1. Black Flag – Rise Above : This song is about rising above your problems and what people think of you. I think that this message heavily applies to me because I’ve worked real hard my life to get past my problems. This world works against us mentally and physically so you must in-turn fight back. Also, I like being different. There is nothing good about being like everyone else, stand out and fight against the ideals of society why should you care what people think about you.
2. Minor Threat – Minor Threat : This song is about living at your own pace. Live your life how you want to, don’t speed up or slow down for anyone. This relates to me because I like to live in the moment, I don’t usually plan for anything I live at my own pace. You don’t have to live up to other people’s expectations.
3. Inside Out – No Spiritual Surrender : The song “No Spiritual Surrender” talks of anti-religion and anti-conformity. Religion is just a way for you to conform to society. You obey the commands of the preacher or the bible to become what society wants you to become. Form your own morals, ideals and identity. You don’t need a fictional book to tell you what to do.
4. Dag Nasty – Circles : You’ve got to be the one to change things in your life, speak up against what you know is wrong and fight for yourself. There are billions of bystanders in this world, don’t make yourself one of them. You will receive hate for what you say and although people will try to punish you, fight back.
5. Minor Threat – Straight Edge : This song relates a lot to modern society. People everywhere think they need drugs or have done it to have fun or fit in. Everyone knows at least one person that uses. I don’t need drugs to have fun and your desire to fit in makes you look pathetic. I chose my path, you chose yours.

Fear where they have not gone

Followers of the flock

They do not stray

They do not think

 

This one does not follow

Outcast by choice, with thoughts of independence

Comfort in itself and security with its mind

Feared by the herder

      To start off, I am very passionate about art. I’ve drawn and sketched out my own stories and characters since I was a little kid. In my spare time or when I was bored I would draw. A lot of the time I would sketch characters I’d already seen from movies, games, shows etc. As I’ve gotten older I’ve progressed and started creating my own characters and even my own worlds.

Now, I don’t know why I specifically started drawing or sketching but I assume it was because of how accessible it was. My parents had never tried to get me into sports when I was little, but, they did push my creativity forward. From early on they noticed that I had a natural talent for art. I could see something or someone once and be able to copy them down from pure memory. I unconsciously map things in my head and get its details down before I even start sketching. I cared more about detail than any other aspect, like, shading, coloring, and so on.

Since then, I’ve definitely taken more interest in other parts like shading, but, I still think about the detail in my pieces. Art has taught me a lot about focusing on the little pieces of a bigger picture, learning how to see the minuscule features can be a big part of life in general. Noticing the small habits or mannerisms of people can help you figure out what type of person they are, or even what they’re hiding. For instance, detectives heavily rely on this ability. They’ve got to connect little parts of a crime scene to other criminals and recognize their patterns. They must have great attention for detail or else they will miss the fact that the murderer slashed the body 16 times exactly like another recent case. Or that a suspect likes to smoke a very specific type of cigarette that was found fresh at the murder scene.

Because of art, I have improved myself on that aspect. I know I’m not the only one but, I have a great appreciation for artists who add secret things or subtle references to their works. By artists I mean, writers, movie directors, graphic designers (anyone who creates), etc. It’s important for other artists to add these things because it makes the viewer feel like the artist cares about their work. It’s also another way for the viewers to get lost in your world, it keeps them coming back.

Making art can be a great outlet from society. If I’m stressed, art is a great way for me to chill out.  Art is personal, you make it what you want it to be. The characteristics, personality, mood, theme, is all up to you to decide. I often create art centered around what I’m interested in at the moment, I have more creativity that way. Art is very much imaginative, because of it I look out for things that inspire me in the real world.

With all that said, you can probably see that art has had quite an effect on my life. It may be a hobby, but, the things you can learn from it will help you with a lot of other things in your life like it did mine.

This chapter, “Speaking of Courage,” is dedicated to Norman Bowker and his feelings after the war. Although this chapter is focused on Norman, its overall theme is the effects of war and its toll on the veteran’s mind. In the beginning of this chapter Norman is back home, but, he doesn’t feel happy about it. Life is different at home, he doesn’t feel the same. In war, Norman had a duty and orders to follow, charlie to kill and brothers to protect. After the war he isn’t given any of those things, he finds himself circling a lake just to keep himself busy. The lake symbolizes meaning.

The settlers before Norman had settled there because the lake gave them a starting point, a job, a duty to build a town and expand. The lake is the new beginning to all the people before Norman, yet, he can find no meaning, no duty, no commands, so he circles and circles hoping for something. The world moves without him, he tries his best to talk about the war to his friends and family, but, he doesn’t have the courage. He wants to tell them about a time where he almost got the silver medal for bravery or that he can tell time without even looking at the clock. No matter how much he wants to tell them, he feels that they wouldn’t understand. Like most civilians after the war, they just pushed war aside, pretend it didn’t happen.     

Normal people just don’t get it, Vietnam was a different way of life with its own agenda. Back home, was different too, but for the soldiers. Although, they thought they would be happy to be home, they feel meaningless. They rebuilt their life and mind to be fit for war, so they’ve lost their old ways. Courage dedicated to fighting the VC, courage used to save their brothers only to have it ignored by most. Friends have moved on, family’s the same as before, love interests have gone away. All that’s left for them to talk to is their fellow soldiers, who might’ve died in war or killed themselves afterwards. Their mind tries to bring them back to war, PTSD and everything else I’ve talked about.

