Confronting Sorrow
The Vietnam War created a lasting memory for all the people who valiantly fought for both sides. The loss of human life has cost many war veterans their sanity after the war. The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington D.C. was created in 1982, and stands as a testament, honoring the many who served and lost their lives. This memorial has the tendency to evoke many powerful emotions that can be extremely hard to suppress, which happens to be the case for Yusef Komunyakaa, an African-American Vietnam War veteran himself. In the poem, “Facing It,” Komunyakaa details the hardships he and other veterans underwent through the war by detailing the poignant journey he experienced as he tested the limits of his own mental stability while visiting the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial.
“Facing It” begins with the author describing his trip to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., and the feelings that filled him as he looked upon the names that were littered on the granite black memorial. He illustrates how he …show more content…
Komunyakaa is a Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, and has been noted and honored for writing poems about sacrifice, pain, and loss (Poetry Archive). “Facing It” is a very intricate poem that invokes many different ideals about life, especially among the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. He states from his own perspective as a veteran, yet he makes a powerful statement on society as a whole. He wrote how although he was a valiant fighter had great strength, he still suffers great emotional pain when he revisits those moments. He shows that the lives and mentalities of Vietnam veterans were forever changed through the War, and that in the end, even if they are the strongest people on earth, they will always be reminded of the tragedy, even when they try to leave it in the
The Vietnam War created a lasting memory for all the people who valiantly fought for both sides. The loss of human life has cost many war veterans their sanity after the war. The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington D.C. was created in 1982, and stands as a testament, honoring the many who served and lost their lives. This memorial has the tendency to evoke many powerful emotions that can be extremely hard to suppress, which happens to be the case for Yusef Komunyakaa, an African-American Vietnam War veteran himself. In the poem, “Facing It,” Komunyakaa details the hardships he and other veterans underwent through the war by detailing the poignant journey he experienced as he tested the limits of his own mental stability while visiting the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial.
“Facing It” begins with the author describing his trip to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., and the feelings that filled him as he looked upon the names that were littered on the granite black memorial. He illustrates how he …show more content…
Komunyakaa is a Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, and has been noted and honored for writing poems about sacrifice, pain, and loss (Poetry Archive). “Facing It” is a very intricate poem that invokes many different ideals about life, especially among the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. He states from his own perspective as a veteran, yet he makes a powerful statement on society as a whole. He wrote how although he was a valiant fighter had great strength, he still suffers great emotional pain when he revisits those moments. He shows that the lives and mentalities of Vietnam veterans were forever changed through the War, and that in the end, even if they are the strongest people on earth, they will always be reminded of the tragedy, even when they try to leave it in the