Louise's …show more content…
However, there is something that stands out about Josephine and she seems like the typical woman of the time. Josephine is on the outside looking in and she feels like she understands her sister, but she doesn't know what actually is going on. The internal conflict is something that only Louise knows of and people on the outside can only imagine. Louise's personal identity was not even understood by her own sister, which shows a lot about Louise's inner struggle. This is shown with the dialogue between the sisters when Josephine is begging for Louise to open the door and the story says, "Go away. I am not making myself ill."No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window" (203). This shows how Louise can be so disconnected with someone as close as her sister and what she can truly keep from showing to others. In an article by Jennifer Ouellette, "Personal Identity Is (Mostly) Performance."it stated that "Without external props, even our personal identity fades and goes out of focus. The self is a fragile construction of the mind". Louise at the same time was also protecting herself from standing out by showing some emotion, even if she could not back it up. The image one gives off to the world can be very deceiving to what a person actually feels. Louise does a great job of showing the level internal conflict and what she …show more content…
The story follows a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War and more specifically, Lieutenant Cross, who comes to a realization that he must choose to let go of his past life as a kid in love with Martha to lead his men during the war. The story talks about things many of the men carried, varying from weapons to personal belongings to also mental