Quotation Blog

He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war. (The Things They Carried.42).

In This part of the book, the author, Tim O'Brian, talks about his platoon leaders ability to lead after Lavenders death. he explained that he was always concerned with Martha, and would think of Martha almost certainly before he thought of his men. He even kept a picture of her on his person at all times and would take it out and wonder if they could be together. His concerns conflicted those with his men and even though it wasn't his fault for Lavenders death, it was a wake up call for him. It took the passing of one of his squad mates to realize that death is always a step away. He eventually tightened up his squad, meaning tighter formations, less chatter while on patrols. He eventually  even burned the picture of Martha. He was in a war, and in war you have to forget about everything else and focus on making it out. A platoon leaders job is a hard one, one has to take care of her/himself and those 15-45 men and women. One death and you cant help feel like its your fault.

Martha 

War Psychology

 

Reasons I chose this topic: 

I've always been fascinated on the psychological standpoint of war. It reverts any human to a primal state of mind, and makes our conscience question our moral and ethics and those around us. While it also creates a brotherhood between solders that is never seen in a normal civilian lifestyle. 

2 essential questions:

during my reading, to gain a better understanding of my topic, I wish to understand 

• What happens to those during/after war?
• How and why are bonds between soldiers so strong?
• What is the soldiers state of mind during combat

Vocabulary

For my vocab, I will be looking and maybe even taking a deeper look in some cases, of the vocabulary slang used in the military among soldiers. This can be from slang such as

Oscar-Mike or MSR.

Books: