The first poem I chose to interpret in Dien Cai Dau is "We Never Know." The author brings up two recurring themes in this poem, the first being the beauty of war. Komunyakaa starts this piece off with "He danced with tall grass for a moment, like he was swaying with a woman." This is a very graceful, gentile image. As this solier is being fired at, he seems to be dancing as he spends his last few seconds as a living human being. Another aspect of this poem is that the enemy is human. After the man is downed, the speaker ventured over to him and found a crumbled photograph. This may or not be the "woman back home" trope, but either way it is a person near and dear to the enemy. Directly after that, the speaker says he "fell in love", another uniquely human experience. This poem aims to bring out the more beautiful things in war.
Another unique poem in this book is "Toys in a Field." The author depicts young children playing on abandoned gun mounts and wasted helicopter remains, instead of playgrounds and jumpropes. The activites that the children take up in search of fun is essentially what the soldiers are doing in the war. This provides a stark contrast between childhood innocence and the seriousness of violence. The author says that "their play is silent as distant rain," creating a bizarre image of children playing but making no noise. The overall image painted by this poem is the grotesque reality of how some Vietnamese children grew up.
The last poem I chose was "Tu Do Street." This poem speaks in images about the racial divide in the Vietnam War. Komunyakaa speaks of the bars on a road. They are segregated, and neither is allowed in the others bar. The first line, "Music divides the evening," sets the tone for the entire poem. The author also writes of "men drawing lines in the dust." Both black and white soldiers are only brought together by "machine-gun fire" -- the only thing it seems that they have in common. Race was a large issue in this (and many other) wars, and the poet addresses this issue in this piece.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Blog 7 FY
Yusef Komunyakaa is a black veteran from the Vietnam war who wrote the book Dien Cai Dau. Dien Cai Dau is translated as an expression that Vietnamese soldiers used to describe the Americans meaning "crazy". I think by having the title be crazy Yusef is addressing the fact that going into Vietnam was crazy in the first place and the battles that occurred during the way was chaotic and "crazy". The book itself is a collection of poems pertaining to the war and Komunyakaa's experiences in Vietnam. The poems reiterate many of the themes and experiences other war novelists have presented to us.
The first poem I chose to write about is called "Sappers". The poem has a fairly strange form in that it starts off talking about all the drugs that mess with your head that the soldiers took while fighting. It ends by describing the Vietnamese soldiers who keep coming at them and readily sacrifice their lives to help their comrades and promote their cause. Although drugs and death by machine gun are not outwardly similar topics, Komunyakaa describes them in a similar way. He says that drugs send people through a concertina which, to me, brings about images of repetitiveness because of the music instruments constant back and forth motion. I think this sameness is like the fighting he describes because the descriptions in the poems that he uses bring about images of machine guns constantly firing nonstop and a never ending wave of enemies that keep coming to replace their falling comrades. The way he says the soldiers "fling themselves" into the Americans arms makes it sound like they fully expect to die and are just running toward death without caring anymore. I think his description can be applied to the war in general. It was a constant battle with nature and with the enemy to stay alive to the point where it is almost described as boring. This poem brings about the theme of drugs like opium that we have read about in many of our other novels that was readily accessible to the soldiers. It also mentions women on the minds of the soldiers which reminds me of how "Things They Carried" said that every soldier had a girl back home that they often thought about as a reminder of the comfort of home and a past life.
