Essay : A Short Chapter : Chapter 1

With the Emerstarians just across the Aarons River, River Point was the next obstacle in their path. The West Vanian General at River Point was extremely mad at Commander Mason's performance at Ventier and assigned him to a defensive position. They couldn't risk another loss on the front. As for the average soldier at River Point, they were commanded to patrol, dig trenches, and strengthen defenses. Sergeant Rick Ianson was overseeing the soldiers and laborers work on digging the trenches and piling up the sandbags. When one of the patrol groups were walking in front of the forest one of the officers said while pointing his gun at the shadow, "Did you see that?" Another officer replied saying, "It's probably just a deer or something." "you're probably right." "yeah, I am. Now let's move on."

"I put my needle sticking it through and through and over and over laying the lacerated parts together as nice as I could with my hands."

* Recruits quickly set into reality with a medical examination that left with barely enough strength to crawl into their barracks

The soft words were enough to harden Booker’s cock, and grabbing Tom by the hand, he pulled him into the bedroom. He watched with growing arousal as Tom removed his boxers and lay on the bed. As he quickly undressed, he could feel two dark, soulful eyes watching his every move, and a shiver of excitement brought goose bumps to his flesh. However, he knew he needed to be patient and let Tom set the pace. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten him by coming on too strong.

Taking a deep breath, Levi closed the door to his personal quarters. A loud sigh escaped his lips as he collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Although he was known for showing little to no emotion, Levi nearly broke down crying at least three times throughout the day. Levi had dealt with some pretty rough shit in his thirty years of life, but between the starving and constipation, absolutely nothing could have possibly prepared him for the suffering that would be brought to him by the latest Survey Corps Recruits.

Mine Okubo, a Japanese-American artist, shares her experiences of being forcibly relocated to a camp along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. She describes the harsh conditions they endured, including overcrowded living quarters, inadequate food and medical care, and the loss of personal freedoms. In the passage, the author says, “When they arrived at Tanforan, they were told to strip and then given a medical examination. ”(pg.3). In this quote, Mine was forced to strip in front of people for an examination and felt lesser than others around her.

Father O'Malley sensed the heat between them as he began deeply breathing. He loosed his collar and began unbuttoning his shirt exposing his moderately hairy porcelain white chest. Father O'Malley joined Sullivan in unzipping his pants and having his cock spring liberated from his confining tighty-whities.

At the time, many that were drafted into the war didn’t know what they were fighting for and why they were there. Not only is war physically exhausting, but many soldiers suffered from psychotic breaks and from PTSD. A method to interpret Tim O'Brien's experience in war is to look at his mental state through Psychoanalytical Criticism.

Why do we speak of ‘basic” rather than “primitive” religions? We speak of basic religion because basic religion came from prehistory or are practiced in remote places. And elements of the basic religions are found to some degree in all religions. Basic religions represent the majority of the total religious experience of humankind. While primitive religion carries with it connotations of being backward, simple, even childlike. Christian or Muslim or Jew may tend to look down on these religions as being superstitious, uncivilized, or even savage. The term is misleading in suggesting that the religions of those peoples are somehow less complex than the religions of "advanced" societies.

“General our plan to save your wife and child worked however the men involved in the diversion were killed.” The soldier said.

“Mounting number of enlisted men and officers who found their way solemnly to Sergeant Towser several times a day to ask if the orders sending them home had come in. They were men who had finished their fifty missions” (Heller, 26). The military had said that when they finished their required missions that they would be sent home, yet the military lies and does not fulfill its promise. “They worried and bit their nails. They were grotesque, like useless young men in a depression.

It was November 2004, a bitter cold breeze filled the air. I was a 17 year old Army recruit, ambitious and hopeful as I stood in formation in front of the reception battalion at Fort Leonard wood awaiting transport. I had some ideas about how my next 8 weeks would go, but nothing compared to the next 24 hours. I watched as the transport trailer, which looked like a cattle trailer, rounded the corner and came to a rattling stop in front of our formation. It seemed to bring with it more of a bone chilling gust of air, as if the sight and sound of the eerie trailer wasn't enough to upset your stomach. The door on the side swung open and out came a Drill Sergeant, A clean cut and intimidating man that had a certain pride in his step. I felt very

Looking down the hall to his surprise was General Armstrong and the Israeli General Rallah Fralish. She was a beautiful woman in her late forties and a formidable adversary. Whatever they were discussing it had become heated both of them flinging their arms up in wild gestures but careful not to raise their voices so as not to arouse attention. To Hunter, it almost appeared to be some kind of lovers spat. That was not in the realm of impossible both of them were single and with just a few years difference in age. Hunter felt there was more history there, though, Armstrong had been stationed in Israel sometime back. But had returned to attend Rallah’s sons funeral and had started spending more time there lately afterward. What a pair those two would make the indomitable spirit meets the immovable force. No about all the could agree on would probably be sex and then it would be a battle for who's on top. They paused in their emotional tirade as another a junior officer appeared out of the conference room he snapped to attention as both Armstrong and Rallah returned the statute. Hunter hadn’t been spotted yet so he disappeared back into the stairwell keeping the door cracked to watch and listen. As The junior officer approach his position Hunter closed the door to a sliver of an opening as the man past he noticed he was in a flight suit. The arm patch signifying what squadron he was in only had an Icon

Page 120-121 “...the young man would not have wanted to be a soldier...try not to grow up too fast.”

Shame is a constant theme in The Things They Carried. Soldiers felt like they had to go to war, but fear of embarrassing themselves, their families, and their towns if they ran. This embarrassment was helped by the guilt of not being "masculine" enough or not being brave, heroic, and patriotic enough. the author reflects how he thought he had a secret reserve of bravery and heroism stored away, waiting for the moment when he would be called into war—if that day ever came—in chapter 4, and how in reality no such reserve existed.