Examples Of Romantic Escapism

Improved Essays
I would not be here without the romanticism of the war, and I wanted Kien and Phuong to share a similar story of romantic escapism. In 1995, my veteran grandfather wrote his history and reflected on his 4 years in the Air Corps. During WWII, a Mormon boy from Idaho enlists and finds himself a soldier stationed in Barksdale Field, Louisiana. One evening he learns of a dance at the Elks Club, sponsored by a sorority group. Although it is against her beliefs, a southern Baptist decides it is her duty to support & entertain the troops. My grandmother, Virginia went to the dance where she met my grandfather, Willis. A short courtship followed, she joined the LDS faith and they married.
Shortly after the wedding, Willis had orders to go to Europe and Virginia
…show more content…
Comparatively, Bao’s postwar experience mirrors that of American veterans in the sense of abandonment by their government and the lack of appreciation for the sacrifices made over decades of fighting and dying in a war. “Those who survived continued to live,” he says in the book. “But that will has gone, that burning will which was once Vietnam’s salvation. Where is the reward of enlightenment due to us for attaining our sacred war goals? Our history-making efforts for the great generations have been to no avail. What’s so different here and now from the vulgar and cruel life we all experienced during the war?” (Times) Clearly, Bao didn’t think of war as the driving force of progress, even though they won. The Sorrow of War showed the similarities between the VC and the American Veterans. The loneliness; fear, desire to bring home the missing or killed in action, PTSD, mental breakdowns, alcoholism and the struggle to return to a semblance of normalcy. Romanticism in times of war are few and far between. No need to keep looking for that story to read, I watched it being

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Therapy of the Vietnam War In the book “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien describes his and others experiences during and after the Vietnam War. (1) O’Brien tells this story to explain the different ways that troops were able to cope with the killing, death, and changes that went on during the war so that they could continue fighting. (2) O’Brien included many first hand accounts of the different ways the troops coped with the experiences they had during the war and when they returned to life back home in America after their time of duty. (3) Some people in the war were able to cope or were not able to cope depending on how you look at it.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the novel The Sorrow of War, by Bao Ninh, it explores the internal struggle of a veteran; he had fought in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The main character of the novel, Kien, participated in the war on the day that it broke out and resigned on the day that it ended. He survives through the nineteen years of intense violence in the warfare. Not only did he fight in the Vietnam War, but also he was fighting in the front lines throughout the war, which decrease his chance of surviving enormously. Some might argue that Kien acquires a special survival skill that allows him to survive the war, but I believe it is his role that enables him to survive.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Vietnam war is well known in the world for its brutality. And there are an abundance of stories to this day about the war. One of these stories is called The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, give his point of view of the war, as an American soldier. Similarly, another text about the war is called Salem, by Robert Butler, a Vietnamese soldier giving his point of view of the war. Both of these texts explore the ideas that killing someone isn’t easy, even in war, also that war impacts soldiers and people not only physical, but emotionally and psychologically, by both of their uses of juxtaposition and through the different characters.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Ship Me Home Analysis