The second poem I chose is called "Thanks". This is a very interesting poem that explores the theme of luck and the supernatural that soldiers often relied upon to save them during the war. This poem talks about how the protagonist was lucky that a tree was in the way because it stopped a snipers bullet and saved his life. It also talks about other things like the grass swaying in the direction of an enemy that alerted the protagonist to their whereabouts. Then in the end the character says that a hand grenade that would have surely killed him was a dud which also resulted in him being alive today. All these experiences show how narrow the line between life and death in the war was. It was luck that played a large part in the survival of the soldiers. It is no wonder that they almost worshiped luck during the war. It was a thing beyond their control, and to have the illusion of control over it many soldiers believed they had a certain amount that could be spent. In "Things They Carried" Tim says that one soldier was killed because his luck ran out, which is how I think many people fighting felt about the properties of luck; it could run out. Also the theme of spirituality makes a small appearance when Komunyakaa says that they were fighting for the entertainment of "blind Gods". This reminded me of the character Kiowa in "Things They Carried" and his theme of spirituality. The war may have seemed so illogical to some soldiers that they had to fall under the belief that they were fighting for the pleasure of Gods who did not care for them. Once again in this poem Yusef brings women into the mix almost randomly. In the middle of his giving thanks the time periods completely switch, briefly, to a moment back home in San Francisco when the protagonist was wrapped in the protective arms of a women. I think he was likening his random luck of being alive to the secure comfort he might have felt when with this woman.
The final poem that I chose to write about is called "Losses". This poem addresses a theme that is present in every Vietnam story we have read; the theme of coming home to find life is no longer the same. After all the things the author did in Vietnam and the people he killed the poem starts by saying he no longer trusts his hands with loved ones. I think he feels that something about him has been tainted and being with his loved ones can never be the same. Maybe he is afraid that after his hand killed people in Vietnam they would not know when to stop and cause injury to his family and friends as well. The poem then says that his girlfriend left him, who might have been the very same person he dreamed about during the war. While fighting he may have fantasized about going back home and spending his days as noncholantly as he did before the fighting began. As we have seen, however, more often than not this is not the case. He writes how he cant stop doing the things he was trained to do like blend in with the hills and look for potential enemies. In the poem it said "a dress or scarf in the distance can nail him to dogwood". This shows that he is so accustomed to being on edge all the time from potential danger he sees everyone as an enemy. This reminded me of the story Marc Levy told about his trip to Vietnam and how after all the years away he fell into combat habits he practiced during the war, like walking in a crouch. I feel like when soldiers depend on these instincts with their lives it is very hard to unlearn them which makes the adjustment when coming home much harder. The poem transitions to describing life back home to describing the city like the scenery in Vietnam, then in the end it reverts back to the sound of cars and civilization. I think this describes the protagonists thought process during this described scene in his life. It shows how he had so much trouble with regular life the scenery changed in his mind to that which would have been present during the war, and then as if he needed to face reality it goes back to regular life.
The first poem I chose to write about is called "Sappers". The poem has a fairly strange form in that it starts off talking about all the drugs that mess with your head that the soldiers took while fighting. It ends by describing the Vietnamese soldiers who keep coming at them and readily sacrifice their lives to help their comrades and promote their cause. Although drugs and death by machine gun are not outwardly similar topics, Komunyakaa describes them in a similar way. He says that drugs send people through a concertina which, to me, brings about images of repetitiveness because of the music instruments constant back and forth motion. I think this sameness is like the fighting he describes because the descriptions in the poems that he uses bring about images of machine guns constantly firing nonstop and a never ending wave of enemies that keep coming to replace their falling comrades. The way he says the soldiers "fling themselves" into the Americans arms makes it sound like they fully expect to die and are just running toward death without caring anymore. I think his description can be applied to the war in general. It was a constant battle with nature and with the enemy to stay alive to the point where it is almost described as boring. This poem brings about the theme of drugs like opium that we have read about in many of our other novels that was readily accessible to the soldiers. It also mentions women on the minds of the soldiers which reminds me of how "Things They Carried" said that every soldier had a girl back home that they often thought about as a reminder of the comfort of home and a past life.
