act of defense that the one attacked inflicts on the attacker.
I feel for the soldiers; it's not their fault that the war has happened. Many of them don't even want to be there in the first place. Yet peace itself is a major conflict in war; it seems to be wrong to be peaceful in a war. Peace seems to be a luxury that nobody can afford. Peace is an oasis in the middle of a desert; yet you are chosen to go through the harshness of the desert peace seems wrong. Peace, is not defined by war, but people still think that peace in the middle of war is wrong. But if there is no war, then is there still peace? How would peace be defined then? 
The soldiers, leaving behind everything--family, love and home--seem to have left the right to be at peace too. The war damages them--not one soldier, whether dead or alive, comes out of the war as a whole. They are so angry and many grieve about the lives they've taken, and intend to hurt peace itself. Should peace be blamed? Or should war be blamed? 

War Letters (Entry #3)

Dear Dad,

I miss you. There just aren’t enough words in existence to describe how much I miss you; the ocean, the grass, the trees, all seem to be reminding me of you. How you used to teach me how to dive into the ocean, caress the trees, and stand in the middle of the greenest fields—appreciating the surroundings. I wish that you and Mom were here; I miss you both so much that it’s all I think of at night. The coldness at night just makes me pull up my covers and think about how you taught me to rub my hands together to obtain warmth. The hunger that I rarely get from having limited food supply reminds me of Mom’s paella. And please, tell Mom to forgive me, forgive me for not writing a word to her; I couldn’t bring myself to write another letter. There is just too much that I have to say, yet can’t say in a million words.

         I’m almost absolutely sure that you will want to know the exact details of the war; how we are handling it, how the conditions are, and how the enemy has been approaching. I want to say that the war is going well, but all I’m witnessing is bloodshed and deaths that even I don’t think that are necessary. But do not worry; our fellow soldiers are holding up and managing the battles fairly well. The truth is, the battles are starting to seem to me pointless; the causes that first drove me to the war seem to be there no longer. Please, do not worry about me; I assure you that I will return home safe and sound, without a scratch upon my body. I promise.

Yours affectionately,

Emma

I chose to write to my dad, because he is the strongest out of my family; he would understand the things that I would be going through without breaking down into pieces. As I grew up, I have learned that he was always an excellent listener; I have no doubt that he would be the only one that would take the war easier without breaking down after reading the letter. I don’t like to make people sad; if I had to let a family member know about what I’m going through, I would not emphasize the negative parts of it, and make sure that the letter gets sent to the person that would handle it most sensibly.

     I have chosen to hide the fact that many soldiers probably lost their lives, and that my life was probably in great danger every single day. The reason why I did that is because although my father is the strongest one out of my family, he worries. I don’t want anybody mourning over the fact that I’m in a tough situation, and if not telling the whole truth can reduce the time in which people worry about my situation, I would most certainly do it. I have chosen to tell him my opinion about the war, is because I want him to know that this war is not fought over a good enough reason, in my opinion. I want to let him know that although I’m fighting in the war, I’m not its great supporter. 

The Things They Carried (Entry #2)

     

My Catalog

·      Pencil Pouch

·      Blackberry (with earphones)

·      Watch

·      Wallet

·      History notebook

·      Glasses

           

          There are two things that I absolutely cannot survive without—my blackberries with earphones, and my watch. Many people might think that it doesn’t make sense to carry a phone and a watch, since you can see the time just by turning on the electronic device, but time is one of my pet peeves. For me, time seems to be a rule that you cannot disobey; the guilt that I carry when I’m late exceeds those that I get when I do something wrong. I have to have two time devices to help me make sure that I am keeping track of the time; I get very nervous when I don’t know the word “when”. As I continue growing, I realize that the time management plays a huge role in my everyday living, which gives me even more reasons to keep time close to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7h4jUvqm6I&playnext=1&list=PLC39BC94D0D11EFC6&feature=results_main

            The reason for me carrying my Blackberry with the earphones is because I cannot survive one day without listening to music. It’s just something I got used to over time, and it has turned into something even stronger than hobby. When I don’t have it with me, I just seem empty, frustrated, and life just seems to be without color anymore; it might seem like exaggeration, but if music is not given to me in one day, it will ruin my mood and very possibly ruin the quality of that day.

            If the things that I carry define who I am, I guess that I am a person that many times rushes through things. I hate tedious, slow, and boring work; the clock seems to be ticking and I see time wasted. Acknowledging the fact that I hate wasting time, you can also anticipate why I carry music around with me. When I’m not doing anything, all I can think of is time wasted, time wasted; so music is something that I think that will never be something that wastes time, and every minute of it is priceless. 

The Vietnam War (Entry #1)

          When I was first introduced to the Vietnam War in class, my knowledge of the subject was vague and very basic; I only knew of the fact that it was greatly written of and disputed by Americans, and it was fought in the presidency of John F. Kennedy. As I thought about the motives and the details of the war, I hesitated; although I have heard briefly about the Vietnam War, the motives are nowhere near my memory. As it turns out, the objectives of the war was not even clear to the soldiers themselves; several of them got involved in the war due to obligation, fear of public disapproval and exile, and many more factors.

         During the class discussion, I have learned that the Vietnam War lasted from 1955-1975. The war was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, in the name of communism. Communist countries backed North Vietnam while the United States and other anti-communist countries supported South Vietnam. Although the United States fought in the war against communism, the soldiers ended up not knowing what they were fighting for, and thus led to heavy criticism by the Americans. It was considered the longest war of the time, and many soldiers were tired of having to battle against something they don’t believe in or even know of. 61% of the soldiers battling at that time were under the age of 21, thus several people in the battling field were young teenagers. The army was mainly composed of the poor or the middle-class, who had no power of declining the drafting of soldiers, and those who were desperate for money; nearly none were of rich or wealthy families. As I continue with Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, I hope to expand my knowledge towards the matter of the Vietnam War.