Hard Times: Jane and Tom Yoder + Peggy Terry and Mary Owsley
This post really goes into depth pertaining to what it means to be an American, presented by Jane and Tom Yoder, but also displays traits that aren't fitting of an American, portrayed by Peggy Terry and her mother.
The Good War: Peggy Terry + E.B. "Sledgehammer" Sledge"
This post is interesting in that it offers two completely different views of the war. The first, from Peggy Terry, is introduced by a hillbilly, someone who lived on the home front and experienced the war much differently than Sledge did, as Sledge fought on the front lines and fought his own type of battles. Neither Peggy nor Sledge could ever understand the battles faced by the other, so this post is interesting in that sense.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Larry Heinemann + David Brower
I wasn't initially going to chose to read Larry Heinemann, figuring that he was just another man telling about his experiences in Vietnam. However, when I read that one of his works won the 1987 National Book Award, I figured that he must offer an alternative view of the Vietnam War, perhaps one that I haven't encountered yet.
Heinemann was sent into vietnam a couple of months after the Tet offensive began. This is very interesting, as I know that after the Tet offensive, Americans began disapproving more and more of the war, receiving a distorted picture of the war that told them that they were losing when in fact they were doing quite well. I can only imagine the fear that Heinemann must have experienced before going off to war, having all of his friends and family watch the news in disbelief while they were informed of the atrocities occurring in Vietnam every day. Initially, Heinemann was very indifferent to the war, calling it "a bunch of bullshit" (416). He talks about the indifference he felt, seeing no real point in fighting in Vietnam. This view parallels how a lot of Americans felt about the situation in Vietnam. Once home, Heinemann could no longer live his life the same way, having experienced so much in such a short period of time. He put himself through, the way he calls it, "self-imposed isolation" (419), ignoring all of those around him and acting on his own beliefs. Clearly, Heinemann's experience in Vietnam changed him for the worse. As far as I could tell, he has turned into a cynical, grumpy man who just doesn't seem to be happy in his life. This is very typical of men who were scarred by the war, and one can see just how detrimental the war was to many who fought in it, not just in battle, but once they got home as well.
The second story I chose to read comes from David Brower. David is almost 80 years old and is an environmentalist, so I figured that his experience would allow him to offer a point of view that other younger writers may not have been able to do. David explores the idea of age in his account of his life as an environmentalist. He says how at his age, "they can't do much to hurt me" (527). It is interesting that David holds this point of view as it surely allows him to carry out his work to the best of his ability and certainly better than his younger counterparts might be able to. Brower recognizes this, saying that young people don't have this same freedom that he does and for that they tend to work more conservatively, and rightfully so. They have a long time of working ahead of them and providing for a family; they can't afford to screw up. Brower, at his age, is able to enjoy what life can be like uninhibited. Fully experiencing the freedom of an American, Brower enjoys life and is truly making an impact on this country that he loves so much.
Heinemann was sent into vietnam a couple of months after the Tet offensive began. This is very interesting, as I know that after the Tet offensive, Americans began disapproving more and more of the war, receiving a distorted picture of the war that told them that they were losing when in fact they were doing quite well. I can only imagine the fear that Heinemann must have experienced before going off to war, having all of his friends and family watch the news in disbelief while they were informed of the atrocities occurring in Vietnam every day. Initially, Heinemann was very indifferent to the war, calling it "a bunch of bullshit" (416). He talks about the indifference he felt, seeing no real point in fighting in Vietnam. This view parallels how a lot of Americans felt about the situation in Vietnam. Once home, Heinemann could no longer live his life the same way, having experienced so much in such a short period of time. He put himself through, the way he calls it, "self-imposed isolation" (419), ignoring all of those around him and acting on his own beliefs. Clearly, Heinemann's experience in Vietnam changed him for the worse. As far as I could tell, he has turned into a cynical, grumpy man who just doesn't seem to be happy in his life. This is very typical of men who were scarred by the war, and one can see just how detrimental the war was to many who fought in it, not just in battle, but once they got home as well.
