Things They Carried Hw 1 (pgs. 1-38)

Assignment 1, The Things They Carried

1.      The tangible item that I would choose to carry along with me would be flint. I would choose to carry flint because of its practical use in nature and survival. Flint can be used to create fires by colliding it with other rocks or hard material. When the sparks from the collision hit dry material a fire is created.

 If my goal was to survive in the jungles of Vietnam I know that there would be rivers with water and I could also make improvised weapons out of materials I find. Therefore that would eliminate the need to carry weapons or water and the only thing I would need would be a fire and that’s where flint comes in.

This item would be important to me because it would be my only means of starting a fire. With this fire I could cook any food that I have or have caught, purify and water that I got by boiling it, and I could also use the fire to keep predators away at night. In any survival situation it is very important to have a fire so that would be my main goal.

The intangible item or a memory/thought I would choose to keep with me during this time would be a relaxing and easing memory. The memory that I would choose would be when I was sitting at the beach in Florida and watching the sun set on the ocean. To me this represents relaxation and calmness. When I’m in terrible situations, such as being in the jungles of Vietnam, I would choose this memory to remind me of a happy place that I have been.

 It’s not necessarily that this is an important memory but it’s a memory for me to keep me relaxed and to keep me upbeat even when I’m in the worst situations possible. For example most of the times when you see calendars with pictures accompanying them, the winter months always have pictures of the sun or beaches.  I think they have this on them because it reminds people of summer, relaxation, and it keeps them warm inside.

Assignment 2, Love, Spin

2.      The chapter love most reminds me of the novel that we read in school called All Quiet on the Western Front. Even though the wars were different and the time period was different, both of the concepts were the same. In AQOTWF the men are severely scarred from what they have seen on the battlefield, and most of them have seen good friends die. In The Things They Carried the men can’t get the over the fact that their good friend Ted was killed during battle and both of their lives are altered forever.

I wish that this chapter told more about what actually happened when they were in Vietnam. Instead they talk about brief moments in the war and how their lives are impacted by it. I would rather learn about what happened during the whole course of the battle and then learn what their lives are like now. It’s also only the second chapter so I assume they will explain it shortly.

I couldn’t believe the one part in the account when Ted adopted the puppy and soon after Azar kills it for no apparent reason. To me this part is kind of sick and twisted because I don’t understand why someone would want to kill the dog. He also blames it on his immaturity which is not a sufficient excuse; he is probably messed up in the head from battle if he believes it is ok to murder an animal.

I didn’t know or picture war to be how it is depicted in this story so far. Some of the things they do aren’t things that I would expect people to do in war. For example they play checkers, rain dance, adopt puppies, and injecting tranquilizers for personal enjoyment. In my mind I picture war to be much more serious, and I’m sure it is, than depicted in this chapter. Besides all of the oddities preformed in the chapter there still is the same gruesomeness of war that I thought there would be.

Friday Night Kites

Ryan Piquette

A Block

9/7/11

The arid climate and the hot air reminded Amir of being home in Afghanistan. As Amir walks side by side with his adopted counterpart Sorhab, he reminisces of life back in his home country. Times then were so simple and carefree. Amir’s enlightened thought bubble is soon disrupted though when he thinks back to the events that unfolded during the kite battles with Hassan. Amir’s mood suddenly turns to one of great despair and agonizing guilt. Amir knows that deep inside himself he still has a chance for redemption, he knows that looking after Sorhab will help console himself. The two proceed to the local park in Odessa County carrying their kite along.

 Amir and Sorhab arrived at the park and to their surprise there were very few people there. Amir spots a young, muscular, white man flying his kite in the open field. He is wearing a football jacket with a panther emblem stitched into it. Amir is overjoyed when he sees the man with the kite because now he can battle his kite with the man’s kite. The man caught a glimpse of Amir and Sorhab and was displeased. Being from Texas the man was not too fond of other races beside whites being in the park. Amir and Sorhab approach the man calmly with no knowledge of him at all.

“Good morning!” Amir says as he unveils his kite and begins to get it ready for flying.

“Good morning,” Says the man.

“Have you ever had a kite battle before?” Amir questioned. “It was a game I used to play in my country, Afghanistan.”

“No, I’ve never heard of it but it sounds interesting,” the man stated.

“It’s very simple, we both just clash our kites in the air, and whosever kite breaks off loses. The loser must chase down his kite.”  Amir informed.

“Sounds good,” the man exclaimed.

“By the way my name is Amir.”

“My name is Jerrod McDougal,” the man said as they both firmly shook eachother’s hands.

Amir cast his kite into the sky with Jerrod’s, and the battle began. Both stood on the ground fixed upon the kites in the sky, because to win a kite battle you must have immense concentration. Amir and Sorhab used Hassan’s special tactic that would be successful almost anytime.

“Have you lived in Odessa your whole life?” Amir asked.

“Yes I have. I was born here, went to school here, and I will remain here.” Jerrod proudly stated.

“Was that your school?...The Panthers.” Amir questioned, pointing at Jerrod’s high school football jacket.

“Oh, this was my team that I played on in my high school.” Jerrod responded.

“Were they any good?” Said Amir.

“Any good?! We only had all the potential in the world. We were literally so close to a winning a state title that it’s not even funny. We lost in the championship round!  I still think about that game every day of my life, it changed my life, and my teammates lives forever. You see I’m from a town where football is our only life, we eat, sleep, and breathe football. For most of the guys in my school football is the only thing they have because we focus very little on academics. So, to lose that game affected us for the rest of our lives. I want to go back in time and change it so badly; you don’t even know what it feels like.” Jerrod exhaustingly stated.

“What do you mean?! I think about changing my past every waking minute! When I was younger my best friend and I were having a kite battle, just like how we are now. My friend was named Hassan; he was the best kite runner around. One day he went to go chase down a kite, and he didn’t come back for a while. I went over to see what was going on and when I got over to an alley I saw Hassan there. A group of kids were around him beating him and then they continued to rape him. I was too much of a damn coward to do anything about it. Hassan and I barely spoke again, and he just recently died amongst the upheaval in Afghanistan. I just feel awful every time I think about it.” Amir said sullenly.

There was a brief moment of silence as the two men just stood concentrating on the kites. Amir had the kite right where he wanted it and sure enough Jerrod’s kite went sailing away. Triumph filled Amir’s heart because winning this feels like his childhood when he would compete with Hassan. Jerrod’s first action was to run to the kite and follow it as it got blown away.

“Stop!” Amir yelled. “I can’t let you go alone; I will never let a friend go alone again.”

The End