into a darkened church with the family and sitting in the first pews. But Jenkins was different. Jenkins had been walking with me and talking with me only hours before" (Myers 43).
I read "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers. Richie Perry was the main character, and he had joined the army right after highschool rather than going to college. He was smart enough to get into a good university, but did not have the money for it, so it was his second choice. This quote, to me, shows that he was not fully prepared for the military. He had not given the dangers much thought before he enlisted, and when one of the men he was with was killed by stepping on a mine, he was lost.
Perry hadn't even thought of this happening in his first few days in Vietnam. There was so much going through Perry's head when Jenkins died. He thought of Jenkin's family, and what his own family would do if it was him that died. He was scared, and the worst part was he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He couldnt talk about it with the other soldiers because he didnt want to seem frightened. He couldn't write a letter to his family about it because he didnt want to scare them anymore than he already had by joining the army. In this quote especially, I felt bad for him. He obviously had a lot to talk about, but I felt bad that he had to keep it to himself.
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6 comments:
It sounds to me like Perry should have waited to join the army until he was a bit older because he didn't seem ready for war at all. He probably had a lot of necessary growing up to do after Jenkins died.
Sarah's right. If only he had the money to go to college. Or if he had good enough grades, a scholarship at least.
How could he have been ready? If the choices you had were working on the streets or the army which would you choose? Plus many people even if they were older than Perry would have reacted the same way because there really is nothing that you can do to prepare someone to see a comrade die.
Heidi, your quote has a good point behind it. He was unprepared and alone. Who wouldn't feel like he does? I, myself, would never be able to go in the army, but I do know a glimpse of what he feels. When I'm caught off guard with someone else's horror, I think a lot about how that person must be feeling and what could possibly be going through their thoughts. We all need a listening ear, but sometimes we just have to keep it in.
It's kind of like in the book The Secret Life of Bees. Lily wants so badly to ask a woman what she knows about her dead mother, but she can't because that woman is grieving her sister.
It's true. Nothing can prepare you for seeing the death of a comrade. It's the army, you need to expect stuff like that. No-one is invincible, not even Superman.
all of that is true, maybe if he was older it wouldve made somewhat of a difference, but ntohgin can truely prepare you for that. it just goes to show how much it can effect you and how you can never truely be ready for such a big life changing step.
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