The Effects of Loss
Tupac Shakur once said, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive...” This quote states, that the things one may lose in life can cause great affect on the emotional and mental well-being of a person. How loss affects a character can be seen in both film and in books. The film, Shenandoah, which takes place in 1965 in America during the Civil War, reflects upon the Anderson family who tries their best to avoid the conflict of war. Likewise, the novel, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, presents a young soldier, by the name of Joe, who experiences tremendous loss and consequences that follow due to World War l. Throughout the film and novel major loss is shown in …show more content…
The loss that Charlie struggles from, affects his mental well-being because he constantly is thinking about his loss and will never forget about it. This is shown in the film when Charlie visits his wife, his two sons, and his daughter in-law out at their graves where they are buried in their yard. One can see the sorrow on Charlie’s face as he visits his lost loved ones. Charlie was also affected emotionally because each day after the war, he has to try and overcome his sadness from his many losses. Similarly, Joe is affected mentally because he is unable to grasp where he is or what time of the day it is. Although Charlie is affected mentally, Joe’s effects are more intense. Joe is not able to understand if he is awake and thinking, or asleep and dreaming, “It meant that he might be lying and thinking very solemnly about something that seemed important while all the time he might really be asleep and dreaming the idiotic dreams of a two year old” (Trumbo 100). This causes Joe to go mentally insane because he is not able to tell the difference between being awake or being asleep. Joe, like Charlie, was affected emotionally because he suffered from loneliness because of his loss with human contact. All in all, both characters struggle both emotionally and mentally because of the losses they faced, but Joe was affected mentally more than Charlie
Tupac Shakur once said, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive...” This quote states, that the things one may lose in life can cause great affect on the emotional and mental well-being of a person. How loss affects a character can be seen in both film and in books. The film, Shenandoah, which takes place in 1965 in America during the Civil War, reflects upon the Anderson family who tries their best to avoid the conflict of war. Likewise, the novel, Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, presents a young soldier, by the name of Joe, who experiences tremendous loss and consequences that follow due to World War l. Throughout the film and novel major loss is shown in …show more content…
The loss that Charlie struggles from, affects his mental well-being because he constantly is thinking about his loss and will never forget about it. This is shown in the film when Charlie visits his wife, his two sons, and his daughter in-law out at their graves where they are buried in their yard. One can see the sorrow on Charlie’s face as he visits his lost loved ones. Charlie was also affected emotionally because each day after the war, he has to try and overcome his sadness from his many losses. Similarly, Joe is affected mentally because he is unable to grasp where he is or what time of the day it is. Although Charlie is affected mentally, Joe’s effects are more intense. Joe is not able to understand if he is awake and thinking, or asleep and dreaming, “It meant that he might be lying and thinking very solemnly about something that seemed important while all the time he might really be asleep and dreaming the idiotic dreams of a two year old” (Trumbo 100). This causes Joe to go mentally insane because he is not able to tell the difference between being awake or being asleep. Joe, like Charlie, was affected emotionally because he suffered from loneliness because of his loss with human contact. All in all, both characters struggle both emotionally and mentally because of the losses they faced, but Joe was affected mentally more than Charlie