Final Exception

I went to the play The Boys Next Door on Sunday April 25, 2010 at 2:30 p.m.

The Things They Carried interpretation

A brief synopsis of The Things They carried: First lieutenant Jimmy Cross leads a platoon of soldier over in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Several of his men are named Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, Ted Lavender, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, and Kiowa. This segment of reading starts off with exactly what each individual mentioned above carried and how much it weighed and what the object meant to that person. A great example would be Kiowa: he was a devout Baptist and carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father. Kiowa also carried his grandmother’s distrust of the white man and carried his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet. Nevertheless the segment of this story that is presented shows that First lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, who he was infatuated with and thought that she loved him, but in actuality she did not love him at all. He even licked the letters where her tongue had been to seal the letter. Cross later got a pebble from Martha and even sucked on it. He knew he was very distracted and that it could cause problems; he was right. As they were ordered to set up ambushes and destroy elaborate tunnel complexes, but before destroying them they were ordered to search them. All the men except for Henry Dobbins because he was a big man, would draw numbers to who would go town the tunnel. Whoever got the number seventeen would strip off everything and take a flashlight and Lieutenant Cross’s .45-caliber pistol down the tunnel. Nevertheless on April 16, after a couple of hours searching the tunnels , Ted Lavender went off to pee nearby while Lieutenant Cross examined the tunnel that one of the men had gone down to check. While checking the tunnel he immediately became distracted by thoughts of Martha and did not care about security of the area. Meanwhile as Ted Lavender came back from peeing he was shot in the head and fell with a loud flop. Many of the men dealt with his death in their own way. Some would not shut up about how he fell after being shot whereas Lieutenant Cross cried in his fox hole. Nevertheless at the end of the story he straightened up his act and gave up on his infatuation of Martha and truly led his men with a new attitude and a more commanding presence.

There was one section that was unclear the first read through of the story. There is a scene where Mitchell Sanders comes across a dead VC corpse, a young man around the age of fifteen or sixteen, and cut off one of the thumbs. The dead teenager was found in an irrigation ditch, badly burned, and flies on eyes and his mouth. Despite all this carnage, Mitchell Sanders states right before he cuts off one of the dead VC’s thumbs, he states that there is a moral to be learned from this. But while cutting the thumb off, Henry Dobbins asks Mitchell Sanders what the moral was, but only to never get a full answer. Sanders states “there it is” but both Dobbins and the reader of the story do not get a full clear understanding of what the moral to be learned is. Before Sanders states “there it is” he does mention an old show called Paladin which was about a gun for hire gentlemen who wore a fine clothes in a hotel he stayed at but once hired he would dress the old western cowboy look only in all black and he carried a .45-caliber revolver. The most famous line was “Have gun, will travel” as his calling card. Nevertheless it is still hard to see the moral of this scene after having researched some interesting facts about Paladin. However when Dobbins states that he does not see any moral, Sanders states the line “there it is” which could imply that there is no moral to that situation, but as the reader, it is still somewhat confusing. Nevertheless the moral could be that if you kill others you get what’s coming for you since the VC was near the location where Ted Lavender was shot, but this is just theoretical.

This story deals with the mental loads that men carry during warfare despite all the physical objects they carry. Even though they may have heavy burdens to carry literally, most have mental loads to carry just as much as the physical stuff. For some it’s love at first, but then realizes the burden of lives that they carry such as Lieutenant Cross, whereas others carry the horrors of what they have seen in warfare and the tragic deaths of fellow brothers in arms. Some even break under the stress of all the mental loads as Lieutenant Cross does at the death of Ted Lavender. But others just joke it off or keep restating how they died over and over again.

