Your Team Might Not Always be the Best

Since reading Slaughter' House-Five I have been thinking about what war can do to a person's mind. We hear stories about people with Post War Stress after being involved in a war. We always say how disgusting our enemy can be to kill that many people in that horrific way. Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughter' House-Five, was a POW during WWII. He was held prisoner in the German city of Dresden. The city is best known for the controversial bombing during the later years of the war. Vonnegut first hand saw the horrific sights of war, not by an enemy, but by his our country. Not many people get to see two sides to war. What I mean is how one side reacts to certain events, and also how their enemies react. Kurt was able to see the reactions of Dresden's people after they found the bodies of their loved ones, or the stench of burning flesh. Kurt saw life changing views, but he also had his eyes stretched wide open. He was able to see that his own country is capable of such distruction, and mass murder. He could see in people's eyes what did we do to deserve this and he took a step back and really thought about all that was going on. He understood that even the most powerful and glorified country in the world was capable of doing such a disgusting and disgracful thing, the mass murder of innocent people. This is what I believe Kurt took from his experience, I could be totally wrong, but let me know what you think.

Reflection

The character of Joshua Chamberlain is very detailed, but he also has the ability to change. Chamberlain might be the best leader out of the three that we read about. He came from an educated background and was willing to do what is necessary to win. The book ends with Chamberlain sitting on a rock looking at Gettysburg and reflecting over the last couple horrendous days. He thinks about Pickett’s Charge, and how few people see a sight like that, and most that do don’t come out of the better end of it. He also contemplates how he will explain what happened there to his grandchildren. How he was a part of a change in this country’s history.

Chamberlain’s unique side is his ability to make rash decisions in crucial situations. When his lines were falling he put his brother's life on the line and ordered him to fill in the gap. "Chamberlain remembered using the boy to plug a hole in the line, stopping the hole with his own brother's body like a warm bloody cork, and Chamberlain looked at himself." (pg 342). Chamberlain loves the aspects of war, but when he takes a step back and looks at what war truly is, he realizes what it can make people do in certain situations.
Later on Chamberlain is talking to his brother Tom and the reason why they were fighting came up.' "Thing I cannot understand. Thing I never will understand. How can they fight so hard, them Johnnies, and all for slaver?" Chamberlain raised his head. He had forgotten the Cause. When the guns began firing he had forgotten it completely. It seemed very strange now to think of morality, or that minister long ago, or the poor runaway black. he looked out across the dark field, could see nothing but the yellow lights and outlines of black bodies stark in the lightning.'(pg 343).I think that it is interesting how some soldiers did not even know what they were dying for. This passage is a great example of how people think in a war. When that first gun goes off you are not thinking of the causes, but better yet what can I do to get through this.

Great Minds Might Not Always Think Alike

As we start our new book, The Killer Angels, we began to look at the Confederate's highest officials. The commander Robert E. Lee was a man that kept to himself. He never drank, chased women, smoked or gambled. He loved his state, Virginia and he kept his life in control. He was also a man who believed in traditional warfare. On the other hand, his second in command was Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Longstreet valued the lives of his men because in one winter he lost three of his kids due to a fever. Both Lee and Longstreet are smart men, but when it comes to their tactics they do not agree. Lee understands that he has men and a lot of them. He can afford to lose lives if it means victory. On the other hand Longstreet invented the defensive strategy of trenches which approve the chance of survival for his men. So with two men so close to each other is it beneficial for them to have different strategies on the field, or could it make the men choose what general to follow into battle.