"M-16A2 Assault Rifle"
Martin's focus on every aspect of his rifle (from how he holds it to how he cleans it) is so precise. It's as if the rifle is the only thing that he can really care about in Iraq, away from his family and his possessions at home. This poem really focuses on the mundane of war life, something we haven't seen with the other authors except for O'Brien. The most interesting thing I took from the poem was its ending where Martin says he wants to just hang up the rifle because he does not want to smudge or smear something that makes the night blush. The romanticism associated with the rifle is both brilliant and a little jarring due to the fact that the rifle makes the night blush because it is used to kill people.
"The Stick Soldiers"
This was probably my favorite poem so far. It was really interesting seeing Martin's comparison between the children in America wishing the soldiers well wishes and drawing them pictures of them fighting the Iraqi people while Martin sees all the graffiti drawn by the Iraqi children of the Iraqi soldier fighting the Americans. The presentation of both sides of the war is something very unique that offers the reader an in depth look at how each side (especially the civilians) feel about the war. You get a look into the mind of someone who has no connection to the war and a look into the mind of a civilian who is living in a war zone. To the Iraqi people, the Americans are invaders. I like how O'Brien ends the poem with "what the children want for Christmas, or what they just want". It shows just another dividing difference between the people in America and the people in Iraq. Besides O'Brien, we haven't really seen a good representation about how both sides feel about the war they are fighting in.
I agree with you on everything. Martin really does show what is usually not told about the war, just like O'Brien. The mundane parts of the war are usually not talked about because people usually don't care because it doesn't seem important, even though it's just as important as anything else. It is very interesting to hear about the drawings of the children from both the US and Iraq. We usually aren't given the opportunity to see inside the minds of what we know as the enemy.
ReplyDeleteI like how Martin keeps cleaning his rifle. I think he does that so that he'd be hesitated to use it to kill people. It seems like he doesn't want to participate in this war. He knows that he might have to use it someday and it is wrong to shoot, to kill another human being with life potentials and family just like himself.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you interpret the last two sentences. I didn't think of that romanticism when I red the poem.