This interpretation matters since even though the writer of The Things They Carried tells to the utmost detail in what each man carried, the writer shows the most important things in life that all men and women carry in this lifetime: mental burdens. The writer just uses this story of a platoon during the Vietnam War to show how people deal with horrors or tragedies in war but can be seen as how people deal with bad situations in life. Overall this story can teach reader how to see how some deal with hard situations in life and have a better appreciation towards those who serve in the United States armed forces for their sacrifices and diligence over in a war zone.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

At first this story rather made it sound humorous of the rather old and decrepit angel but I rather pitied the creature due to the torment of the the people trying to see him and touch him. The beginning of the story made it sound like he was never an angel at all since the story sounded like the angel was just a genetic experiment like in the book Maximum Ride which is about genetically altered humans who have bird wings that seem so natural on them. Nevertheless what made me change my thinking was the part when people came to the angel to be have a miracle done in their lives, but they rather turned out wrong. For instance the blind man receiving three new teeth instead of sight or the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. But I thought it rather interesting that the angel could not speak in the language of the family who held him captive and that whenever he flapped his wings it created a large gust of wind that grabbed any one's attention since it was not the normal gusts of wind that is herd everyday. I also thought that it was very interesting that whenever the angel was finally let out of the hen house cage, he went into the house and it seemed to everyone inside that he was everywhere at once. But the angel's physical appearance seemed to cry out that he was the angel of death for originally the parents and their wise neighbor assumed he had come for the child that was ill on the night that he crashed. Another clue that gave me the idea that he could possible be the angel of death or an angel of death, was his decrepit appearance and his old frail figure of an aged man, not to mention his wings were terribly looking for they had parasites in them. But what I most admire was the angel's patience for he had gone through torment by the many visitors who came to see him plus not acting out in anger for being poked with a hot branding iron. I think if I had been in that family as the father I would have nursed the angel back to health for it is not every day that you get to have a physical angel in your presence.

The Boys Next Door

Already having a mentally handicapped cousin, I knew this story was going to be unique and great at the same time. Though the story very humorous, there are many life lessons that can be learned from this already touching story. One of the first life lessons I noticed that was present was that everyone should be polite to all people despite what their circumstances are. All four mentally handicapped characters were polite and considerate towards all guests that entered their home. They always greeted everyone with some form of a statement that said "hi my name is..... welcome to my home. Won't you take a seat?" The second life lesson I noticed was that be thankful for what you have. None of the four handicapped characters ever complained about desiring more things. In fact it was the little things they rather appreciated for they always spoke on their stuff in a high regard of thankfulness, such as the lamps furniture and bathtub. Another life lesson that was present throughout the story was the gift of friendship. Granted sometimes the mentally handicapped characters were agitated at one another but they never lost their temper at one another and always showed some form of compassion towards each other and everyone they came into contact with. The largest life lesson by far that was revealed throughout the entire story was that all the characters stay true to their themselves in that the mentally handicapped characters held true to their convictions such as coursing. For even the social worker Jack stated that "You see, the problem is that they never change. I change, my life changes, my crises change. But they stay the same." Overall all I kept thinking about while reading this story was my mentally handicapped cousin. He is mix between Arnold and Norman, but only quieter. Granted he does not blurt out words like some of the characters, but he will never be able to drive a car and he will have to live in a facility like the one shown in the story. For you see, my cousin Nathan can't handle to many things at once or he will become really confused and though he is 17 years old he has the mentality of a 12 or 13 year old. Nevertheless I love him and to be honest growing up with him I never really noticed his handicap until a situation arose and my parents explained to me his condition. Even though I found this out I still do not look at him any differently than I did before because just because he is mentally handicapped, does not make me love him any less than I did before.

The Art Museum

I really enjoyed this field trip since, it was very interesting to see expressions of artists of the ancient world and today's high school students. The first section that I visited was the Mayan art section. There were many different small statues of warriors and women. They looked like people but the way they were depicted was in an odd and yet fascinating way. However what I found the most interesting piece of art from the Mayans was the colorfully decorated plates with "kill holes" at the center of the plates. I found out that some archaeologists believe that the plate was placed on the skull the dead and the hole may have represented the passage way to the "afterlife." Nevertheless there were also unique pots that consisted of two orbs placed side by side and connected in the middle and at the top of one of them was small pillar with a hole at the top. The next section was was an area of modern day artists whom many were from the local high schools in this area. I have to say though that I was very impressed with the art that was produced by the high school students. A lot of their art was not just paintings but rather photographs, paintings, drawings, various and unique objects made out of different materials, and computer graphic designs. After that area I visited the Florida picture area which astounded me in the many art depictions of Florida nature. My favorite would have to be the picture of the globe which contained two similar pictures only the artists tweaked them to look different in color but also make them into a much larger picture of a Tampa park. The next area I visited in the museum was the Japanese cloth and paper area. It was very interesting to see the many different robes that had many unique designs and patterns. That area even had pictures of women lined against the back wall that was drawn by a famous Japanese artists I believe. Nevertheless the top floor was amazing in that there were photographs of families and all their material possessions laid in front of their homes from all across the globe. It was very sobering to see the families wishes and income and hours of work done in the week. I must say that the most interesting part of that area was when the lead project manager of these photos stated that most of the families stated that they never really looked at themselves as poor. Nevertheless my favorite art portrait was the picture called "Guardian of Florence" which was drawn by a high school student. The following poem is what I saw in the drawing:

