The Struggle of Men During Vietnam War in ‘Goodnight Saigon’ Essay Example

The Struggle of Men During Vietnam War in ‘Goodnight Saigon’ Paper Goodnight Saigon is a song written by an American musician, Billy Joel. The song was written sometime around 1982 in response to the harsh treatment of the Vietnam War veterans. Joel tried to paint a picture of what it is like to go through the war in this song. The main theme of the song, the struggles of men in war, is depicted through simile, antithesis In this song, simile is used to compare the men drafted into war to other things with word such as â€Å"as† or â€Å"than†. To show the struggle of the men when they came to war, Joel mentioned that they â€Å"came in spastic like tameless horses† (5). Tamless horses’ is something that is wild and could not be controlled easily; therefore, he tried to imply that the men were unwilling and reluctant to go to war with this simile. A lot of the men opposed the war, which caused some of them to escape to another country, and being drafted into the war mainly relied on luck. Some of these men were forced to leave their family, friends and job back home and some of them felt that it was wrong to be a part of the Vietnam War but Once they arrived at the battlefield, their next struggle will be about facing their opponents. To them, their opponent was deemed to be â€Å"as sharp as knives† (31) and they struggled a lot to fight them. They struggled a lot with the unfamiliar environment and climate, and they obviously could not fight off the opponent who had been prepared for the arrival of these soldiers. Just like they barley had any experiences in their adult life, they lack skills in fighting the war and it left them feeling scared and confused most of the time. Some might think that war is a common event with the problems in today’s society. They hear about it everywhere – movies, news, parliamentary debate. But it has never occurred to them how a war actually affects or changes a person. It was said that a person returning from war will never be the same person as he left. In this song, Joel used antithesis to contribute some contrast regarding the character of the men before and after they went to war. For example, the first two lines introducing the: We will write a custom essay sample on The Struggle of Men During Vietnam War in ‘Goodnight Saigon’ specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Struggle of Men During Vietnam War in ‘Goodnight Saigon’ specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Struggle of Men During Vietnam War in ‘Goodnight Saigon’ specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

No name woman Essays

No name woman Essays No name woman Paper No name woman Paper Essay Topic: Woman On the Edge Of Time A persons identity cannot be given to them, instead a person must achieve a sense of her character through personal experience and self search. In No Name Woman, Maxine Hong Kingston recalls the events of her aunts life in the elusive world of her Chinese roots. The story of her aunt is told by her mother and Kingston recreates the events into an exploratory story to help herself figure out what part of her existence is Chinese and help her better understand the Chinese culture. By retelling her aunts story, Kingston seeks to incorporate both her Chinese and American identities and mold them into her own individual identity. Kingston, a first generation American, finds that as a result of her cultural heritage and current surroundings, it is extremely difficult in resolving her identity. She is a product of a very strong Chinese culture growing up in American and so her identity becomes multifaceted. In attempting to resolve who she is and her cultural roots, she discovers that her identity is characterized in relation to her Chinese identity, her American environment, and the combinations therein. In the opening scene of the story, the audience is immediately presented with a tragic story within a story. The events viewed in retrospect through the eyes of the narrators traditional conservative mother seem skewed and moralistic, delivered in an instructive voice. The mothers speech is purely didactic. She is telling this story to Kingston to teach a lesson; never do what your aunt has done and do not bring shame upon the family name. Instead of clearly accepting this tale, Kingston has a hard time believing and consenting to her mothers message. Although Kingston is to never speak of the aunt and pretend that the aunt never existed, she disobeys her mother and comes up with a speculative version of events in retelling her aunts story. Kingstons story seeks meaning in the Chinese culture system in order to strengthen her individual identity. It also shows that certain aspects of the people and traditions of a cultural background can be disturbing at times. To be a woman, to have a daughter in starvation time was enough Women in the old China did not choose (Kingston 6. The Chinese community that held the most meaning for Kingstons cultural identity had been lost somewhere in the past. The only knowledge Kingston has of anything Chinese had come from her mother, but that was not enough for her. She has only vague memories and imaginations of such a community that serve as a backdrop for the goal she seeks in strengthening her identity in relation to her ancestral and cultural makeup. For Kingston, she had become separated from part of her heritage. She struggled in attempting to understand the meaning of this heritage in a world that is different from the older generations. She illustrates this confusion and difficulty in attempting to understand her cultural roots when she says, Chinese Americans, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese and what is the movies? (Kingston 5). Kingston wants to tap into this old world her parents and ancestors belong to in order to better understand how she became who she is, but this world is so vague to her. As a result, she seeks a medium through which she can more closely relate to her cultural roots and therefore strengthen her own identity. Kingston accomplished this through knowledge of her female relatives lives in China so that she may better understand their role in the community and how they were affected by this role, more precisely, she examined the life of her aunt the outcast of her family. Kingston uses differences and similarities in the three separate narratives to explore the mores of traditional Chinese culture, the differences between Chinese culture and American culture, and ultimately to condemn the traditional roles of women in a Chinese society. Clearly, the disparate narratives of her mother, aunt, and narrator all reveal a different viewpoint on Chinese culture. The mother is clearly supportive of the aunts finale fate and symbolizes the traditional view of women in society. The story her mother tells is extremely clear-cut and black and white.

Us history-Historical systems of power, goverance, and authority & Essay

Us history-Historical systems of power, goverance, and authority & Revolutionary change - Essay Example However, early 20th century had seen much of Africa colonized by the European powers except only Ethiopia and Liberia. There were some factors that motivated the European colonialism push into the African continent. This push was mainly influenced by economic, political, and social factors. Colonialism developed in the nineteenth century as a result of the downfall in the profitability of the slave trade that was being practiced during that time (Taiwo, 2010). Due to this failure slave trade was abolished which led to the subsequent expansion of the Industrial Revolution. The constraints of capitalist industrialization which included a high demand for raw materials and the imminent search for immediate markets where they could sell the processed products contributed greatly to the European scramble and partition of Africa. The main motivation that spurred the European intrusion into Africa was economic. During the scramble for Africa, there are some other factors that played an important role. The political motivation that was derived from inter-European power struggles impact was just the beginning of a big battle between the famous European states. Belgium, Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, and France were all competition for power. One way that they used to demonstrate their superiority was through the acquisition of various territories from around the world including Africa. The social factor was the third major element that made these nations come to Africa. Industrialization led to the growth of many problems in Europe. Many social problems such as unemployment, homelessness, and poverty developed because not all persons could be taken by the new capitalistic industries. As a result, the only way that was available for solving the problems was to acquire colonies and territories and settle their surplus population. This resulted to the creation of white settler