Hello readers,

Long time no write! It’s been really long time since my last post.

We had classes on the topic of the Iraq War last week and we also read the part of “Redeployment” which is closely related to the war theme. I wasn’t clear about the background for the story at first so the first sentence “We shot dogs” immediately release a disgust feel towards the narrator. As I reading on, the identity of dog is whirling to recognize, it becomes clearer when the protagonist narrating his own pet and blurry when he switch to another scene.

Klay deliberately stitching the story with the identity of dog while narrative some experiences of battlefield through Sergeant Price. I feel the story is very precise and authentic because of  sufficient details given from the Iraq war and the live back to America. In compare to the representation of the Iraq war through America films, the convention war movies are usually very intense in the settings and emphasis on the expression of body actions. In consideration for audience experience, producer often dramatized the plot in order to heroize the protagonist. Moreover, many war theme movie tends to make people feels some level of inspiration and ends in glory. Yet Klay’s work second person narrative is able creating the conversation among readers and narrator which is what film inability to do. 

Despite my harsh criticizes of American movie productions on war, there are one exception that just come out from my mind which is the 2014 movie called “American Sniper”(based on the memoir). The movie is based on true story of Chris Kyle, who was the most deadliest sniper, with 255 kills during the Iraq War. It shares many similarities with the “Redeployment” and the connection between two literatures help me understand the each other more thoroughly. For instance, both characters are facing the choice of kill or not kill during the moments when they are pause and ponder while aiming at the targets. In the movie, Chris first two killings are a woman and a child with grenades. He hesitate when he had killed the women and the boy keep walking toward American troops. However Chris eventually pull the trigger and then he reveal a unspeakable emotion on his face. It is identical similar to when Price and his crew discover the insurgent hide under the filthy well, his conscience prevent him from shooting and also make him felt sad about the poor enemy which is comparable later on during the execution of his own dog, Vicar.

Four deployments to Iraq caused Chris experience significant PTSD symptoms when he back home. There many scenes in the movie indicates that Chris lost his temper very easily and try to solve problems with force. Notably both of them begin distant from their lovers and pull back from daily life after they back from the front. Perhaps, the stories are not only tend to direct our finding for the actual identity of dog but also questioning who is grieve-able？ Soldiers and enemies lost their lives on the battlefield yet for the veterans the war experiences had impede their intimate relations with families, the love one and last but no least, the injured souls that needs to be heal. Therefore, in this case, all lives involved in fightings for “justice” whether the enemies or the troops should be given grieve and understanding.

Sources:

The New York Time: “A Wave of Military Memoirs With You-Are-There Appeal ” by Julie Bosman