      Those that have formed a family after the war still bear the scars of war, physically and mentally. Courage is a big part of this chapter, courage is a different thing in war than at home. To civilians courage is the act of going to war and becoming a soldier. To the soldiers, courage is not the same, you must do something that no other soldier wants to do to have courage. To Norman he is haunted by this, all the medals he has earned are from simple things that every soldier would earn, they’re meaningless. He thinks to himself about not having the courage to save Kiowa, he can’t get over himself for that. Even though he couldn’t save Kiowa it wasn’t his fault, he would’ve died with him. But, dying with Kiowa is better to him than having a meaningless life at home with nothing to live for…

This chapter is definitely one of the most interesting chapters of the whole book. “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” by Tim O’brien, is a very detailed story of a girl who comes to Vietnam. This chapter describes the changes in Mary Anne’s personality. But, the main idea of the chapter is the effects war has on people and their minds. The chapter started with a young soldier’s idea of flying his girlfriend over to Vietnam. The boy, Mark Fossie, knew it would be complicated but, Mary Anne managed to do it in a series of hitch hiked flights. In six weeks time, Mary Anne had shown up at the base. The guys described her as a 17 year old doll. Mary Anne and Mark Fossie had been in love since when they were really young. They had often talked about getting married together and felt as though nothing could tear them apart. After sometime at the base the guys were accustomed to having her around, but, they were surprised by her tolerance for Vietnam. Mary Anne was very to learn the ways of Vietnam and war. Her curiosity for Vietnam soon grew into an obsession and a passion. She would increasingly spend more times out on the field and in ambushes. The more she saw of the war, the more she wanted it, and slowly, the distance between her and Mark Fossie would grow. Fossie had a hard time with this and often times worried about her, he saw his love of his life being taken away from him. Soon enough, she had stopped spending time with him at all. She would sleep in a separate hooch with the green berets (hardened stealthy soldiers) or “greenies” as they were called. The surprising thing was, Mary Anne was not in love with another man, instead, her love had gone to war. Her personality deteriorated and her young girl looks had been changed, reformed. In the end she had even separated from the platoon and went off into the mountains never to be seen again. The jungle had taken her, the sights, the fear, the rush, the morbid reality of it all. It interested her, it tempted her. War has the harshest effects on people, training doesn’t make you a soldier, war does. Mary Anne become lost in her mind, war turned her into a weapon. She couldn’t be found nor’ could she be saved. This effect is described by a lot of soldiers, even those who manage to escape still bear the mental scars Vietnam had given them. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), is an effect of the mind that causes soldiers and veteran’s minds to overload in experiences that the brain finds similar to what they experienced in war. An example would be, a loud firework goes off and causes the veteran’s mind to compare that sound to gunfire, they then re-experience all the habits that they had to go through in war. Their tactics and mindset comes back in that small moment and overloads the brain. These effects of war are horrible, war changes you into a different being, you no longer feel the like you used to, you become a weapon not a loving human.

My collage shows the awe and beauty of War. You will see things you’ve never seen before when at war. The casual/natural violence and morbidity is shocking to some. It has its own beauty, the way that you stare at it and try to figure it out in your head can be compared to something beautiful.

The chapter “On the Rainy River.” This chapter tells the story of Tim O’Brien’s decision to fight in the war. As Tim is fleeing the U.S. he stops at an inn. This is where he meets Elroy Berdahl. During this time O’Brien is having a dilemma, on one hand he can flee to Canada to avoid the draft. Although fleeing would save his life, he would be outcast by society and his family. On the other hand he could take the chance of survival and go to war.

Both sides have their pros and cons but at the moment Tim decides to escape to Canada. A mile from the Canadian border Tim decides to stop at an inn. The owner of the place is Elroy Berdahl, a soon to be “hero” in O’Brien’s life. During his stay, O’Brien is tasked with jobs by Elroy and they soon become acquainted in each other’s life. On the last day of O’Brien’s stay, Elroy becomes a big factor in whether or not Tim would go to war. Elroy gave Tim two paths, one would be a “ticket” to Canada along with cash to survive. The other option would be to use the money to go back home to be sent off to Vietnam.

During Tim’s time at the lodge, Elroy never once asked him why he was there. In fact, Elroy never really said more than a few words. Although Elroy is a man of few words, Tim knows what Elroy is thinking. There are tons of heroes that exist today. By Tim’s standards an example of a hero could be, your best friends. Another example would be, your grandparents/parents. Both examples can be people who help you through life changing decisions. Actually, Elroy himself is kind of like a grandparent to Tim during his stay.

Is our country hero obsessed? I would say yes, by society’s standards you are expected to be a hero. A hero to us is someone with courage, strength, compassion, and a strong sense of selflessness. Today, there are millions of movies, novels, games, etc. that portray heroes. Superhero movies are some of the most popular movies in the United states but also the whole world. Often times people will grow up to be like their heroes and the certain characters that they look up to will stay in their mind their whole life.

Tim O’Brien’s definition of Courage is explained like this, “(Courage) Comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being and stashing it away and letting it earn interest” (pg 38). The way that he explains is like saying that you can only be a hero to people, or be courageous, a certain amount of times in a certain amount of time. I think he defines courage this way because for people who aren’t naturally courageous you may only be courageous a small amount of times. Me personally I would describe courage as getting over something challenging and seemingly crazy to others. Choosing to put yourself in the “open” out of your comfort zone and past something like, performing in front of a crowd for the first time.

I agree, you can enter a war as an act of cowardice. In O’Brien’s case, he was swayed back to the war because he didn’t have enough courage to leave society. He was scared of what people would think of him if he had avoided the war. O’Brien is ashamed of himself because he was pressured into fighting a war he didn’t believe in. Courage avoids shame, you feel ashamed after failing to stand up to yourself and be courageous.

This is my English 3 blog. My name is Ike H, I don’t like reading books.