War-Jeopardy Review Answers for Unit Test
The Things They Carried Born on the Fourth of July “Soldier’s Home” “Soldier’s Heart” (PBS)
Who Is who? Symbols Themes/Motifs Who Said It? Lavishly Literary Potpourri
Jimmy Cross(love for Martha) / Henry Dobbins’ faith in magic/superstition. He wore it “like a comforter” even after she dumps him. “The magic doesn’t go away”(comforts of home and what may be) / All logical ideas of courage are gone in war. Men died because they were too afraid to speak up. Much of the courage was “staged”or exaggerated. Medals are meaningless. / Tim O’Brien
(about his obsession with revenge about Bobby Jorgensen) / Irony (situational) and also paradox. Most would associate going to war as courageous, not cowardly / Norman Bowker
Jeff Lucy
Curt Lemon / Water Buffalo- pain and loss
Innocence and vulnerability destroyed for no reason / Everything is blurred in war-there is no clarity. There is no truth-only perception. Memories can become foggy and so can the “idea” of the enemy. Mistakes and memories haunt soldiers forever. / Ron Kovic
(after confessing to his mother that he killed innocent civilians) / Imagery-repetition to emphasize how this experience stays with Tim. Also, the description of the hole as a star is metaphor / Krebs and his mother discuss God-represents his loss of faith
Mary Ann Bell / Norman Bowker’s letter to Tim-his purging of his “story”-also his desperation to be heard and to face the truth of the night in the shitfield
Every soldier wants to tell his/her story / You cannot ever wash away the memories of water-there is no spiritual cleansing or spiritual guide than can protect you from the threats or wounds of war. Religion and faith are useless. All water references in book are linked to filth, murkiness, or death-never cleanliness or rebirth. / Linda tells “Timmy” in his boyhood dreams to accept death as a part of life. Everybody dies, so how it happens doesn’t matter-it can be controlled or stopped. / Metaphor-going in circles-no direction after war / Ron Kovic killed Billy Wilson
Azar / Represents what soldiers become and the loss of their former selves. What appears to be jewelry (civilized/decorative) is grotesque and representative of the horror that is normalized and personified in some of the soldiers. / Soldiers deal with experiences differently. Some tell it through film (Stone) or stories (Hemingway/O’Brien), Some never can successfully tell it (Bowker/Lucy). Some try but are not heard (RatKiley/Krebs). Writing and talking help soldiers make sense of the experience-why they were there-to learn the truth about it. / Krebs from “soldier’s Home” responding to his mother’s love / Symbol-light and dark imagery-before and after war. lost little boys of war. Both devices present / Krebs from Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home”
Rat Kiley / Linda-the hat hid ugly reality of her cancer-the hat made her feel protected and normal. No one could see her scars / Youthful innocence is destroyed in war; it can never be restored. Detaching from the brutalities of war by playing "games" or comparing to Hollywood images is a coping mechanism to control constant fear. / Tim says it explaining Rat’s love for Curt after mutilating the baby buffalo. / Kiowa’s (the most spiritual of the platoon) death proves there’s no protection in war. All innocence/faith is lost. Azar (who’s cruel) lives yet Kiowa dies. / Tim O’Brien (he visits Linda in his sleep. He revisit his dead friends with his book)