The second poem I chose is called "Thanks". This is a very interesting poem that explores the theme of luck and the supernatural that soldiers often relied upon to save them during the war. This poem talks about how the protagonist was lucky that a tree was in the way because it stopped a snipers bullet and saved his life. It also talks about other things like the grass swaying in the direction of an enemy that alerted the protagonist to their whereabouts. Then in the end the character says that a hand grenade that would have surely killed him was a dud which also resulted in him being alive today. All these experiences show how narrow the line between life and death in the war was. It was luck that played a large part in the survival of the soldiers. It is no wonder that they almost worshiped luck during the war. It was a thing beyond their control, and to have the illusion of control over it many soldiers believed they had a certain amount that could be spent. In "Things They Carried" Tim says that one soldier was killed because his luck ran out, which is how I think many people fighting felt about the properties of luck; it could run out. Also the theme of spirituality makes a small appearance when Komunyakaa says that they were fighting for the entertainment of "blind Gods". This reminded me of the character Kiowa in "Things They Carried" and his theme of spirituality. The war may have seemed so illogical to some soldiers that they had to fall under the belief that they were fighting for the pleasure of Gods who did not care for them. Once again in this poem Yusef brings women into the mix almost randomly. In the middle of his giving thanks the time periods completely switch, briefly, to a moment back home in San Francisco when the protagonist was wrapped in the protective arms of a women. I think he was likening his random luck of being alive to the secure comfort he might have felt when with this woman.
The final poem that I chose to write about is called "Losses". This poem addresses a theme that is present in every Vietnam story we have read; the theme of coming home to find life is no longer the same. After all the things the author did in Vietnam and the people he killed the poem starts by saying he no longer trusts his hands with loved ones. I think he feels that something about him has been tainted and being with his loved ones can never be the same. Maybe he is afraid that after his hand killed people in Vietnam they would not know when to stop and cause injury to his family and friends as well. The poem then says that his girlfriend left him, who might have been the very same person he dreamed about during the war. While fighting he may have fantasized about going back home and spending his days as noncholantly as he did before the fighting began. As we have seen, however, more often than not this is not the case. He writes how he cant stop doing the things he was trained to do like blend in with the hills and look for potential enemies. In the poem it said "a dress or scarf in the distance can nail him to dogwood". This shows that he is so accustomed to being on edge all the time from potential danger he sees everyone as an enemy. This reminded me of the story Marc Levy told about his trip to Vietnam and how after all the years away he fell into combat habits he practiced during the war, like walking in a crouch. I feel like when soldiers depend on these instincts with their lives it is very hard to unlearn them which makes the adjustment when coming home much harder. The poem transitions to describing life back home to describing the city like the scenery in Vietnam, then in the end it reverts back to the sound of cars and civilization. I think this describes the protagonists thought process during this described scene in his life. It shows how he had so much trouble with regular life the scenery changed in his mind to that which would have been present during the war, and then as if he needed to face reality it goes back to regular life.
Blog 7 - QMC
In Dien Cai Dau, Yusef Komunyakaa describes his experiences involving the Vietnam War in poetry. Like the other novels we have read, his poems vividly describe the combat scenes and also feelings and thoughts of the war, both during and after the war. There are repetitive symbols and themes that occur in the literature and the films we have read and saw, Komunyakaa’s poetry included. Some of the common themes and symbols are the woman back home, Vietnamese prostitutes, luck in war, love in war and the role of religion. This book in particular shows the importance of race in the war as well, and shows the point of view of a black solider in Vietnam.
In “Night Muse & Mortar Round,” Komunyakaa portrays the theme of the woman back home. The narrator is hallucinating seeing a woman from his past, “…& there she is/trying to flag down your jeep,/but you’re a quarter-mile away” (21). This shows the mental escapism of soldiers; that the idea of a woman back home brings them peace of mind and something to look back on. Most soldiers know that his life will never be the same, even after the war. Holding onto a woman from his past is a commonality among soldiers that shows the longing and sorrow of these soldiers, but somehow gives them something to live for. This poem sets the scene where the narrator is idly driving, and the poem ends “Then you hear the blast/rock the trees & stars/where you would’ve been that moment” (21). This is depicting how the idea of the woman back home can save soldiers when overseas, even if they aren’t aware of it.
