Read "Just Another Soldier" by Jason Christopher Hartley (pp. 91-94). Choose one of the four questions that comes before the story and answer it in one paragraph. Remember, one paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences. Use examples from the text whenever possible. If you are comfortable quoting from the text, please do so, as it shows me you understand what you are reading.
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3. Hartley probably wishes he had witnessed the family because for several reasons. If he had seen what had happened, he would have a clearer sense of how something like that could have happened instead of, as he put it, try to “…kludge together a coherent line of thought.” Concerning what took place that day. He may also have wanted to see it because he appears to feel responsible for what happened to them, highlighted by his use of words like “our” and “we.” Being there would have made his responsibility more concrete and understandable.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Question 1:
ReplyDeleteBy stating all the mistakes that occurred at the scene, Hartley allows for the readers to see that nobody is perfect. We live in a world in which people continuously can do something wrong--it's human nature. All of them believed in what they were doing and believed they were doing the right thing. Both the soldiers and the Iraqis attempts were for the same purpose: protection. The soldiers fired on who they thought were terrorists getting away; the Iraqis wanted to leave from such a dangerous location. The soldiers were protecting their territory and the Iraqis were protecting their family.
1.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I think that all the mistakes are mentioned in the scene is because it allows the reader to get a full image of what happend. It is human nature to do something wrong, and so I think that Hartley is trying to show this by showing us the heart ace that is going on in the story. All of them did what they did for a reason, and they believed that it was the right and best thing to do. They were all trying to protect one another. Weather it be their territory or their family, they were both fighting for what they believed in.
1. All of this tragedy was easily described as doing the right thing but it just goes to show the problems in this world. When you look back at what all of the characters did, were easily justifiable. The family tried to get away from the people shooting at them, which they were doing because they thought they were fleeing terrorists. If the soldiers were to just take a second and really look at who was in the car, the family would not have been fired at and nobody would have been dead. The signifigance of this whole event is that if they had just waited till they were sure, nobody would have been dead and there would have been no regret.
ReplyDelete1.)The significance of everyone doing what they thought was right is differnt reactions and beliefs. Us as americans assume that an iraqi is a terrorist so we shoot. The Iraqi driver tried to drive away from danger instead he drove in to danger. The Iraqi women tried to cover up the little 3 year old girl but ended up killing her. It turned out so badly because at the time of confusion we humans dont think clearly to do the right things. Even the thought of saving someone can backfire.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3:
ReplyDeleteWhen Hartley tells the story of the family that was violently murdered, he then asks himself "Now what am I doing here again?"(94) In the next line he explains that he understands that these types of events happen all the time, but then he contemplates whether it is doing more evil than good. In result there were "three dead bad guys, two wounded civilians (one critically) and seven dead civilians" (94). Overall, Hartley sees that the bad outweighs the good and that basically he can't comprehend exactly what good he is doing. He wants to help and he's there to lend a hand to all the civilians, but in the meanwhile innocent people are constantly being killed, including innocent children.
question 3.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hartley wanted to "bear witness," because he is hearing this awful story of a family being shot to death because the soldiers thought that they were enemies attacking. I think he may have wanted to see it because he wanted to know what actually happened and maybe he feels that if he would have been on duty he could have done something about it. He might feel a little guilty, like he could of stopped this all from happening. Also he could just have curiousity like all of us. When we are driving and pass a car accident its an awful and sad thing, but most people will drive slow and look because we want to witness with our own eyes, and see what happened.
# 4 Kevin Dawson
ReplyDeleteWhen Hartley says the drive to be violent seems to precede the purpose to be violent, he means that the Army in this case has lost its sense of drive, meaning they are seen as hypocritical. The idea of ending an issue with violence may seem to work some of the time in the army, but as seen here it became over obsessive. Harley had a hard time dealing with the violence and even questioned his position as a soldier. He didn't like the fact that innocent civilians were losing there lives when the whole purpose of the war is to keep them safe and protected.
The soldiers fired on the Iraqi family that was driving away, not knowing they weren't terrorists. They were merely trying to escape the gun fire and stay alive. Although, that is not what happened. "Among the dead were one of the men, both women, and a three-year-old girl, apparently smothered to death by the two women's bullet-riddled bodies..." The women that were in the truck that fled were only trying to keep the little girl safe, but unfortunely she was crushed to death in their attempt to do so. All of these people, the soldiers, the Iraqi man driving his family, and the women all thought they were doing the right thing. It is human nature to believe that what you try to do is right even when the result turns out wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn Answer to Question 4:
ReplyDeleteIn the last paragraph of "Just Another Soldier," when Hartley says, "the unintuitive peculiarity of how the drive to be violent seems to proceed the purpose to be violent," he is pointing out that both the American soldiers and the insurgents are only reacting to the wars. Hartly is saying, that the U.S. Army, as well as the insurgents, are producing remorseless, trigger happy fighting machines. These are soldiers with a "drive" that negates the "purpose" of why they are there. Our adrenaline pumped soldiers and their's, are dumped out into the field with orders to react with violence against violence, with-out the consideration of civilian casualties. Hartley's example of this, was the Iraqi family's massacre. Hartley's last line, where he says, "I don't think I've figured it all out...," shows a remorseful soldier who questions his own "identity" and those of his fellow soldiers.
1. 1. The significance of every one doing what is right and it end turn out so terribly is that what you think is right is not always right. It is proven here since if the father would have waited for this to end the soldiers would not have thought they were fleeing insurgents and opened fire on them. Or he could have gotten his family to the soldiers and they would have evacuated him out of the combat zone or let him leave without being fired upon. This shows us that what we think is the right thing is not always the right thing and can have terribly consequences.
