Text Connections
A text connection I found in The Things They Carried was Tom’s story of how he joined the Vietnam War. In terms of the war, Tom disagreed with the notion of fighting in the Vietnam War. He did disagree with it; yet once he was drafted, he decided to fight on the terms of his pride and the thought of being looked at differently by his community for not fighting. Tom said, “I would go to the war…because I was embarrassed not to” (57). This reminded me of all the men who fought to appear “macho” and tough. There are certain circumstances where men are not willing to sacrifice their life for something they disagree with, yet men want that appearance of toughness and masculinity. This reminded me a lot of the men in the antebellum south before the Civil War. Southern men placed pride and honor on such a high pedestal that any attack on them would be deemed a threat on their masculinity. In some cases, they were willing to duel to uphold their manhood. I also found this circumstance similar to the men during the Great Depression. As the consummate breadwinner of the family, the depression put a lot of strain on the father. Some refused to get relief, some even left their family because they were so ashamed at themselves—their pride dictated how to they lived their lives. It is interesting to notice a reoccurring theme of man yearning for a “macho” façade.
This was a very interesting text connection. Your ability to relate O'Brians experience to that of the soliders of the Civil War and the Great Depression is very impressive.This stereotype also exists in the men in our society today. Although not true for every male, many men feel that it is their job to hold up the house and put their reputation and integrity before everything else. I really liked your interpretation of this and thought it was a very unique connection.
ReplyDeleteYour connection to a macho facade really made sense to me. Men do take their family, and their position in the family- in every part of history it seems like this emotion does hit home. O'Briens reference to these emotions shows the reader that in fact everyone didn't want to go to war, they felt like it was their position in the family. This pride effected people in the war, and does today with America's economy- this was a good connection and an important one in that.
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