In “Tu Do Street,” Komunyakaa explores the tension between blacks and whites. The poem starts, “Music divides the evening,” which depicts how whites and blacks listen to different music while in the war; Komunyakaa mentions Aretha Franklin, among other black artists, that he listens to. Komunyakaa also explores discrimination against African Americans back home in America too: “…& I’m a small boy/again in Bogalusa./White Only signs & Hank Snow.” (29). Hank Snow was mentioned to tie the musical taste difference in with the theme of discrimination, not only in country but in the American South (Bogalusa is in Louisiana). In this poem Komunyakaa explains, “only machine-gun fire brings us [whites and blacks] together” (29). This shows that while they are fighting together, which should bring them as close as brothers, whites and blacks live two different ways. Tu Do Street is where prostitutes roam, and it is also mentioned that both blacks and whites venture to Tu Do Street to sleep with the same women, “minutes apart, tasting each other’s breath,” which shows that they are connected in ways that no man recognizes.
In “Short-timer’s Calendar,” the theme of luck and the war is portrayed. A ‘short timer’ calendar was used by some soldiers that showed how many days left in country they had to fulfill. Like the other films and literature we have read, the idea that soldiers involved in the war were fighting just to stay alive is also included in this poem. Komunyakaa describes fighting in the war, “It was like playing/tic-tac-toe with God. Each x,/a stitch holding breath together,” (43). This description shows the desperation that the soldiers fighting in the war went through; it was purely luck that would kill them, no more, no less. It was almost essential that soldiers depersonalized themselves to become almost numb, which allowed them to accept their own luck.
Blog 7 Dien Cai Dau - AEE
I found that one of the most significant poems in Dien Cai Dau was Tu Do Street. The poem not only uses words but also imagery to illustrate the division between African Americans in the Vietnam War, and undoubtedly in countless other wars. Yusef Komunyakaa talks about the bars alongside the road; one side for the white men and another for the black men. Not only does he illustrate the message of segregation, he also uses the physical image of the split-road as representation. War and violence are the only things that unite the soldiers of different races. It barely even matters which side of the war the soldiers are on, as there are still wars within the war. We have read books and saw movies from each side of the Vietnam War, but there is often little attention paid to the race war within each side. This poem addresses that issue. Yusef uses prostitutes to show that all the soldiers are in the same predicament, regardless of race. Both are battling for their lives just as both are kissing the same prostitute.
Thanks is a poem which addresses the brutality and barbaric qualities of war. It also regards all events of war as a product of a higher power. War is the most animalist thing we do as human-beings. The soldiers in war, especially the Vietnam War, have little control over the events to happen next. Their fate is in the hands of nature, and that respect for nature is detailed in Thanks by Yusef Komunyakaa. He gives thanks to the butterfly on the invisible trip wire and the tree which shields a soldier from the sniper. Yusef suggests that it is the smallest turns of life which determine a soldier’s fate. He also suggests that there is a God-like figure controlling these turns of life. “Some voice telling me which foot to put down first" (44). Just like in nature, there is little reason behind things. He describes war as an animal instinct, not a civilized human custom.
The poem Losses seems to correlate most with the other texts on the Vietnam War we have seen. It recounts the experience of PTSD, as well as all the lost pieces which soldiers leave behind the war. Often times we hear about girls back at home for soldiers of all race and association. One of the losses spoken about in this poem is the loss of that “girl back home” once soldiers have returned from war. More important than loss of women though is the loss of oneself. “After Nam he lost himself.” (61) Yusef begins to talk about losses in war from a PTSD stance. In the poem he uses an analogy of Punji stakes. While once regarded as a violent threat in war, it is now just a metaphor for the heart break often felt once soldiers returned home.
Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa is a book of poems which specifically look from the viewpoint of an African American soldier. This is a different perspective to look at as most often texts look only from the Vietnam or the American side. Overall Yusef is saying that the war in itself is animalistic and wrong. There were excessive losses on both sides, and few soldiers had legitimate cause for fighting. He also makes note of the race war that happened within the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that all the soldiers were on the same side, some were still thought of as lower class and less privileged than others.
