Hello readers!

What a week this has been! With assignments, essays, and readings coming from left right and center, I have had to buckle-up and face each daunting task head on. However, it was not all doom and gloom. I had the amazing opportunity of participating in UBC’s inaugural Model Parliament over the weekend! Similar to the format of a Model United Nations, it was a chance to learn more about, in this case, the parliamentary system, put my knowledge to the test, and engage in dialogue with passionate and like-minded individuals around UBC. It was a great learning experience and an opportunity to garner connections with people beyond my years. I definitely recommend that you explore this event next year, I will definitely be back!

Now onto the bread and butter. Recently, my ASTU 100 class at the University of British Columbia began to unravel a short excerpt from Phil Klay’s book entitled Redeployment. As we discussed the various symbols and themes that are manifested in our reading, I was caught by the authenticity and realness that came from our protagonist, Sgt. Price. Having read a few articles and documentaries regarding the challenges veterans face coming home, it is no wonder why this is such a pressing issue, especially in the United States – pertaining to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), unemployment, suicide, PTSD, and the struggles readjusting back “home”.

The obstacles of engaging in a particular dialogue with a veteran or various gestures of “Thank you for your service” or “Tell me about the war” speaks to what we have learned in our Sociology 100 class. Not too long ago, we had a series of lectures regarding the history of Indigenous people in Canada and how we go about teaching students on these sensitive issues. A coined term that came out of these lectures was “Tokenism”, where we point and turn to a specific person in the room who resembles our topic of choice, using them as someone who is well versed on all of the issues, history, culture, and can speak on behalf of all peoples. By definition, we hold what hey say as the penultimate point of view. Further, the same can be done to veterans. With our best intentions to know more, we can dangerously put that individual on the spot and open up a life dislocated from stay-at-home lens. As we saw first hand from the life of Sgt. Price’s life as he was “redeployed” back home, his new norm and change in scenery was something in which he daily struggled living in.

Further speaking to The Hurt Locker, we have recently read The Hurt Locker by Brian Turner. War is not pretty. At all. It is not as easy as “history is written by the victors”. For some veterans, Turner’s words speak so crystal clear. “Nothing but hurt left here. Nothing but bullets of pain…Believe it or not when…Open the hurt locker”. In terms of the dynamic of dogs and reconciliation in Redeployment, I interpreted this paradigm parallel to Lady Macbeth, who tried her best to wash her hands and clear her conscious after her completed plots of killing. Washing her hands and putting out the stains that marred her life going forward. Similarly, Sgt. Price’s conscious was marred by the insurgent “dog” floating in waste. By way of reconciliation, I saw Vicar as a window to clear his conscious and lift a heavy burden from his shoulders. Moreover, I interpreted this moment as his breakthrough in which he would make a fine line to consider home with Cheryl or with his brotherhood. “I hated the past seven months and the only thing that kept me going was the Marines I served with and the thought of coming home, I started feeling like I wanted to go back. Because f*** all this” (Kley 11). Further, I am curious as to how you interpreted these narratives in Sgt. Price’s life? Did you associate Vicar and “dogs” with guilt, reconciliation, shame, or a positive act moving forward?

Cheers,

Nico