// War Literature

I plan to write my paper on the affects of World War II in the lives of ordinary people. I will be concentrating on Don DeLillo’s “Paftko at the Wall” and the famous Japanese animated film  “Grave of the Fireflies” by  Isao Takahata. I think these two sources will offer an interesting contrast since one takes place in the U.S. while the other is in Japan. Although the setting in both the text and film are located away from the battlefield, war somehow manages to creep up on the people who thought they were farthest away from it.I want to explore the helplessness of the civilians and their feelings at the exact moment when they realize that being part of the war is never something they choose, but something that just happens.

I’m also interested in drawing a connection between the painting “Triumph of Death”  and “Grave of the Fireflies.” The opening seen of the movie is of a young boy dying on the ground of a train station. Instead of receiving help from by-passers, a man comes over and steals everything that is left in the boys pocket. This scene has a striking resemblance to “Triumph of Death” and how death has raided the whole town.

For my final paper, I am going to write about how sports and war are related.  I will specifically focus on the Boston and New York and Boston Los Angelos sports rivarly dealing with the redsox and yankees plus the lakers and celtics.  I chose this because I’m a boston fan and living in New York I get an unique perspective on how intense the rivarly can get, I get to see the rivalry behind enemy lines being in new york. The vast majority of people in new york root for the yankees and the lakers (at least in my experience). I will use DeLillo’s “the triumph of death”, “A tale of two cities: the 2004 yankees red sox rivalry” by Tony Massarotti and John Harper, and “When the game was Ours” by jackie macmullan.

Both of these rivarly’s has had an impact on my life from watching countless hours of the game on tv to going to yankee stadium with a red sox shirt.  For alot of the fans, the game really has importance and sometimes hosility that one only finds in war.  I’ve personally seen people get into fights over the game, even the players have.  The lakers celtics rivarly had an east coast west coast battle that made it seem like two countries in war, plus in the 1980’s there was a racial factor which created even more hositility.

These are some pictures I took in Jerusalem. The first is of the wall separating Israel and Palestine, from the Israeli side. The second is of a family that had been evicted from their home by the Israeli army. Recently, evicted families have started remaining in the area of the home (playing cards, smoking hookah- mimicking actions of normal life) as a form of protest.

(Heather Khoury)

The basic idea for my final paper is to research the extent of Pynchon’s “claims” about intelligence agencies in Gravity’s Rainbow. My research will be focused specifically on psychological warfare and the projects formed by the CIA to research effective methods of interrogation. These projects include MK-Ultra, MK-Delta, Project Artichoke and Project Bluebird. All have to do with the use of methods of deprivation, stress, specific environmental conditions, and most importantly, hard drugs such as LSD and DMT in order to achieve forms of mind-control, brainwashing, interrogation, and torture. Most of the studies, although not effective in mind-control, have contributed to the CIA’s 1963 Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation manual, containing torture procedures still used today.

In the articles I have been reviewing I came across a separate agency, which was created by the CIA to mask the funding of these projects, called The Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology (SIHE). The title of this agency immediately reminded me of Pynchon’s use of long, tedious titles for the organizations that were testing soldiers in the novel, such as the Psychological Intelligence Scheme for Expediting Surrender (PISCES). Even though Pynchon’s title is more revealing, the real, sub-agency created by the CIA shared similar goals of PISCES. In a novel as exaggerated as Gravity’s Rainbow, it is hard to believe that any of these government schemes can be granted credibility; however, preliminary research shows otherwise.

Working Bibliography:

Dyck, Erika. “Flashback: Psychiatric Experimentation With LSD in Historical Perspective.” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 50.7 (2005): 381-388. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

Hodge, James, and Linda Cooper. “Roots of Abu Ghraib in CIA techniques. (Cover story).” National Catholic Reporter 41.3 (2004): 11-14. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

Price, David H. “Buying a piece of anthropology Part 1: Human Ecology and unwitting anthropological research for the CIA.” Anthropology Today 23.3 (2007): 8-13. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

Pynchon, Thomas. “Beyond the Zero.” Gravity’s Rainbow. New York, NY: Penguin, 2006. 1-180.

I’m also trying to get my hands on the full version if this Nat Geo documentary:

For the research paper, I am choosing to write about the psychology of the war. In other words, the effects war has on the human mind. The works from class I will be using are Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow.” The goal of this paper is to explore what triggers soldiers to, in a sense, lose their mind. It will also look at the question, if a soldier isn’t obviously mentally unstable after war, does that mean it had absolutely no effect on him? and is there any way to bring their mind fully back into the state it was in before they went to war?

I feel the relevance of this topic is pretty great, because a big part of war that gets overlooked is the psychological aspect of it. War isn’t just about a physical battle or the political intension behind it, it has a lot to do with the individuals fighting. Sadly, many do not return from war but most do and the effects of the war on their mentality can be very interesting to learn about, because it effects not only them but their families that eagerly await their arrival home and then now have to deal with this new version of them. The human mind is a very delicate thing, and I think that what war does to it is definitely worth taking a look at.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Pynchon, Thomas. Gravity’s Rainbow. New York, NY:
Penguin Books, 1973.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York, NY:
Broadway Books, 1990.

