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I Was Only Nineteen Sparknotes

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Modern war poetry is immensely valuable because of its ability to capture experiences that make an insightful and powerful connection with an audience. The bigger picture of war poetry is being able to share moments, feelings, and perspectives that connect with others. Wilfred Owen intimately conveys the horrific moments lived through young soldiers with his poem ‘Futility’ (1918) and shows how pointless and futile the war is, as he questions the creation of life if it can be so easily destroyed. The Australian folk group Redgum wrote the song ‘I Was Only Nineteen’ (1983) that focuses on the experiences of young soldiers in the conflicts of the Vietnam War, revealing the lasting impacts it had on them for the rest of their lives. These pieces offer the audiences raw and intense emotions of frustration, despair, and endless questioning about the …show more content…

Redgum uses a repeated rhetorical question: “And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?” to demonstrate the soldiers frustrations and the continuing issues of insomnia, PTSD, and existential despair after the events of the Vietnam War. Redgum continues to emphasise the impacts of the Vietnam War through the use of an understatement in: “I caught some pieces in my back that I didn’t even feel” to signify the numbing experiences lived through in the war, and the emotional and psychological toll they had on the soldiers. Redgum uses the anaphora of: “And” to start each line of the song’s second chorus to depict the overwhelming feelings and emotions felt by the soldiers over the period of the war. Thus, ‘I Was Only Nineteen’ illustrates the lasting effects that the Vietnam War had on the soldiers on the front line, and the impacts left on them for the rest of their

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Poetry and music have been strong ways for expressing human emotions, thoughts, and experiences. They have the unique ability to evoke strong emotions and connect with people on a deeper level. This essay will analyse the theme of war in Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" and Redgum's song "I Was Only Nineteen". Both texts use significant poetic and stylistic devices to comment on the horrors of war and its impact on soldiers. Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" was written during World War I and described the horrors and reality of war.

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Soldiers typically lacked sympathy for what they went through from society ignoring the trauma they brought back from the Vietnam War. The following quote from the article presents the thought process of most soldiers to us: “By forgetting, he said he could prove that he was strong and could master his anxieties… by remembering, he felt he was admitting that he was weak and no longer in control” (Penk and Robinowitz 3). The previous quote shows how the soldiers felt that forgetting made them appear strong rather than letting their emotions weaken them, and this is why we see a soldier’s inner conflict as they force themselves to remember in the poem. In this quote from the poem the soldier has come to the monument for remembering those who passed in the war and as he looks at those names his first thought is: “No tears.

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887 Words | 4 Pages

Before the war had started his brother had introduced him to the cassette tapes and he explained how much he cared for them by saying “I loved the dance and particularly enjoyed the lyrics… they were poetic and it improved my vocabulary”(Beah 6). Rap music has affected his psychological state of mind and throughout any point in time, he was feeling emotion. Beah and his brother went on a trip to see their grandmother and mother which was a total of sixteen miles. When they arrived with their grandmother, she made them some food and took care of them. During the time of the war, Beah reflected on his grandmother and her home a lot to try and unfocus on all of the blood and dead bodies he had witnessed back in his hometown.

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This description paints the scenes of the poem as they happen, the powerful connotations of the words battling against each other, and to the grievance of the reader, the negative feelings prevail. This battle illuminates the brutality and fear experienced by soldiers, in WWII, during their final moments on Earth - their fear, sadness, and horrified disgust all hidden between the lines of these two sentences. Foreshadowed by the soldier's machine like tone, the speaker alludes to the fact that he will fight for his life, and

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Bruce Weigl’s poem “Song of Napalm” juxtaposes Timothy O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. Each work of literature depicts the struggles of the authors in a fictional, yet documentary way of their experiences and time fighting in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War which erupted from 1955 till its end in 1975 affected people all across the seas. In America, men were called to military service to bear arms against North Vietnam and the attempt at the advancement of communism. Throughout the two works of literature, Weigl and O’Brien, both speak on their experiences during the Vietnam War.

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772 Words | 4 Pages

The grueling Vietnam War, disrupting the lives of soldiers and their families, un-packs its complexities through the journey of the soldiers. After the death of Curt Lemon, a fellow soldier, O’Brien exclaims, “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love” (80). O’Brien’s metaphor conveys his perception of the Vietnam War while setting a strong precedent of what the war really was like. Furthermore, it is evident that the complexities of war are hard to navigate as soldiers, tearing away at their mental health, revealing soldier’s experiences at war that corrode their overall well-being. Furthermore, this toll on overall-well being can be self-inflicted when soldiers assign blame to themselves as guilt culminates into lifelong burdens.

