Terry and Sledge

With Terry, I was astounded at the extent to which she was in the dark. She says herself, "If you can go half your life and not recognize how you're being manipulated, that is sad and kinda scary." Everything from working conditions to the realities of war, she knew nothing about. It makes me think how different a society from the one I live in it takes to create a person who doesn't question things like how healthy it is to be around the Tetryl in the ammunition and the paint remover. I suppose if you don't know anything else, then you have no way of knowing that you're getting screwed by your employer, but I thought that the women who opened the way for equal work opportunities for women would be aware of the poor conditions they worked in and be fighting for better conditions rather than being satisfied with what they've been given.

With Sledge, I noticed a couple of things. The first was when he talked about everyone's dependence on their "buddies," and how you fight for them because your country is too broad a concept to feel so strongly about. He brings up a good point with this. For a while now, I have been skeptical of the idea of exploring what it means to be an American. My first identity chart at the beginning of the year did not have "American" on it, and I stand by that. I don't deny that America is a unique country with a unique history, culture, and set of ideals, all of which I am a part of, but it is such a broad concept that unless it's brought to my attention, I barely even notice it. It's not something to fight for, as Sledge understands. He fights for his "buddies," whom he only met because he went off to fight. It's an infinitely recursive idea. It took a war to bring him together with his "buddies," but there have to be other ways to bring people together besides killing other people.

The other scene which caught my attention was the Okinawan woman. I don't really understand why he did what he did and why he got so angry when someone else put her out of her misery, because putting her out of her misery is exactly what happened. He admitted that her wound had developed gangrene and that she was going to die. It's understandable that she would want to die quickly and painlessly rather than suffering through the rest of her life in constant pain from her wound. If he really preferred, he could have let her pull the trigger if she had the strength, but if she doesn't have a chance to survive, I think it's only right to let her die the way she chooses.