The short stories, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “The Fireman’s Wife” by Richard Bausch have resonated with me after reading them this semester. I am able to draw similarities from what I’ve read and associate them with the story. Doing so made what I read capture my full attention and transport me into the story. Also, I discovered and tackled flaws in my own character in the process. I found both of these short stories to have been thought provoking and an interesting read as well.
In the story, “The Fireman’s Wife”, the main characters Jane and Martin have resembled the follies in an unhappy marriage. Their marriage is not meant to be and is falling apart. Over a long period of time in a normal relationship, the partner who …show more content…
Unfortunately, I only see her on the weekends. This makes for a very lackluster weekend; especially when we spend our weekends doing homework on the couch with the television as background noise. This added stress on our relationship, but we pedaled through it. What bothered her most was on many occasions when we were hanging out, I would have almost no filter on what I said. I had an opinion about most things, which a majority of what I said was pessimistic. Eventually, she wouldn’t tell me how she felt anymore because she thought I would judge her. Our conversations became very brief and she wouldn’t tell me anything new anymore because I was a downer. Reading this story really helped me realize what kind of person I could be transforming into if I stayed on this path. I drew a close comparison between Martin and Jane in “The Fireman’s Wife” and my own relationship with my girlfriend. Reading this story was a wake-up call, and I feared the worst if I didn’t take the time to assess my relationship immediately. When Martin sees Jane’s things packed in his travel bag, he gets riled up and it triggers his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), “Jesus, Jane, are you – “; “Without even talking to me about it – “; “I keep seeing it,” he says. “I keep seeing Wally’s face. The – way his foot jerked” (Bausch 47). Not only is he haunted by traumatic images of his …show more content…
Being a full-time college student, I have no combat training or experience camping in the outdoors with necessities. I love my electronics and being indoors. Since the life of a soldier is very different from that of my own, I found it intriguing to listen to my roommates, a majority who are ROTC, tell me about their physical training and international trips outside of the United States jurisdiction; my roommate was training this past summer in the Republic of Georgia. Just to get an idea of where that is, it is at the intersection of Europe and Asia. My roommate told me about his involvement in a kind of boot camp experience. The base he trained at was in a mountainous area. He said that the army wouldn’t allow them to carry much of anything with them other than food and water while they were out running obstacles. During their survival training, they went without electronics. Also, it meant that he had to sleep outdoors. After that experience, he told me that he was conditioned to sleep anywhere. In the middle of this semester, he was delighted to find out he was going into Active duty. He said that he wouldn’t be able to bring the new PlayStation 4, which he bought in September, with him. He would instead give it to his parents as a gift so they can stream Netflix on their television. My other ROTC roommate, who is also into gaming, told me he wanted to buy a
In the story, “The Fireman’s Wife”, the main characters Jane and Martin have resembled the follies in an unhappy marriage. Their marriage is not meant to be and is falling apart. Over a long period of time in a normal relationship, the partner who …show more content…
Unfortunately, I only see her on the weekends. This makes for a very lackluster weekend; especially when we spend our weekends doing homework on the couch with the television as background noise. This added stress on our relationship, but we pedaled through it. What bothered her most was on many occasions when we were hanging out, I would have almost no filter on what I said. I had an opinion about most things, which a majority of what I said was pessimistic. Eventually, she wouldn’t tell me how she felt anymore because she thought I would judge her. Our conversations became very brief and she wouldn’t tell me anything new anymore because I was a downer. Reading this story really helped me realize what kind of person I could be transforming into if I stayed on this path. I drew a close comparison between Martin and Jane in “The Fireman’s Wife” and my own relationship with my girlfriend. Reading this story was a wake-up call, and I feared the worst if I didn’t take the time to assess my relationship immediately. When Martin sees Jane’s things packed in his travel bag, he gets riled up and it triggers his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), “Jesus, Jane, are you – “; “Without even talking to me about it – “; “I keep seeing it,” he says. “I keep seeing Wally’s face. The – way his foot jerked” (Bausch 47). Not only is he haunted by traumatic images of his …show more content…
Being a full-time college student, I have no combat training or experience camping in the outdoors with necessities. I love my electronics and being indoors. Since the life of a soldier is very different from that of my own, I found it intriguing to listen to my roommates, a majority who are ROTC, tell me about their physical training and international trips outside of the United States jurisdiction; my roommate was training this past summer in the Republic of Georgia. Just to get an idea of where that is, it is at the intersection of Europe and Asia. My roommate told me about his involvement in a kind of boot camp experience. The base he trained at was in a mountainous area. He said that the army wouldn’t allow them to carry much of anything with them other than food and water while they were out running obstacles. During their survival training, they went without electronics. Also, it meant that he had to sleep outdoors. After that experience, he told me that he was conditioned to sleep anywhere. In the middle of this semester, he was delighted to find out he was going into Active duty. He said that he wouldn’t be able to bring the new PlayStation 4, which he bought in September, with him. He would instead give it to his parents as a gift so they can stream Netflix on their television. My other ROTC roommate, who is also into gaming, told me he wanted to buy a