The second story I chose to read comes from David Brower. David is almost 80 years old and is an environmentalist, so I figured that his experience would allow him to offer a point of view that other younger writers may not have been able to do. David explores the idea of age in his account of his life as an environmentalist. He says how at his age, "they can't do much to hurt me" (527). It is interesting that David holds this point of view as it surely allows him to carry out his work to the best of his ability and certainly better than his younger counterparts might be able to. Brower recognizes this, saying that young people don't have this same freedom that he does and for that they tend to work more conservatively, and rightfully so. They have a long time of working ahead of them and providing for a family; they can't afford to screw up. Brower, at his age, is able to enjoy what life can be like uninhibited. Fully experiencing the freedom of an American, Brower enjoys life and is truly making an impact on this country that he loves so much.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Working: Dolores Dante + Phil Stallings
These chapters on the working class of America offer a blunt perspective on American life.
The first comes from Dolores Dante, a waitress who has worked in the same restaurant for twenty-three years. Anyone devoted to the same job at the same place for that long certainly has a quality which not many have: patience. Dolores says that the reason she became a waitress was because she "needed money fast and you don't get it in an office" (329). Immediately, Dolores qualifies her decision to become a waitress by dismissing a common misconception about waitresses. She says that many believe that waitresses have broken homes because they're waitresses, while really she was a waitress because she had a broken home. Dolores takes pride in her work, seeing herself as an actress due to her ability to improvise and think on her feet. She sees the life skills that she has adopted while working as a waitress as more important than any that could be learned elsewhere. Constantly Dolores is judging other people and is being judged by them as well. Regardless, she has a simple outlook on life, evident by the fact that her biggest fears in life are the bathroom and the grave (332). She tries to be liked by everyone because she knows the feeling of having someone talk badly about you. All of her life she has only tried to satisfy, and she bottles up all of the hurt inside of her. She hurts inside, but she remains optomistic and looks forward to the next day when she will get to perform once again. Her view of an American is always remaining optomistic, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes, the hurt in life has to be ignored so that the happiness can come out.
The second story comes from Phil Stallings, an auto worker at the Ford assembly plant on the South Side of Chicago. Phil does the monotonous job of putting the initial welds on a car by pressing a button on a welding gun. He figures that he presses that button about 12,288 times every day. During this time, Phil lets his mind drift, thinking of past experiences and a life that wasn't so complex, the life of his childhood self. Phil admits that this is the only thing that keeps him sane during the day. He starts to wonder, and perhaps wrongfully so, what the Ford company probably thinks of him. The answer is not to his liking, as he realizes that the company could easily find another replacement were something horrible to happen to him. "The only thing they have on their mind is to keep that line running" (356). Stallings witnesses so many injustices, many to himself, all carried out by the company that employs him, yet he refuses to quit. He needs the money and this is the easiest job he can find. However, his refusal to take action doesn't stop him from thinking that something should be done. He thinks, "A job should be a job, not a death sentence" (359).
The first comes from Dolores Dante, a waitress who has worked in the same restaurant for twenty-three years. Anyone devoted to the same job at the same place for that long certainly has a quality which not many have: patience. Dolores says that the reason she became a waitress was because she "needed money fast and you don't get it in an office" (329). Immediately, Dolores qualifies her decision to become a waitress by dismissing a common misconception about waitresses. She says that many believe that waitresses have broken homes because they're waitresses, while really she was a waitress because she had a broken home. Dolores takes pride in her work, seeing herself as an actress due to her ability to improvise and think on her feet. She sees the life skills that she has adopted while working as a waitress as more important than any that could be learned elsewhere. Constantly Dolores is judging other people and is being judged by them as well. Regardless, she has a simple outlook on life, evident by the fact that her biggest fears in life are the bathroom and the grave (332). She tries to be liked by everyone because she knows the feeling of having someone talk badly about you. All of her life she has only tried to satisfy, and she bottles up all of the hurt inside of her. She hurts inside, but she remains optomistic and looks forward to the next day when she will get to perform once again. Her view of an American is always remaining optomistic, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes, the hurt in life has to be ignored so that the happiness can come out.
