When the third round hit, Kiowa began screaming. Bowker saw Kiowa sink into the muck and grabbed him by the boot to pull him out. Yet Kiowa was lost, so Bowker let him go in order to save himself from sinking deeper into the muck. On his eleventh trip around the lake, he imagines telling his father the story and admitting that he did not act with the courage he hoped he might have. He imagines that his father might console him with the idea of the seven medals he did win.
He parks his car and wades into the lake with his clothes on, submerging himself. He then stands up, folds his arms, and watches the holiday fireworks, remarking that they are pretty good, for a small town.
His presence is strong but understated, and, by nature, he is a gentle and peaceful man. When Kiowa is killed suddenly and senselessly, all of the men are affected, specifically Norman Bowker, who worries that he has betrayed his friend. Norman Bowker, for example, thinks that he was as brave as he thought he could have been, but that even that much bravery was not enough to save his friend.
He writes in the past tense, differentiating between his present self and the self that fought in the war. Bowker, on the other hand, is unable to use the act of telling to negotiate the trauma of war. He drives around silently, with no one to talk to. Over the course of the next ten years, Steinbeck would begin to refine his prose , focusing on migrant workers as well as the relationship of human beings to the land. His most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath, makes use of similar literary conventions as Although the book focuses on the family, throughout the narrative it takes a number of detours, such as one chapter in which the family is not featured at all.
Steinbeck depicts a prosperous diner where a group of hungry people come begging to buy a loaf of bread for a dime. The waitress is initially harsh to them representing the attitude of many Americans to the poor, even during the Depression but eventually softens, gives them the bread and even sells nickel candy to the children for a penny Steinbeck The rest of the book does not 'follow' these people: rather the camera of the author 'pans out' to show how the Joads are not unique but are symbolic of a larger social problem.
Steinbeck has, above all, been called a novelist intent upon depicting his environment. Professor Susan Shillinglaw praises "Steinbeck's awareness of an essential bond between humans and the environments they inhabit His conviction that characters must be seen in the context of their environments remained constant throughout his career" Shillinglaw 1.
Although "Why Soldiers Won't Talk" is not an explicitly California-based novel, nor is about farmers like The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men, it demonstrates how history and the environment can permanently impact the psyche of soldiers.
Steinbeck has been called a social activist as an author because of his belief in the interrelated relationship between human beings and the world that creates them. Being a soldier is created by the environment -- even the heroism and bravery that soldiers are so often complimented on. Even the instinct for self-preservation is dulled so that a man may do things which are called heroic when actually his whole fabric of reaction is changed.
Add to Add to collection s Add to saved. While under constant fire, soldiers experience a range of sensory and emotional effects that distort their perceptions and alter their behavior. Army Air Force gained him firsthand knowledge of planes and gunners, including the view from the ball turret of a bomber.
From this plexiglas bubble on the underside of the plane, gunners— totally exposed from below—fired at the enemy. Why or why not? Is the alternative explanation reasonable? No: It would be impossible to forget such experiences. The first explanation Steinbeck gives—that soldiers simply do not want to relive their experiences by talking about them—is also reasonable. The main idea he provides to solve that mystery is that soldiers cannot remember their experiences. If they had been reticent men it would have been different, but some of them were talkers and some were even boasters.
This was considered heroic in them. But many of these men had no such consideration in any other field. Only recently have I found what seems to be a reasonable explanation, and the answer is simple. They did not and do not remember—and the worse the battle was, the less they remember. The ductless glands1 pour their fluids into the system to make it able to stand up to the great demand on it. Fear and ferocity are products of the same fluid.
Fatigue toxins2 poison the system. Hunger followed by wolfed food distorts the metabolic pattern already distorted by the adrenaline3 and fatigue. The body and the mind so disturbed are really ill and fevered. But in addition to these ills, which come from the inside of a man and are given him so that he can temporarily withstand pressures beyond his ordinary ability, there is the further stress of explosion.
Under extended bombardment or bombing the nerve ends are literally beaten. The eardrums are tortured by blast and the eyes ache from the constant hammering. This is how you feel after a few days of constant firing. Your skin feels thick and insensitive. There is a salty taste in your mouth. A hard, painful knot is in your stomach where the food is undigested. Your eyes do not pick up much detail and the sharp outlines of objects are slightly blurred. Everything looks a little unreal.
When 1. What puzzles Steinbeck about soldiers, and what main idea provides the solution to his puzzlement? Explain what features convey this look.
Targeted Passages are also good for English learners.
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