Thanks is a poem which addresses the brutality and barbaric qualities of war. It also regards all events of war as a product of a higher power. War is the most animalist thing we do as human-beings. The soldiers in war, especially the Vietnam War, have little control over the events to happen next. Their fate is in the hands of nature, and that respect for nature is detailed in Thanks by Yusef Komunyakaa. He gives thanks to the butterfly on the invisible trip wire and the tree which shields a soldier from the sniper. Yusef suggests that it is the smallest turns of life which determine a soldier’s fate. He also suggests that there is a God-like figure controlling these turns of life. “Some voice telling me which foot to put down first" (44). Just like in nature, there is little reason behind things. He describes war as an animal instinct, not a civilized human custom.
The poem Losses seems to correlate most with the other texts on the Vietnam War we have seen. It recounts the experience of PTSD, as well as all the lost pieces which soldiers leave behind the war. Often times we hear about girls back at home for soldiers of all race and association. One of the losses spoken about in this poem is the loss of that “girl back home” once soldiers have returned from war. More important than loss of women though is the loss of oneself. “After Nam he lost himself.” (61) Yusef begins to talk about losses in war from a PTSD stance. In the poem he uses an analogy of Punji stakes. While once regarded as a violent threat in war, it is now just a metaphor for the heart break often felt once soldiers returned home.
Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa is a book of poems which specifically look from the viewpoint of an African American soldier. This is a different perspective to look at as most often texts look only from the Vietnam or the American side. Overall Yusef is saying that the war in itself is animalistic and wrong. There were excessive losses on both sides, and few soldiers had legitimate cause for fighting. He also makes note of the race war that happened within the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that all the soldiers were on the same side, some were still thought of as lower class and less privileged than others.
MGB - Dien Cai Dau
Reading about the war through the perspective of Yusef Komunyakaa offers a different insight to the layers of suffering associated with the Vietnam War. Yusef is an acclaimed poet and professor who grew up in Louisiana during the Civil Rights Movement. Much of his literature revolves around an intense theme of race. Dien Cai Dau is one of his written works that highlights that the war was not only a battle against Vietnam, it was also a fight for respect and equality in the Army. Yusef worked as a correspondent managing editor for the Southern Cross, and thus had multiple reported feedbacks on experiences of the Vietnam War.
Many of the poems hint at barriers and social inequalities within the hardship of war. A Break from the Bush is a poem that focuses on the downtime of war not in country. The Buddha grass and crashing waves create a peaceful setting that is vacation life, despite the sounds of far off ammunition. “Machine guns can be heard, pretending we’re somewhere else, we play harder” (p. 27). The men playing volleyball are still innocent from the future. “CJ who in three days will trip a fragmentation mine, runs after the ball into the whitecaps laughing” p. 27). From the narrator’s perspective as an African American, it is also important to note that all the men are relaxing together. There are no barriers relating to race shown in this poem. Instead, the theme is the irony of Vietnam’s beautiful land and beauty of the young soldiers coming together in the middle of a hideous war.
To Have Danced With Death is a poignant poem about a “black sergeant first class” who is unrecognized for his valor. He displays lots of medals and obviously had a higher commanding position than the narrator. The narrator seems to use words of awe and sadness to describe the African American sergeant. He identifies with him on race and is proud of his rank. Yet the sadness comes from the war injury and the fact that “the room of blue eyes averted his (the sergeants) “. The room of blue eyes shows the separation between the men of different races in the army. The fact the author chose blue eyes meant to show this. They could have averted their eyes in respect to ignore his limping or because of his race, it is debatable. But the theme of separation is prevalent in this poem because of the author’s word choice.
