Blackwatch

Well indeed this was the hardest play i have ever read; the wording was difficult to comprehend throughout the play. Like Jarhead, although a memoir and not a novel/play, the similarities between the education of the soldiers are striking in that these are young men who were just out of high school with hardly any other education whatsoever. the young men in Black Watch are just like the young men in Jarhead, filthy, in terms of language. They are also bored; they spent most of the days talking about and relieving sexual tension. Unlike Jarhead, where the letters were sent to them from the many Marine girls, those sent to the soldiers in Blackwatchare more up beat, with messages of hope. The one's in Jarhead were purely sexual, nothing of substance really, just a little pick me up to the young men, who ultimately wanted to just place these young women on the wall or trade pictures of them with each other. Again in this novel the soldiers actually saw action, combat, actual combat. here too the men, although facing death, the only other common thread that is showed is the filthy language, and the excess of sexual references.

Shooting War

• Shooting war was the first graphic novel that i had the pleasure of reading, although most of the books was full with at times too much graphic images i felt that this was all in all a wonderful creative piece of work. The main character Jimmy was at times irritating, as well as compelling in is efforts to show the world what was wrong with it. With his first chance to be in the line-light when the building he lived him getting total, making him an instant celebrity for a news station he felt was part of the problem. Although he despise mass media he eventually took a job for the same people he felt was the problem. Jimmy in turn became the thing he despise the man that work for corporate America the big business the mass media and at some point he became the thing he disliked the most.

As for the violent images well there was a multitude, like the part where they cut off the man's head and the part where the women were blown to pieces.
The portrayal of American soldier was indeed something different, the American soldiers were seen as the enemy. What's fascinating to me was the soldiers in the masks, the big cross, something i felt was somewhat sacrilegious. In Jarhead, although the young soldiers were crude and at times violent, eg with a member of swofford team desecrated a courps for several days the image of the soldiers was not so negative. Then again I must remember that Jarhead was a memoir and not a novel.

Americans in this novel were portrayed as bullies, killers with no conscious the, evil entity that invaded a poor land killing the innocent occupants that occupied the space. Although the author political views is quiet apparent throughout the novel all in all i found it alright. the religious aspect of the novel i did indeed found interested in that take the part when the bullet enter the terrorist hand and he placed is hand up like Jesus did, well that was very profound, along with the cross, this was good

this project

This is by far one of my most challenging task to do this semester, since i know nothing much about what i'm doing. Iknow zero about blogs, and little about computers. I will tried to do my best.

jarhead cont.

The book Jarhead continues to interest me in various ways, first it give me a raw understanding of human pain and how we choose to deal with that pain. In his was of dealing he turned to alcohol and other risky behaviors seeking out whores, and bar brawls. The fact that he placed a gun in his mouth too makes me not only want to embraced this man, but also to let him know that things were indeed going to be alright.

jarhead

Well I never saw the motion picture about this book, heard it wasn't that good by a few people, and lost interests in seeing the movie, but the book well i find it to be quiet alright. From the very begining of the book this young man expressed himself fully as to what his feeling and expecations were when he first signed up to serve in the armed forces. The fact that this very young man choose to serve his country was quiet noble but sadly with the realizations that he had mad a mistake , well that i found to be quiet sad. " We joke about having transferred from the Marine corps to the Oil Corps, or the Petrol battalion, and while we laugh at over own jokes.... we laugh to obscure the tragedy of our cheap, squandered lives with the comedy of combat and being deployed to protect oil reserves and the rights and profits of certain American compaines..."

over the weekend

The whole concept of walking away stuck in my mind after completing The Mercy Seat. What would the average man do given the chance to walk away from his life and start all over would you take the opportunity and run? With the pressure of having bills your pay check can't afford, a wife you no longer find attractive and kids who are not only annoying but ungrateful, the temptation is there. Sometimes I wonder if a few didn't take this same chance, how many husbands and wives took this road instead of returning to they dreadful lives.

the mercy seat

the class discussion concerning the mercy seat was quite interesting. what surprised me was the reaction almost every one had towards the character Abby. In fact i found Abby's character to be quite an educated well rounded woman, with her only flaw being that she was having an affair with an asshole. Although the play was a reflection of 9-11, which usually makes my heart wrench in pain, this play felt like a release of some of the strain this day normally brings. As for the character of Ben i found him to be not only an asshole, i felt that not only was he a little slow, in that he was unable to express himself throughout the play. I felt that he was intimated by Abby's intelligence, as well as the position she held over him being his boss. Overall the situation makes me wonder if you had the opportunity the start life over again, no strings attached, would you walk away?

last class

last Wednesday, the date of my first class was quite depressing, as a matter of factIi was quite perturbed having to not only see but relive the horror that is 9-11. That day marked the sad lost of a very close friend, and to have to sit there and relive such a painful event was like going through that day all over again. I did not know the pain would be so fresh, all those memories and feeling. This is the reason I have avoided situations where I would have to see this event replay over and over again.