He stands atop

The roof so high.

His sight sees

The many Italian buildings.

Though they are numerous

And he is but one man

He silently

Guards this city.

None would dare

Cross his path

For his blade is hidden from sight.

Like the eagle that soars

Above the city,

So to does he

Dressed in white,

See this city

In a different view.

For this is his home.

Like the eagle,

He will defend

His territory unto death.

"I went to the art museum for at least 40 minuets."

Transformations

Every year when the year begins we all make resolutions to change in some form or another. Some people change their diets, some want to lose weight, and other even want to be kinder towards their fellow man. For those who actually do stick to that new years resolution or change they desire to make in their lives, I commend them for actually achieving what they set out to do. Nevertheless why do so many make that choice to change in some form or another and then fail or partially make their goals? Unless a person has a deep commitment to change and has a driving attitude and goal oriented mindset, then people will never achieve the changes they want for their lives. For example if a person decides to change their diet for the better then that individual should remove all temptations of non-healthy food from their atmosphere. If that person does not remove all unhealthy foods within their atmosphere, then they might as well expect to fail at their goals of change. It is like having a rabbit live in a garden. If the gardener does not put up certain measures of protection to the garden then the gardener should not be surprised to have damaged products. But what about larger changes in life? For example if a person decides to change their attitude towards others then they should start out small since trying to become suddenly great at being kinder towards others does not happen over night; it takes practice and living out the reasoning behind being kinder to others. A person who hangs with negative people will never change for the better due to the influence of those negative friends. Some say that you can tell about a person by the friends that individual associates with. But a person who decides to make a change in being kinder towards others should chose to associate with those who can uplift and edify that person so as to make not just a temporary change but rather a permanent change. To many people to decide to change and succeed but that change only lasts for so long. Just because situations get difficult does not mean that a person should just give up on that change. It will always take work and constant up keep to keep a change permanent due to the fact that no where in this world does it state that life is going to be easy. Not even the Bible promises an easy life. For that matter it rather points to a rougher life of suffering for the cause of Christ. But if anyone is to truly change for the better it is best that they buckle down and prepare for hard work in order for that change to remain constant in their lives.

The Darkness

In life we face a lot of troubles, problems, and inner struggles. All can easily be said that they are "darkness." Everyone including those who are Christians has to go through struggles sometime or another. If anything Christians will experience more darkness sometimes than those who do not believe that Jesus was the way, truth, and the life. The Bible never says that God will stop nor prevent the hard times that people go through, but He does show that He will always be with us. The Bible alone has people that go through many dark time in their lives. For example Job has the most darkest times, I think, that anyone goes through in the bible. For he is serving God whole-hearted and yet God allows satan to attack Job with many darkness's, excluding death. Nevertheless despite the most horrendous darkness that Job had to go through, even getting to the point of telling off God, he came out of the darkness a lot stronger than when he had first embraced it. Darkness overall though, produces the true character in everyone; for by embracing it, people can see whether or not someone will make it through just by how they handle the darkness. Now can depression and grievances settle in? Of course! Depression and grievances are apart of this lifetime and for those people who are Christians then they have a lot to learn for even Christ had to go through darkness. But the truth be told darkness is never really looked at in a way that brings a smile. What it means is that like Christ when He embraced the cross on the way up to be crucified, so should we as darkness comes into our lives. Granted it is not easy to embrace darkness or hard times but like it or not we still have to go through them for if we are to consistently move on through the darkness we must keep pressing on for the higher prize as Paul talks about. I have learned what I think is the largest lesson about darkness for despite the fact that we must embrace it and go through it, The end of that darkness is what ultimately counts; for in life it is the end that counts.