The time period and war back home in the states is also incorporated in many of Yusef’s poems. In Report from the Skulls Diorama, the narrator dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. This just shows how African Americans were effected and anxious by the civil rights movement just as war as the war abroad. They were more isolated from the civil rights movement and this poem hints the narrator’s frustration with the situation. He talked about how “these men have lost their tongues…the silence etched into their skin is also mine”. I think this refers to all young men fighting in the war. As an African American, his rights are silenced politically and socially in the states and even in areas of the war. Yet all drafted soldiers, including Vietnamese soldiers are silenced about their opinion on the war. The true experiences are replaced by propaganda for the world to see. African American soldiers share the feeling of oppression with the young Vietnamese soldiers. This is shown through Yusef’s line, “VC didn’t kill Martin Luther King” p. 46. He wants to put guilt to Caucasian Americans.
Many of the poems hint at barriers and social inequalities within the hardship of war. A Break from the Bush is a poem that focuses on the downtime of war not in country. The Buddha grass and crashing waves create a peaceful setting that is vacation life, despite the sounds of far off ammunition. “Machine guns can be heard, pretending we’re somewhere else, we play harder” (p. 27). The men playing volleyball are still innocent from the future. “CJ who in three days will trip a fragmentation mine, runs after the ball into the whitecaps laughing” p. 27). From the narrator’s perspective as an African American, it is also important to note that all the men are relaxing together. There are no barriers relating to race shown in this poem. Instead, the theme is the irony of Vietnam’s beautiful land and beauty of the young soldiers coming together in the middle of a hideous war.
To Have Danced With Death is a poignant poem about a “black sergeant first class” who is unrecognized for his valor. He displays lots of medals and obviously had a higher commanding position than the narrator. The narrator seems to use words of awe and sadness to describe the African American sergeant. He identifies with him on race and is proud of his rank. Yet the sadness comes from the war injury and the fact that “the room of blue eyes averted his (the sergeants) “. The room of blue eyes shows the separation between the men of different races in the army. The fact the author chose blue eyes meant to show this. They could have averted their eyes in respect to ignore his limping or because of his race, it is debatable. But the theme of separation is prevalent in this poem because of the author’s word choice.
The time period and war back home in the states is also incorporated in many of Yusef’s poems. In Report from the Skulls Diorama, the narrator dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. This just shows how African Americans were effected and anxious by the civil rights movement just as war as the war abroad. They were more isolated from the civil rights movement and this poem hints the narrator’s frustration with the situation. He talked about how “these men have lost their tongues…the silence etched into their skin is also mine”. I think this refers to all young men fighting in the war. As an African American, his rights are silenced politically and socially in the states and even in areas of the war. Yet all drafted soldiers, including Vietnamese soldiers are silenced about their opinion on the war. The true experiences are replaced by propaganda for the world to see. African American soldiers share the feeling of oppression with the young Vietnamese soldiers. This is shown through Yusef’s line, “VC didn’t kill Martin Luther King” p. 46. He wants to put guilt to Caucasian Americans.
PAB Apocalypse Now Redux BLOG 8
Appocalypse Now! Redux, direted by Francis Ford Coppola, is a long and allegory fueled film with Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" providing the backbone. In the end, both the film and the book leave the audience with a strong message; War will take you to such a dark place within yourself that you once thought could not exist but is a place from which you cannot escape. Both Captain Willard's and Marlow's journeys act as an allegory to this. As Willard makes his way into Cambodia, the presence of evil obviously grows. The journey into the darkness of the jungle represents a soldier's journey into the darkest part of his own soul. While the journey down river is the main allegory in Apocalypse Now! Redux, there are also many more.
A motif present in the film is one of the false motivations of the American forces in Vietnam. Instead of fighting for the appropriate causes, soldiers did their best to separate a serious attitude from their presence in the war. Before Willard makes his way to Captain Kilgore, he is confused to find filmmakers shooting film of the battle scene. The idea that images of actual war are dramatized for entertainment purposes is just another example of the false motives of the American forces. Only 30 minutes into the film, Captain Kilgore is helping a Vietnamese man who is holding his own intestines in, but immediately ignores him as he is enthralled to discover a professional surfer in his force. From that point on, his primary objective was to wipe out the Vietnamese forces in order to go surfing. The soldiers who are stuck in war will abandon anything they have in order for any sort of escape.