I am thinking of writing my paper on the Vietnam War.  I will comparison between a memoir experience and a historical experience of the war.  I will be using “The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien.  I also wanted to use the film “The Fog of War”.  I also have two other books that talk about the history of the Vietnam war through a historical experience.  My topic still seem confusing because I still don’t know what exactly am I going to compare.  Im thinking in the lines of tone, writing styles, perspectives, and imagery.

I also found an article that I can use that also talks about the history of the Vietnam War and how it started and what led to the rise of the war to begin with.  I was also recommended to read “If I die in a combat zone” by Tim O’brien as well so I might use this also as a memoir source.

Sources

Beckett, Francis. “Never So Good Again.” History Today 60.5 (2010): 30-36. Historical Abstracts. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Neale, Jonathan.  “A People’s History Of The Vietnam War”.  The New Press, New York.  2003.

Young, Marilyn B. “The Vietnam Wars 1945 – 1990”.  Harper Perennial, New York. 1991.

“The Fog of War”.  Dir. Errol Morris. Perf. Robert S. Mc Namara Sony Pictures. 2003.

The topic that I want to focus on for my final paper is in regards to tensions between Palestine and Israel–past, present, and where it is likely to lead to. I plan on including a brief history (biblical and theoretical) on the basis of the conflict between Jews and Arabs; this will provide a synopsis on each side’s argument. I also plan on including an overview of how political figured have “fed the flame” to this battle between religions and what the current political stance is within each country. Since this is a literature of war class, I think that it is only right to include information on military influence on everyday citizens of both Palestine and Israel. Unlike our country, it is very common for men with machine guns to walk around the streets in these countries with what is arguably good intentions. I’m not sure if this is going to be too much information, but I hope to spend a paragraph or two addressing the impact that this has on everyday people as well. I will conclude my paper with a personal opinion of where this current conflict is likely to lead both the Palestinians and the Israelis, as well as whether or not it really is all worth it (or something along those lines).

The Israeli army is widely known as almost a right of passage for the citizens of Israel. Men above the age of 18 have to serve three years in the regular service as well as women above the age of 18 women, and their service is for two years. The only way people can be excused from this service to their country is if there are physical, mental, or religious reasons. 

Looking at the intensity of the Israeli forces and contrasting them to the ideals American civilians and soldiers had about the military back in the Vietnam war is the topic of my final paper. Soldiers in the Vietnam war were never looked at upon as heroes and where never welcomed home by anyone but their loved ones. Comparing the ideology of the Israeli military now and United States military in the past will be my focus on my final paper. 

Bibliography:

Williams, Tony. “VIET NAM WAR STUDIES: A CULTURAL MATERIALIST APPROACH.” Viet Nam Generation4.3/4 (1992): 126-132. America: History & Life. EBSCO. Tuesday 23 Nov. 2010.

Hunt, David. “CHRONOLOGY OF THE VIET NAM WAR.” Radical America 8.1, 2 (1974): 182. America: History & Life. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

El-Khawas, Mohamed, and Samir Abed-Rabbo. “ISRAEL IN THE 1980S: WAR OR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST?.” Search: Journal for Arab-Islamic Studies 5.1/2 (1984): 150-171. America: History & Life. EBSCO. Tuesday 23 Nov. 2010.

Stephens, Elizabeth. “AMERICA, ISRAEL & THE SIX DAY WAR.” History Today 57.6 (2007): 12-19.America: History & Life. EBSCO. Monday 22 Nov. 2010.

Kochavi, Noam. “Joining the conservative brotherhood: Israel, President Nixon, and the political consolidation of the ‘special relationship’, 1969-73.” Cold War History 8.4 (2008): 449-480. America: History & Life. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

The relationship between Bryan Woodman and Prince Nasir is one that I was completely thrown off by. I would have never expected Woodman to embrace Nasir because of the implications of his son’s death. But the two are able to grow close and trust each other to the point where they can take each other’s advice despite not knowing each other very well. Woodman seems to be so blinded by his ambitions and his dedication to his job that he begins to choose his job over his family life. His family in a way becomes an obstacle but what Woodman doesn’t realize is that it is actually his family, his son, who was the catalyst to his career.

After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that one of the reasons why their relationship took off was because Nasir brings out the best in Woodman. Woodman is constantly thinking of new ideas and is inspired to do well in his job as the economic advisor to Nasir. Nasir’s vision to change the political and economic environment in his country and Woodman’s ambitions are in sync and hence, they are able to create a blooming relationship.

Syriana is not just about the conflict in the Middle East and the fight over oil but it is also about the wars that we all face on an individual basis. Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) faces wars on several fronts. He has to deal with the loss of his son, decisions about his career, and his relationship with his wife. Bob Barnes (George Clooney) faces many problems within his career as a CIA operative as many people turn their back on him. Bennett Holiday must prove himself as a capable Washington lawyer while dealing with his alcoholic father. The Pakistani worker, Wasim (Mazhar Munir), fights to make a living as a Pakistani in an Arab country while figuring out how he can make a more meaningful life.

It is this idea of making one’s life meaningful that influences the way the characters deal with their problems. Woodman, Holiday, and Prince Nasir are ambitious men who strive to do well in their jobs and make a change in the world around them. While doing this, they are faced with many decisions that conflict with their values. Most of them choose to clash with their values so that they can realize some sort of gain in their lives. Eventually their decision to go against their values leads to their demise, which somewhat reminds me of the concept of hubris.