Fire and Forget Response

The wave that takes them under 

 “Is running off sideways along the shear of the wind into the sound of gunfire. Something breaks inside. In some essential place of order far deeper than the architecture of the brain, the body discovers its rope-help panic and cuts it loose.” (Turner 56) conflict/plot, imagery  these two literary terms help me understand what the story is about, how the panic the henderson was feeling during the entire story finally broke loose.  It helps me understand what the author thought of war by describing how it felt when the panic hit, breaking down how it happened and how he just lost control as fast as he had it.

“As old man Kelman startled him with what he must of thought was a playful gesture. And Henderson, not knowing how to swim, fell backward wheeling in slow motion.” (Turner 58)

 understatement, imagery, plot, these three quotes are reflected in this quote,  it being a big deal he doesn't know how to swim and almost drowned because of a simple playful gesture. Henderson’s perspective of war is that you can't control others actions towards you. 

The overall message about war is that it is like drowning 

My first quote from “The Wave That Takes Them Under” by Colum McCann explains how war is reminiscent “For a moment Henderson can almost taste it. He’s back home again. With her. Anna.” ( McCann 53) -Imagery. This quote explains a soldier remembering a time in his life before the war, and it’s so real that he can almost taste it. This helps me understand the author's perspective on war because I can make an educated guess that he feels that war makes you crave your home life even more. This quote also helps me better understand the story because it gives us a deeper understanding of how Henderson feels.  My second quote makes Henderson even more understandable. “Henderson imagines Sgt. Reyes still on point somewhere in the storm, moving forward, and hears the pop pop” (McCann 56) -Imagery, onomatopoeia, and character. This quote explains Henderson calling back to another time, in the war this time, about one of his friends. We can tell that he misses him. That is part of the character. This also helps me understand the story because we get more information on Henderson, and how he feels. This quote better helps me understand the author's perspective on war because of how the author himself talks about Henderson. I can make an educated guess the author feels that war is flooded with memories of the people on the battlefield. The message I took from this story is that war is mixed with good and bad, but the memories never go.

A Quote that I have found from the story “When engaging targets, remember” is “if you are fast on the trigger, you will end up stopping car bombers but killing civilians, doing al-Qaeda’s work for it. If you hold your fire past the point of no return, you will start to get hit more often as al-Qaeda realizes that convoys are soft targets. It is the other asymmetry of this type of asymmetric warfare: heads they win, tails you lose”(170) This uses the literary term Antithesis by comparing being “fast on the trigger” and “holding your fire” by showing the possible consequences of both. Being “fast on the trigger” might help eliminate any possible threat, but there is a chance that you accidentally kill a civilian, doing al-Qaeda’s work for them. On the contrary, “Holding your fire” implies that you have restraint to kill, which can show that you are vulnerable, as al-Qaeda takes advantage of weaknesses. This helps me understand that war puts soldiers into impossible predicaments and it can be extremely hard to choose the “right thing”. “a landscape in which every enemy appears by design to be a civilian, which means that every civilian appears as a possible enemy”(171) this quote showcases the literary term Paradox. This is shown by these more dangerous civilizations, trying to see how different an enemy is to a civilian is hard. They make it harder to identify when there is a hostile presence because they are presented as civilians. This helps me understand that the message about war is that war is a very intense thing for a person to go through, and it can leave lasting marks on someone. 

In the quote; “Do not touch your soldier when he is having nightmares- get out of bed, turn on the lights, call his name from across the room until he is reoriented.” (Fallon 30)

The literary term that I Excised from the text was Point of View

This concise literary term helps the reader understand what Evie concurs with as Colin  returns from war. It also provides another perspective on how she handles the PTSD that Colin deals with.

In the quote; “It's safe, Evie. It’d be safe if we we weren't even in the cage.’” (Fallon 33). 

This quote precisely highlights Colin’s character.

I predicate this literary term since Colin still shows affection towards Evie, and he identifies the bumps in their relationship together and seems willing to work through whatever problem that they encounter. 