The search for escape is present in all of the soldiers in this film. For example, Captain Willard trades the boat's fuel supply for his soldiers to spend an hour with the Playboy bunnies. Although they give up their supply of fuel, they get moments of escape. They are allowed to fulfill their greatest fantasies. This fuel was spent on the soldiers' movement away from the "heart of darkness"; the very place that this fuel was supposed to bring them towards. When Willard's boat makes its way to a bridge ruled by anarchy, one of the soldiers, Lance, drops his last amount of acid before he runs into the fray. He paints his face, carries a puppy in his jacket, and smiles as he walks through his acid trip in a dangerous battlefield. While in a place of true human darkness, he uses all of his resources to escape from it. It seems as though this slip into the heart of darkness is inevitable during wartime, but human nature causes us to do our best to fight this slip.
The scene where Lance takes acid while walking around with a puppy has another allegorical aspect to it. This bridge area has nobody in charge. Captain Willard encounters many places where there is no leadership. Willard often asks "Who's in charge here?", and every response reveals that nobody knows. These scenes represent the lack of effective leadership by American forces. Effective leadership in this case means that which practical or not corrupt. The scenes in the film that include bases where there is no leader, the soldiers are acting in unethical and foolish ways. Some are taking drugs, launching grenades pointlessly, pulling pranks on others, or wasting resources. Without leadership, the soldiers' labor is being put to waste. Clearly, this is an allegory about the leadership among the American troops as a whole.
Apocalypse Now! Redux is a very long film that uses Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as the foundation to build smaller allegorical stories upon. In the end, the book and the film have very similar points to make about one's 'heart of darkness'. While Conrad’s book tells a simple story about a trip into the darkness of one’s soul, Apocalypse Now emphasizes on the connection between that journey during the Vietnam War.
A motif present in the film is one of the false motivations of the American forces in Vietnam. Instead of fighting for the appropriate causes, soldiers did their best to separate a serious attitude from their presence in the war. Before Willard makes his way to Captain Kilgore, he is confused to find filmmakers shooting film of the battle scene. The idea that images of actual war are dramatized for entertainment purposes is just another example of the false motives of the American forces. Only 30 minutes into the film, Captain Kilgore is helping a Vietnamese man who is holding his own intestines in, but immediately ignores him as he is enthralled to discover a professional surfer in his force. From that point on, his primary objective was to wipe out the Vietnamese forces in order to go surfing. The soldiers who are stuck in war will abandon anything they have in order for any sort of escape.
The search for escape is present in all of the soldiers in this film. For example, Captain Willard trades the boat's fuel supply for his soldiers to spend an hour with the Playboy bunnies. Although they give up their supply of fuel, they get moments of escape. They are allowed to fulfill their greatest fantasies. This fuel was spent on the soldiers' movement away from the "heart of darkness"; the very place that this fuel was supposed to bring them towards. When Willard's boat makes its way to a bridge ruled by anarchy, one of the soldiers, Lance, drops his last amount of acid before he runs into the fray. He paints his face, carries a puppy in his jacket, and smiles as he walks through his acid trip in a dangerous battlefield. While in a place of true human darkness, he uses all of his resources to escape from it. It seems as though this slip into the heart of darkness is inevitable during wartime, but human nature causes us to do our best to fight this slip.
The scene where Lance takes acid while walking around with a puppy has another allegorical aspect to it. This bridge area has nobody in charge. Captain Willard encounters many places where there is no leadership. Willard often asks "Who's in charge here?", and every response reveals that nobody knows. These scenes represent the lack of effective leadership by American forces. Effective leadership in this case means that which practical or not corrupt. The scenes in the film that include bases where there is no leader, the soldiers are acting in unethical and foolish ways. Some are taking drugs, launching grenades pointlessly, pulling pranks on others, or wasting resources. Without leadership, the soldiers' labor is being put to waste. Clearly, this is an allegory about the leadership among the American troops as a whole.