ReplyDeleteJacob Gerding
1. Most people run on impulse when put into a situation under pressure. In this case, the US soldiers were so set on firing at terrorists they knew were near them they accidentally jumped to the conclusion that the family in the truck were those terrorists. The Iraqi driver was under so much stress to get his family to safety that without even knowing it he drove into the most dangerous position. As well, out of ironic preservation of the young girl, both women ended up unknowingly killing her with their actions. The irony is dark, but it does exist throughout the actions of the people caught in a web of panic; their impulses and reasoning did not fully line up under the pressure, portraying a sad side to human nature.
ReplyDelete5. I think the word kludge would be the perfect word to describe the author's efforts to explain to himself what happened to the Iraqi family. He doesn't know where to even begin to explain what happened. He doesn't understand how the army could have been so unorganized or had such a lack of communication that something like that could happen. He is trying to figure out why it was that innocent family, why it was that innocent three year old girl that was killed. The author is trying to piece together what could have gone so horribly wrong to innocent people but just can't.
ReplyDelete3. Hartley would want to “bear witness” to this tragedy because it is hard to believe it really happened unless you see it yourself. Hartley may have just seen the dead bodies, but I think what he really wanted was answers. He doesn’t want to be told what happened, because the truth of other people may not be the truth for him. In combat it is hard to really know exactly what happened, meaning that other soldiers aren’t sure of what went on. Hartley would want to see it happen for himself just so he knows the truth and is able to witness it, instead of having to hear it by someone else.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1:
ReplyDeleteWhen Hartley talks about all the mistakes that occured at the scene, he is trying to show the readers that everyone messes up--it's human nature. Everyone involved believed they were doing the right thing.Whether they were soldiers or Iraqi's they had the same goal: To protect. The soldiers were shooting at what they thought were terrorists trying to get away and the Iraqi people were trying to get out of a dangerous situation. One group protecing their country and the other trying to protect their loved ones.
1. Throughout the story, everyone did what they thought was right. The significance of this is that people are running off of their beliefs and feelings. It shows the imperfection the world has. Each thought or action taken by these people to try and do the correct thing can backfire as it did in the story. The three-year old being smothered to death just because the mothers tried to save her from the bullets is irony. This irony adds to the entry by showing that the right thing done for the right reason can end horribly even though the intention was there.
ReplyDelete1. It just shows how we stereotype and judge someone just because of what they appear to be. In this case the soldiers did what they are taught to do, and that's not to hesitate. They were doing the right thing, but so was the family just trying to escape. The family probably figured they would help, but it doesn't when you have innocent people fleeing at the same time as terrorists. It makes it hard to filter out who's who and the soldiers made a mistake. - dominic williams
ReplyDelete2.When Hartley asks himself this question "Now what am I doing here again?" Hartley's answer is kind of him trying to console himself. He says things like, "I know this kind of thing happens in combat." Hartley is trying to convince himself that things will be okay. He remembers that this is the things that he was going to see for becoming a soldier.
ReplyDelete2. In this story Hartley talks about how this family was killed in combat just because the QRF thought that it was the terrorists trying to get away. After telling the reader the main part of the story Hartley asks himself, "Now what am I doing here again?" He asks this question because he doesn't understand why he is there if they are only killing innocent citizens. I think he answers his own question when he says, "there have only been three dead bad guys." This shows that he thinks they are only making things worse than they have to be just by being there.
ReplyDelete3. Hartly most likely wanted to “bear witness” this tragedy so he can understand it completely. He has heard the story only form another point of view and not his own. Everything he has heard about it is not pieced together right. In the last sentence of the story he says, “…kludge together a coherent line of thought.” This means that he only has a pieced-together solution to this story and he feels it is not enough to understand it. Hartly feels if he would have witnessed it himself it would make more sense in his mind.
ReplyDelete1. Almost anyone would go on impulse when put into any situation under pressure. like in the essay when the US soldiers wanted to set on fire on terrorists when they knew were near them so they accidentally jumped to the conclusion that the family who was in the truck driving were all terrorists. The driver was under stress to get his family out of the situation and to safety that without even knowing he drove into the most dangerous position that he could have put them into. As well preservation of the young girl, both women ended up killing her with what they did. The irony in this story is dark and scary. But it is scary because it shows how mean and bad human nature actually is because nobody can trust anyone and as we just read it sometimes ends in death. This is how world wars start.
ReplyDelete2) 3) The author, Jason Christopher Hartley wanted to "bear witness" to this horrific sight because he may have felt a bit guilty that he was not there, and that he could not have prevented the situation. He probably thought that he would have been able to distinguish the difference between a group of insurgents and a fleeing family seeking safety. Perhaps Hartley found the story to horrific to believe, and therefore had to see it before believing it. Maybe if Hartley had seen what happened, he would have had a sense of closure, and he would not have had to rely on other witnesses to tell the sad story.
ReplyDelete3. Hartley did not get to witness the tragedy while it was happening to the family. Instead he only got to listen to the tragedy happen through a radio and through guys in his squad. There is something about actually witnessing something so horrible as to an innocent family being murdered and just hearing about it. Hartley wishes he could have just seen this horror happen because then it would have been more impacting. Hartley is unclear as to what purpose he has there in Iraq and he feels that if he would have seen such a tragedy happen then it would be more clear. That he would suddenly understand why things turn out so terribly. Unfortunately what he doesn't realize is that wishes and hopes don't make what happens in reality any easier.
ReplyDelete