“ War demands sacrifice of the people. It gives only suffering in return.” – Frederic Clemson Howe
Over the course of the world’s history, war is not an unused term to narrate those infamous devasted periods of time. The conflicts between or within countries left countless consequences to millions of lives (e.g, hunger, loss of people, health issues, and mass destruction of the economy). Besides those consequences, the results pass on to the citizen to endure the damage it has done. Eventually, the damages are scripted in historical records as a representation of numerous scars on our land.
In English Literacy, I’ve studied one of the depressing war called “Vietnam War”. The period of time consists of 1955 to 2975. While many might call it a civil war within the country between the north and south, America was also one of the army forces engaged in the war. We have read the novel called “Inside out and back again “ By Thanhha Lai and numerous other documented history about the war itself.
Word Choice, Tone, & Meaning
While the novel is written in the poem phrase, word choice, tone and meaning are crucial to how the reader perceived it. Furthermore, it shows a perspective of emotion, feeling, experience and a meaningful purpose for the reader to explore. I’ve chosen one of the poems from the novel titled “Wet and Crying”. This poem shows Ha’s favorite papaya tree to be cut down by his brother due to the hatred that the north shouldn’t have the papaya tree and her mother’s advice to eat as much fresh food as their future’s food might not be what they’ve wished for. To flee to another country, many things they once adored must remain in the same place that they were going to abandon.
WET & CRYING | Writing
Within every each of the words, they have a different meaning to represents and response to different parts of Ha’s family and her situation. As the decisions were made, everything they’ve known and loved would be left behind. The words “Chop”, “Slice” contribute the selfishness and heartless they need to be in order to prepare the mindset to walk through a new chapter. “Crying” shows the rushing emotion as sacrificing is the only thing Ha could do to the tree she’s treasured. Ha, and her family is going through an intimidating and miserable time. The tone of the word “fresh”, “fleck”, “Green”, “Yellow” shows the little amount of faith, belief and hope they have after making a decision to dip their toes into the unknown by escaping from the south.
Memorable Moments
Besides the novel, moments of desperate survival, injustice, end of the war are shown in photographs.
I FEEL SYMPATHY | My opinion
The war ended but the severe wounds leave scars in many lives. I feel sympathy for all the people who experienced or suffered in the war. Unlike them, I only know it from the documentation that is just a small portion of all the suffering, loss, trauma, grief and other jumble of intense emotions. To me, Wars are never meant to happen if only peace is the main guide in an argument.