The second story comes from Phil Stallings, an auto worker at the Ford assembly plant on the South Side of Chicago. Phil does the monotonous job of putting the initial welds on a car by pressing a button on a welding gun. He figures that he presses that button about 12,288 times every day. During this time, Phil lets his mind drift, thinking of past experiences and a life that wasn't so complex, the life of his childhood self. Phil admits that this is the only thing that keeps him sane during the day. He starts to wonder, and perhaps wrongfully so, what the Ford company probably thinks of him. The answer is not to his liking, as he realizes that the company could easily find another replacement were something horrible to happen to him. "The only thing they have on their mind is to keep that line running" (356). Stallings witnesses so many injustices, many to himself, all carried out by the company that employs him, yet he refuses to quit. He needs the money and this is the easiest job he can find. However, his refusal to take action doesn't stop him from thinking that something should be done. He thinks, "A job should be a job, not a death sentence" (359).
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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Division Street: Tom Kearney + Dennis Hart
Both of these stories demonstrate an interesting view on life in America during the early 1980s. These accounts come from ordinary people with extraordinary observational skills who were able to fully capture the wide range of emotions felt by common Americans at the time.
Tom Kearney, a policeman for 23 years, recalls his life as a serviceman as a rewarding one. Kearney's attitude growing up was that someone had to be a policeman, so why not him? Growing up in Chicago, Kearney had grown accustomed to the various niches that were occupied by the residents of the city. His father was a fireman, working hard everyday for very little pay. He recalls the people of the hunger marches, charged at by the police. He remembers the men in line for their newspapers, the Poles, Slavs, Irishmen, Italians, and Jews who all inhabited the streets on which he lived. One good lesson he learned was at the Church where he was instructed by nuns and was learned alongside African-Americans. He learned that some things in life will inevitably be faced, so you might as well get used to them. This lesson is often forgot later in life, as people go to great lengths to avoid inevitable discomfort. Kearney learned this lesson at a young age and thus grew up embracing life as opposed to hiding from it.
Tom Kearney, a policeman for 23 years, recalls his life as a serviceman as a rewarding one. Kearney's attitude growing up was that someone had to be a policeman, so why not him? Growing up in Chicago, Kearney had grown accustomed to the various niches that were occupied by the residents of the city. His father was a fireman, working hard everyday for very little pay. He recalls the people of the hunger marches, charged at by the police. He remembers the men in line for their newspapers, the Poles, Slavs, Irishmen, Italians, and Jews who all inhabited the streets on which he lived. One good lesson he learned was at the Church where he was instructed by nuns and was learned alongside African-Americans. He learned that some things in life will inevitably be faced, so you might as well get used to them. This lesson is often forgot later in life, as people go to great lengths to avoid inevitable discomfort. Kearney learned this lesson at a young age and thus grew up embracing life as opposed to hiding from it.
The second story comes from Dennis Hart, a cabdriver who has dedicated his life towards never living a dull moment. One immediately can tell the attitude he carries when he describes the way he would like to die. He says, “If I could die on some battlefield someplace, doing something good, I feel my life would be worthwhile. I want my death to be worth something” (237). Hart’s experiences in life really show that he was determined to live the way he felt an American should live. Being an American, he felt that he should take advantage of every right granted to him. He says, “An individual should stand for more than a handout. This is the way America is. You fight for what you get, and once you get it, you hold on to it: your pride, your bread and butter, and what not. . . . Freedom is the most important thing in your life” (238). Even as an ordinary man, with an ordinary job, Hart took advantage of every opportunity presented to him in order to live a life that he would not regret when it came time for him to pass away. Hart truly embodies what it means to be an American: living your life to the fullest because you can. Hart didn’t take his freedom as an American for granted and we can all learn by his example.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Good War: Peter Ota + Betty Basye Hutchinson
Both these stories serve to offer alternative views of the war; they don't depict the standard stories of heroes on the battlefront or housewives on the home front left worrying about their loved ones. The first story is offered from Peter Ota, a Nisei Japanese who first-hand experienced the battle against the Japanese that occurred on the home front. Ota recalls having to live at Santa Anita horse racing track. This truly shows the dehumanization of Japanese-Americans that the U.S. government hoped to accomplish. They felt that by treating them like animals, they would hopefully feel equivalent to them. Ota reveals other aspects of living in such a dehumanizing way, but most importantly he reveals the persevering attitude he had throughout the experience; he didn't let the poor treatment of himself and his family get to his head the way other Americans may have wanted it to. His attitude was: "You persevere. Take what's coming, don't react" (206). Ota revealed that an important Japanese value is perseverance, and this is also a value that is important to Americans. Perhaps Ota meant to show that both Japanese and American traditions have a lot in common, and that for this reason the physical separation of such similar cultures was that much more preposterous. Rather than focusing on the differences between the communities, the similarities should have been stressed, and maybe the situation could have been seen in a whole new light.
Basye also offers an alternative view of the war: one that focused on the results of war, the side that wasn't all too often seen by the public. Basye felt the need to serve her country any way she could during the war, and she found her calling as a nurse to those who had been wounded on the battlefield. At first, she was in sheer horror, disgusted by just the sight of men so harshly wounded. Eventually she would grow accustomed to the sight of such men, and it was then that she found a new sense of appreciation for what her peers were doing overseas. She found herself able to tell jokes in order to lighten the mood in the hospital where so much pain and suffering was felt. But the real shock that Betty experienced was not in the hospital, rather it was outside, where the common citizen was disgusted by the sight of the wounded men, just as Betty was when she first started working at the hospital. People wrote letters to the editor asking why wounded soldiers can't be kept on their own grounds and off the street (216). As Basye points out, these people didn't know real war. The propaganda showed to the general public only depicted the heroism and bravery of the men overseas. It didn't depict the real truth. Basye's account effectively shows the dark side of war that most people did not see, or perhaps were just too ignorant to see.
Basye also offers an alternative view of the war: one that focused on the results of war, the side that wasn't all too often seen by the public. Basye felt the need to serve her country any way she could during the war, and she found her calling as a nurse to those who had been wounded on the battlefield. At first, she was in sheer horror, disgusted by just the sight of men so harshly wounded. Eventually she would grow accustomed to the sight of such men, and it was then that she found a new sense of appreciation for what her peers were doing overseas. She found herself able to tell jokes in order to lighten the mood in the hospital where so much pain and suffering was felt. But the real shock that Betty experienced was not in the hospital, rather it was outside, where the common citizen was disgusted by the sight of the wounded men, just as Betty was when she first started working at the hospital. People wrote letters to the editor asking why wounded soldiers can't be kept on their own grounds and off the street (216). As Basye points out, these people didn't know real war. The propaganda showed to the general public only depicted the heroism and bravery of the men overseas. It didn't depict the real truth. Basye's account effectively shows the dark side of war that most people did not see, or perhaps were just too ignorant to see.
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Good War: Peggy Terry + E.B. "Sledgehammer" Sledge
Peggy Terry, originating from Kentucky, has lived in Chicago for the past twenty years. Peggy offers a much different perspective on the war than I had ever heard of before. Mostly, we had studied and read the accounts of people who were heavily involved and familiar with the war. These people were either soldiers or families of soldiers who were serving over seas, all of whom knew the details of the war. These people had radios, watched newsreels, and knew as much about the war as anyone. Peggy, on the other hand, had no radio, and all she knew about the war was that there was one. She sums up her attitude pretty well when she says, "When you are involved in stayin' alive, you don't think about big things like a war" (190). Peggy's only real concerns pertained to her own security and monetary situation. Because of this, she focused solely on the necessities; the war was never an issue. Not even when she was working, assembling shells that would be used to kill people, was she aware of her country's present situation. When she would be exposed to chemicals that would cause her hair to turn orange, her safety wasn't a concern, rather she was only worried of what others would think of her dyed hair. Later on, when she moved to Paducah, Kentucky, her eyes were opened to a whole new world. She was introduced to racism and the propaganda that everyone had been experiencing for quite some time. She says, "I believe the war was the beginning of my seeing things. You just can't stay uninvolved and not knowing when such a momentous thing is happening. It's just little things that start happening and you put one piece with another. Suddenly, a puzzle begins to take shape" (193). One can tell the drastic effects that the war had on people by Peggy's account. Peggy went from a woman who didn't even know who was in the war to a woman whose husband was now having nightmares of people dying on the battlefield. Peggy notes how the war also changed the overall attitudes of the government and its citizens. Usually, she notes, killing is frowned upon and those who commit it are punished. During times of war, however, those who commit killing are awarded with medals and ribbons.