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As O’Brien tells what he would consider to be a ture war story of two young Vietnam soldiers he writes, “ They were kids; they just didn’t know. A nature hike, they thought, not even a war … they were giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they invented” (O’Brien 270). With O’briens words he reminices with his readers about childhood. The soldiers he writes about, under different circumstances, could have easily been kids in a school yard or a summer camp. True war stories show the gruesomeness of war, childrens lives lost faster than the blink of an eye.

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The Dark side of War What is it felt like to be a veteran who has suffered from the trauma of war that leaves multiple scars? As a Vietnam War veteran, Yusef Komunyaka in his short poem “Facing It” narrates his experience along with his emotional struggle as he visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Phil Klay, who is also a veteran served in Iraq, in his short story “Redeployment”, attempted to show how it feels like in a war zone and what happened to the soldiers who returned. These stories gives a peek into one of the most difficult phases a person can face in a life time. The sequencing of the collection reflects the disorder of a soldier’s life.

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1190 Words | 5 Pages

“Nineteen”, by Elizabeth Alexander uses language and tone to form a multi-sensory poem about remembering her youth and desire to connect to her past Vietnam vet lover. These aspects of language and tone are embedded in the outer form of the poem, as the author forms an imaginative recreation of her young adult life, which directly impacts the reader to allow for an enjoyable simple read. The elements of language and tone formation ensure the translation of Alexander’s emotions or feelings of her youth for the audience to relate and understand. In the first place, the language within “Nineteen” is casual and not really poetic.

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My theme is portrayal of soldiers. Portrayal of a soldier is shown in documentaries, lyrics, and short stories. My first connection I am exploring is guilt and I am comparing ‘’The Not Dead’’, by Brian Hill and ‘’Sniper ‘’, by Liam O’Flaherty, I will also be comparing these two connections to people in society. My second connection I am exploring is that soldiers would do anything for their country, I will be comparing the lyric ‘’Goodnight Saigon’’, by Billy Joel and the short story ‘’Ambush’’, by Tim O’Brien, I will also be sharing some insights I have on these two connections. In the documentary ‘’The Not Dead’’, by Brian Hill we are shown that soldiers are portrayed by suffering from guilt.

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1372 Words | 6 Pages

For thousands of years, people have adapted to their environment to better suit themselves and to evolve. Adapting is making (something) suitable for a new use or purpose and evolving is to develop gradually. Individuals adapt to the challenges of life to find outcomes that are either positive or negative. It helps them to become resiliant and to adapt to their environment and also strengthen the bonds of friendship. The bigger the adversity, the more adapting will need to take place.

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By attaching stories to deaths, and names to the faces of soldiers who otherwise would be just another killed in action, the real experiences of what it was to be a soldier in Vietnam come to life in ways cold hard facts and reality cannot. O’Brien’s book is not about war. It’s about the people who lived through the terror of being in Vietnam. As O’Brien writes “It’s about love and memory. It's about sorrow”(81).

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660 Words | 3 Pages

Soldiers who survives in combat decide to write about their experiences, often as a coping mechanism. War can physically and emotionally change a person. Humanity makes a person feel alive, happy and good-natured however, experiences can alter these feelings. Throughout the pieces, The Things They Carried, Soldier's Home and “We Never Know”, the characters experience the horrors of war

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We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight. John Lennon. Based on his own reading and reflection, Bruce Dawe constructs his attitudes towards war in his poems, Homecoming and Weapons Training, believing it to be lacking sense historically and ultimately futile. By specifically addressing an Australian cultural context, the poet exposes a universal appeal in that the insensitivity and anonymity are common attitudes towards soldiers during war. Dawe clearly expresses his ‘anti-war sentiment’ through his use of language and imagery as he examines the dehumanising aspects of war and its brutal reality.

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Formal Analysis: At Eternity’s Gate At Eternity’s Gate is an Oil Painting created by Van Gogh in a time of deprived health for the artist. This work was created only 2 months before his death. The man, sitting uneasily with his hands on his head clenched, wears only a blue overall. The condition of the work, as most art, has slightly faded, and is no longer densely colored, but mostly faded or worn out.

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