Apocalypse Now! Redux is a very long film that uses Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as the foundation to build smaller allegorical stories upon. In the end, the book and the film have very similar points to make about one's 'heart of darkness'. While Conrad’s book tells a simple story about a trip into the darkness of one’s soul, Apocalypse Now emphasizes on the connection between that journey during the Vietnam War.
Blog 7: SJC
One of the poems in Yusef Komunyakaa's book Dien Cai Dau is titled "Between Days" and appears as the second to last poem in the book. This poem shows how the Vietnam War effects much more than the soldiers in that it has a lasting effect on family members as well. The poem talks about a mother having trouble acknowledging that her son has been killed in the war. Even though it has been many years since his death, the mother refuses to cash his death check, saying "now he's going to have to give them this money back when he gets home." Through the mother's refusal to acknowledge the son's death, Komunyakaa shows that people who were not directly involved in the war can still be affected by it and like many soldiers, wish for their lives to return to the way things were before the war began. This poem has many references to things related to the war, such as "The sunset flashes across them like a blast" and "The evening's first fireflies dance in the air like distant tracers", showing the impact of war is powerful and forever noticeable in the eyes of those effected.
The next poem I chose to look at more in depth was "Toys in a Field". This poem depicts Vietnamese children playing with the forgotten weapons and machinery left behind by American soldiers. In this poem, Komunyakaa seems to use the Vietnamese children as a way to symbolize American troops in various ways. By playing with the leftover and broken weapons, the children can be seen as symbolizing the American troops in that they themselves are little more than children who do not fully understand the harsh realities that come with war. The children can also symbolize the soldiers in combat and the way the soldiers felt about the war in general. In the lines "suspended in doorways of multimillion-dollar helicopters" and "they imitate vultures landing in fields" we can see the American soldiers as they prepare to jump from helicopters and land on the ground in the midst of a battle. We can see that how the soldiers felt the war was viewed at home in the lines "their play is silent...the volume turned down on the six o'clock news..." These symbolize that the soldiers feel unsupported in their efforts in the war since their actions seem to have no effect at home and are an unimportant part of the daily newscast.
"A Break from the Bush" was another poem I found interesting. This poem again shows how though the soldiers are engaged in war, they are truly still children at heart and wish they could return home. They take out their frustrations through the volleyball game being played in the poem and joke around as if it was just a normal day with friends. Though they can still hear the war going on around them they pretend its not, showed by the lines "& miles away machine guns can be heard. Pretending we're somewhere else, we play harder." This poem exemplifies how soldiers need time away from the way to try and restore some sort of normality to their lives and they do so be engaging in youthful activies and behaviors.
The next poem I chose to look at more in depth was "Toys in a Field". This poem depicts Vietnamese children playing with the forgotten weapons and machinery left behind by American soldiers. In this poem, Komunyakaa seems to use the Vietnamese children as a way to symbolize American troops in various ways. By playing with the leftover and broken weapons, the children can be seen as symbolizing the American troops in that they themselves are little more than children who do not fully understand the harsh realities that come with war. The children can also symbolize the soldiers in combat and the way the soldiers felt about the war in general. In the lines "suspended in doorways of multimillion-dollar helicopters" and "they imitate vultures landing in fields" we can see the American soldiers as they prepare to jump from helicopters and land on the ground in the midst of a battle. We can see that how the soldiers felt the war was viewed at home in the lines "their play is silent...the volume turned down on the six o'clock news..." These symbolize that the soldiers feel unsupported in their efforts in the war since their actions seem to have no effect at home and are an unimportant part of the daily newscast.
"A Break from the Bush" was another poem I found interesting. This poem again shows how though the soldiers are engaged in war, they are truly still children at heart and wish they could return home. They take out their frustrations through the volleyball game being played in the poem and joke around as if it was just a normal day with friends. Though they can still hear the war going on around them they pretend its not, showed by the lines "& miles away machine guns can be heard. Pretending we're somewhere else, we play harder." This poem exemplifies how soldiers need time away from the way to try and restore some sort of normality to their lives and they do so be engaging in youthful activies and behaviors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)