Eugene B. Sledge was one of those who was awarded for his actions as a marine during the war. However, Sledge notes, he really doesn't feel like the hero he is perceived as. He notes how Hollywood really glorifies men of war but that deep inside, he was just a kid who was fighting so that he could go home and return back to his normal life. He didn't like violence at all, and wasn't interested in seeing how many people he could kill. He says, "I don't like violence, but there are times when you can't help it" (198). Sledge was in a situation where you couldn't take a humanitarian approach. He learned this lesson when he and a buddy attempted to help a wounded Japanese. After attempting to fetch medical help for him, the Japanese soldier reached for a grenade and tried to detonate it in order to kill himself and the two American soldiers who were trying to help him. From this, Sledge really learned how one's own morals and values have to change when placed in a war situation like this. He says how one has to develop a sense of insensitivity on the front line as it is the only way he can cope with the horrors around him. He recalls his friends, who were really just kids at heart, thrown into a situation far above their maturity level, eventually becoming sick, twisted men. "This was just a mild-mannered kid who was now a twentieth-century savage" (201). This account shows a completely different way in which the war affected Americans. Terry's story showed the effects on the people on the home front while Sledge's story well demonstrates the effects on the soldiers overseas. These Americans were tested in a cruel way, forced to make decisions regarding how to react during times of war. Terry was tested socially while Sledge was tested mentally. Sledge sums up the change very well when he says, "We had all become hardened. We were out there, human beings, the most highly developed form of life on earth, fighting each other like wild animals" (202). This fighting didn't only occur on the battlefront; it was occurring on the home front as well. Both stories help to show the ways in which Americans were tested during the war. Some passed the test, while others failed miserably.
Eugene B. Sledge was one of those who was awarded for his actions as a marine during the war. However, Sledge notes, he really doesn't feel like the hero he is perceived as. He notes how Hollywood really glorifies men of war but that deep inside, he was just a kid who was fighting so that he could go home and return back to his normal life. He didn't like violence at all, and wasn't interested in seeing how many people he could kill. He says, "I don't like violence, but there are times when you can't help it" (198). Sledge was in a situation where you couldn't take a humanitarian approach. He learned this lesson when he and a buddy attempted to help a wounded Japanese. After attempting to fetch medical help for him, the Japanese soldier reached for a grenade and tried to detonate it in order to kill himself and the two American soldiers who were trying to help him. From this, Sledge really learned how one's own morals and values have to change when placed in a war situation like this. He says how one has to develop a sense of insensitivity on the front line as it is the only way he can cope with the horrors around him. He recalls his friends, who were really just kids at heart, thrown into a situation far above their maturity level, eventually becoming sick, twisted men. "This was just a mild-mannered kid who was now a twentieth-century savage" (201). This account shows a completely different way in which the war affected Americans. Terry's story showed the effects on the people on the home front while Sledge's story well demonstrates the effects on the soldiers overseas. These Americans were tested in a cruel way, forced to make decisions regarding how to react during times of war. Terry was tested socially while Sledge was tested mentally. Sledge sums up the change very well when he says, "We had all become hardened. We were out there, human beings, the most highly developed form of life on earth, fighting each other like wild animals" (202). This fighting didn't only occur on the battlefront; it was occurring on the home front as well. Both stories help to show the ways in which Americans were tested during the war. Some passed the test, while others failed miserably.
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