The author's perspective on war seems to be the hardships that you go through when you have a significant other that is enlisted in a war. While also presenting the affection and commitment that is in said relationship.

The message of war that I epiphanized was that war is full of ups and downs.

The story creates imagery when the soldier is reminded of his wife ¨The cool mist on his face when he closed his eyes beside her. For a moment, Henderson can almost taste it. He’s back home again. He’s with her. Anna. He says her name under his breath to make her real.¨ (Turner 54). Soldiers are always grasping at whatever reality they can to keep themselves level headed. The image of his wife in his head is what gives this soldier his motivation and what keeps him sane.

The soldier we follow, Henderson, broke off from his sergeant with a few men. A sand storm develops and Henderson can only hope that his sergeant is alive and still moving. “Henderson imagines Sgt. Reyes still on point somewhere in the storm, moving forward, and hears the pop pop of small arms fire from a squad in the distance.” (Turner 56). This is an understatement because Henderson doesn't really know where his sergeant is, they're squad is caught in a sand storm, and they now know enemies are firing at them, which the story brushes past.

The understatement helped me to easily pull a message about war. When you're at war you have two situations, bad, and worse. Stick your wits and you might just get through unhurt. 

“Tips for a smooth transition” 

The first quote shows imagery because the author put in enough detail for the reader to be able to picture what is happening. ““But Evie gets back in bed. She touches him, her hand on his shoulder , daring the military life consultants, the chaptains , the psychiatrists, to be right, daring the sleeping man to strike.”(Fallon 38). This quote helps me understand the perspective on war because it gives great detail and explains a lot about what this short story is about.

The second quote shows character. ‘“It's safe, Evie. It'd be safe if we weren't even in the cage.”’(Fallon 33). This quote shows character because the way the character is acting to Evie shows what kind of person he is, it gives us a little bit of information about him.

Message: War can destroy relationships, or just change them in general. 

¨ Henderson's legs stumble forward until the dune gives way, and he tumbles in the swirling dust the way a man might fall to the very of his life.¨ (Turner 56), Plot Pov, Imagery 

¨What do you think Reyes asks¨

¨I think we're fucking lost.”Henderson says  (Turner 55) Conflict, Character, Pov, 

These quotes help explain that war affects people significantly. I mean just like In my book Mash When they got a work overload for so long they changed mentally and all became very down and not their usual self. These quotes show how war changes people mentally and physically 

¨Im sorry. I seem a little overextended these days, but I'll get over it. I can be a little nutty now and then, but i aint a nut¨ (Turner 58)

Even the characters in the book understand the theme that war affects people majorly.

“Her husband is a man full of energy, his body an animal that must be tended, fed, groomed, and put out to run.” (Fallon 24). This quote shows an example of personification. Comparing his body and needs to that of an animal. This allows the reader to gain a better understanding of the character and his differences to his wife.

“...the true return boiled down to two bodies snapping together like puzzle pieces, still fitting, new and familiar at once.” (Fallon 26). This quote is an example of a simile. It compares puzzle pieces to the connection between a wife and a husband. This helps the reader understand how it is trying to reconnect with a spouse after years away by comparing it to a puzzle, something that most is familiar with.

Both personification and simile both are used to compare within the quotes. The comparisons are helpful in showcasing how exactly war affects both the soldier and his family. An example being the comparison of the puzzle to the relationship, showing the struggle his family is going through due to the war and the time away. The war affects not just the soldier, but his family as well. War can damage relations back at home for the soldiers. 

“One “V” following each other with simple-minded intention.” (Turner 53) Imagery

The main character, Henderson, is at the back of the formation watching his teammates walk into a sandstorm. I think this quote shows how all the military people are all “brainwashed” (I don’t like that word) into just doing what they are told. They all walk the same way, talk the same way and do the same things while walking into a sandstorm everyone is complaining about but no one questions why. “Henderson would yell, too, but what difference would it make? It would fill his mouth with sand to even try” (Turner 56) Character

Henderson is frustrated with just walking and getting lost, he wants to do something about it, but there is no point. Nothing he does will change anything.