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This book transports you to the days of the brutal crisis in Vietnam and gives you a soldier’s realistic perspective on the war. O’Brien describes his own internal struggles between his morality…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Over 20 years, more than 58,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam and more than 150,000 wounded, not to mention the emotional toll the war took on American culture.” (Blake 1 ) In Tim O’Brien’s novel “The Things They Carried” death was a daily occurrence, on both the American and the Vietnamese side. O’Brien writes about the function of memory, traditions of war literature and the difference between Tim as a soldier and Tim as a writer. Tim O 'Brien 's novel “The Things They Carried” is written in multiple points of views all which are scattered kind of like the function of memory, no one remembers their whole life story perfectly.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Neverending War War will never end for the soldiers who are among the living, the ones who have seen the end are dead. The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien tells what he and his fellow soldiers had experienced in the vietnam war, during and after, what they had to do and how they feel. There thought’s were not only just on the war, but on their family and friends. In the soldiers heads, they are constantly thinking of the past, mostly the war, and what they had to do. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, shows the theme of grief and shame the soldiers experienced during the war and after the war, to them the war never ended.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Regardless of the fact that this novel is essentially a war story, these moments are pivotal and further develop the humanity of soldiers in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien uses…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tim O’Brien has outstandingly portrayed what the life of a soldier in and out of the Army during the Vietnam War is in his own distinctive way of fictional writing. O’Brien is especially known for this book because of the way he switched from a narrative to a conversational writing style. In The Things They Carried, O’Brien constantly uses multiple literary devices to make his remarkable war stories seem as if the reader were actually there to experience the situation for themselves. Throughout the story, O’Brien tends to use symbolism to explain his short stories. Also, scattered through the stories dark satire can be found, which makes these stories a bit more intriguing.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are copious burdens passed onto each soldier through the hardships of the Vietnam war. These men fighting are young with their whole lives ahead of them, and have to carry these grievances. The stress O’Brien puts on these physical and emotional burdens shows how important it is not to forget what these men fought for and how much they…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the mid 20th century, Vietnamese citizens were instilled with the fear of falling under foreign rule. Dang Thuy Tram's Diary Last Night I Dreamed of Peace gives primary insight into the experiences of civilians during the Vietnam war. Tram's diary demonstrates Vietnamese nationalism's impact on the war effort for both soldiers and Tram, effectively leading to the idea of a dehumanized American society. Prior to Americans entering the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese looked to Ho Chi Minh, who spoke passionately about overcoming French imperialism and fighting for independence. He dehumanized the French, calling them “terrorists”, and encouraged citizens of Vietnam to take back their country.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mary Anne fell in love with Vietnam, she wanted and appreciated the land more than the men did. The soldiers expected her to be afraid to go on an adventure, or to be afraid to leave the men without anyone around her. She surprised…

    • 1467 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Emotional Burdens in the Vietnam War and Tim O’Brien Vietnam soldiers during the war carried emotional burdens because of seeing their mates being killed, the constant fear of death and the traumatic events they were involved. The effects persevere in their minds during and after the war causing a lost in personality and PTSD. The author Tim O’Brien dedicated his life writing about the Vietnam War. The author’s personal experiences and the guilt of forming part of a war he opposed, were part of his inspiration for writing about the Vietnam War.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When one hears the word “hero,” one imagines a superhero swooping in to save a damsel in distress. Even though those heroes do not exist, thousands of heroic men and women risk their lives every day while protecting their country. Soldiers are loyal and dedicate themselves to their nation, but they bear the deepest scars of war. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried both give their readers a renewed perspective on the Great War and Vietnam War through their battle-worn war heroes. While the characters of Frederic Henry and narrator Tim O’Brien differ, both soldiers have a similar wartime mentality and behavior.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Sorrow Of War Essay

    • 2693 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The Vietnam War destroyed many people lives. In American, it lead to psychedelic era with fashion and music never being the same. It lead to massive civil unrest with protests against the war, against government, and against lack of civil rights for African Americans. Two soldier that fought on opposite sides give two of the best summaries of what war does to individuals. The first being “The Sorrow of War” by Bao Ninh.…

    • 2693 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Steven Kaplan of the University of Southern Colorado describes the Vietnam War to be “a wild and terrible work of fiction written by some dangerous and frightening storytellers” (Kaplan). The fictional work of storytellers can be drawn back to the Vietnam War itself and its association with many unknowns, and this leads people around the world to question exactly what is certain and what is uncertain about the Vietnam War. The truth of Kaplan’s statement that “the only certain thing during the Vietnam War was that nothing was certain” is identifiable in Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War through multiple aspects of the novel. Kaplan’s statement is applicable to the novel through the reader's perception of characters’ unexpected actions, and through…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays