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Birdy Perry Character Analysis

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What is the social context? In SOF the main character, “Birdy” Perry, is faced with the inhumane aspects of war. For Birdy and his unit the war becomes a humanitarian mission, where he attempts to reason with the locals as well as volunteer for basic medical treatment. He is surrounded by death and tragedy. Birdy describes seeing the tragedies first hand, “I don't want to see them. When I look I see that the dead are not like human beings anymore.” (Myers 127) He becomes desensitized as he witnesses the atrocities of war. He sees unnecessary death, he sees their willingness to kill and harm children, and he sees senseless killings by rebel groups attempting to kill Americans. So as the story progresses he becomes mentally numb yet aware. Additionally, he sees social inequalities in Iraqi culture as well as military culture. He watches as women are mistreated and viewed as inferior by their husbands or male figures in Iraq. As well, he sees the militaries prejudice towards women’s role in the armed forces. …show more content…

By some in the region it is seen as a “good” thing to give your life in order to kill others. As well as to undermine the female sex and to view them as inferior. This diluted state of mind is due to extremist views of their religion. Religion plays a vital role in the book as this is the guiding force for the overwhelming majority of the population. As when Jamil is asked what Iraq’s true goal is he states, “We want to live in peace and worship Allah in peace.” (Myers 121) The culture they desire is one of peace. The look to religion as their source of guidance in such tough times. While this is similar to man in the U.S, the Iraqis tend to have more radical views on issues such as leaving the religion. Many in Iraq view a reasonable punishment for leaving the religion to be death. These extreme view culminated with the war-torn region create a culture of disrepair in many

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He also sees this when Bostwick is killed by his own union side of the army while fighting with Watie's Men. This sympathy supports the author’s message by providing the idea there is a deep understanding between both sides and helping the reader understand how war is a tragedy because both sides suffer. This sympathy could also lead to a desire to unify the nation to end the suffering of both

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The unit has more combat and more struggles with the Iraqi people. Birdy continued to write letters to his father but he didn’t respond. He wrote to his uncle Richie instead. They talked about how gruesome and mind boggling war was. They could both agree that the hellish experiences they had in their perspective wars had been too much for one person to handle.

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The person had to deal with death and the reality of war under the worst case scenario. Bob “Rat” Kiley was that soldier and one of the many soldiers that left something in the war. He had lost his friend Curt Lemon and that’s the first sign that the war has been turning to be painful for him. This coping mechanism for the death was to write letters to lemon’s sister and he shot a baby Water Buffalo. This coping mechanism is seen in the chapter “How to tell a true war story”, shows how he has been affected and explained the toll the war had taken on him.

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“Win or lose, good or bad, the experience will change you,” says Richelle E. Goodrich. This directly relates to the character Catherine, in the book Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman. Catherine’s experiences led to her discovery of the need for change. Catherine gradually becomes more thoughtful, mature, and reflective as she has experiences like meeting Jews and the king’s cousin, or even just writing in her journal, that motivated her to change. Writing in her journal led Catherine to the discovery of the need for change.

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describe: In the Soldiers Stories From Iraq and Afghanistan made started by Jennifer Karady she would take pictures of veterans, or soldiers as soon as they would come back from war she would pose them in positions that described how hard it is to adjust back into a civilian environment after returning from the war She often would talk to the people that she was taking pictures of and ask them what make them safe then she would incorporate those things in her pictures some being their family or their house you should take the picture from ways you have never seen before This in turn would give the picture more depth and meaning analyze: I believe Jennifer was trying to capture and in that we 've never thought of before how when soldiers come back from war and have to deal with really coping about not making anymore anymore and have to get used to being in normal society it 's hard to realize that when they come back from War there is a there 's a part of stays with them and this way she is making it easier to understand because of how many more it 's hard to understand women like to adjust back into normal

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She also reveals about the various aspects of military training which drives these soldiers into the state of war. These soldiers are trained to kill without even thinking once, due to which they themselves suffer from both trauma and loss of their own souls. She

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