Literary Analysis of The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw Essay

In Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, the author portrays ordinary people of a certain generation as having qualities of greatness and heroism. He tells stories of average people that lived inspiring lives through many hardships, and declares today’s society as the beneficiary of their challenging work and commitment. Brokaw’s generous and proficient use of imagery helps to persuade the reader to believe that the people of “the greatest generation” are, indeed, heroic. He defines the strength and resilience of “the greatest generation” by what they were able to confront and overcome.

When you hear the quote “old soldiers never die they just fade away” you'll think of him and all of the good things he did for us and what a hero he really is. He served in both of the wars and ran for presidency.

The book “The Greatest Generation”, by Tom Brokaw, is about the men and women who were born in the 1920’s and how they are what he deems to be the greatest generation thus far. He believes this generation is so tremendous because of the fact they did not demand respect for what they did and went through. Though may sacrificed as much as their lives, they do not think higher of themselves. Even through all their struggling they managed to have enough strength leave everything behind and fight for their country. I believe Tom Brokaw is correct when he says they are there greatest generation. People then would support the war and the men who fought in it, whereas nowadays there are just as many people against war, fighting, and the men and

I read the article, “World War I as I Saw it: The Memoir of an African American Soldier.” This article consists of a memoir written by Bruce Wright and an introduction written by his grandchildren, Tracey Spencer and James Spencer. This article was published in the Massachusetts Historical Review in 2007. Before the memoir, an introduction written by Bruce Wright’s grandchildren appears. In it, they write of his personality and family, as well as a brief introduction to his life in the army. The memoir begins with Bruce stating that his company (Company L) was the only African American company in the Massachusetts National Guard. Bruce was shocked that the Colonel in charge of the regiment treated Bruce Wright’s company no different than what he treated the white companies. After moving to many different camps around Massachusetts for drill, Company L was sent to North Carolina. Here, Company L experienced ill treatment from many white soldiers. There was so much fighting between the men that soon Company L was moved to another camp. Then, at the end of March 1918, Company L set sail for France. The trip was difficult for the soldiers, with nothing but rough

The Harlem Hellfighters, by Max Brooks, is a novel written to demonstrate a different perspective of World War I. The Harlem Hellfighters fought hard for the two battles they encountered; one was the enemy away from home and the other was racism back at their own home. The Harlem Hellfighters did not receive the appropriate recognition or any at that; when they of course deserved it. This novel shows the bravery of the African American soldiers, a better understanding of the United States entering the war in 1917 and also all throughout till the end of the war in 1918. Brooks’ disproves of what is considered the traditional idea, but this is what makes the importance of the novel.

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some of who were Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War was, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” that was fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which was engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Small town America, mostly lower class, was looked upon to aid the war effort with countless men, where as the rest of the nation, the upper to middle class college educated students, were protesting the war and they believed that it was unjust.

From two different perspectives of the war, the author of this book showed that, depending on location and timing, everyone can be affected differently by warfare. It followed the story of two children who grew up on opposite sides of World War II. When their paths crossed, they developed feelings for one another, disregarding the fact that their historical circumstances placed them on opposing sides of the war. In the book All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr depicted how internal principles were able to overpower external pressures.

The author believes that the war had a positive outcome but it was unnecessarily disturbing. The accomplishments made during the war has indeed undermined the failures, with misconstrued views. People today think this war was “The best war ever.” Adams creates a realistic picture of the war by describing the major aspects as well as topics that have little coverage to the masses. This includes; the development of teen culture, treatment of homosexuals who took part in the armed forces, minority combat during the war, the physical and mental scars, and economic reorganization of war production.

Through the soldiers’ experiences, the narrator shows only the dark side of human nature. Discuss.

In the novel “Fallen Angels” racism is so relevant that it motivates hatred towards black soldiers and the Vietnamese. In the 1960s racism was at an all time high in the United States. The rights and freedoms of the African-Americans, were slowly being worked out, and people were unsure about the new African-American rights movement. This racial problem finds its way into the bunker of Richie’s squad. The American soldiers always made racist remarks such as “He’s probably a damn cong” (Myers, W,1988, p.20) .

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

The author, Tom Brokaw; a part of of The Greatest Generation, has plenty of experience around the military. His fathers, Red Brokaw, was the typically role model for his son. “Between the ages three and five [Tom Brokaw] lived on an Army base in western South Dakota and spent a good deal of my time outdoors in a tiny helmet, shooting stick guns at imaginary German and Japanese soldiers” (XVII). In addition to his father being an inspirational imagine in his childhood, it also included memorable images of the Fourth of July and the moment after his father returned home from the service. The military was all around Tom Brokaw and inspired him to honor the veteran’s lives as well as sacrifice during the war. From a young age good morals and values were influencing Brokaw, much like many other members of The Greatest Generation.

“War at its basic level has always been about soldiers. Nations rose and fell on the strength of their armies and the men who filled the ranks.” This is a very powerful quote, especially for the yet young country of the United States, for it gives credit where credit is truly due: to the men who carried out the orders from their superiors, gave their blood, sweat and tears, and in millions of cases their lives while fighting for ideals that they believed their country or government was founded upon, and to ensure the continuation of these ideals. Up until the end of the 20th Century, they did so in the worst of conditions, and this includes not only the battle scene, but also every day life. In

Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” is set in the deep south during the late 1940’s era. Racial tension in the south has always been exorbitantly high. In the 1940’s keeping segregation is still a priority for half the population in the southern states, slavery may be abolished but the physical act of welcoming African-Americans as “Americans” is far from the minds of many Americans. Ellison’s short story accentuates this idea of racial tension and social standards, between the elites of the town and the very intelligent former high school graduate. The story touches on a sensitive topic that America has yet to realize, and it is that people that are considered to be minorities can be subjected to be oppressed, based on their

“You know… they say a long time ago, that after the second great war, there was a generation referred to as the baby boomers. That the men who had fought in the war had