Monday, September 12, 2011

Leaving the Past Behind

         Reading Slaughter House 5 really showed me the effect war creates on people. Not only on those involved but also on the others who, alone, wait in the dark for those loved ones to come. So many fathers' they'll never see again, so many kids left alone, and so many widows that will slowly began to forget their husband's faces.
        Vonnegut talked about how when he came back from the war it was so hard to find enough words about the Dresden bombings. With time, as the memory faded in the peoples' mind, he started putting the pieces back together but suddenly no one knew what had happened in Dresden. It was now a long forgotten memory that only he could seem to hold on to. War is idealized in the movies. When it comes everyone despises it, and when it leaves everyone forgets it. No one wants to look back, they are all leaving the past behind.  I felt it somewhat connected to how in "1984" people are brainwashed to the point of not differentiating the enemy. Yesterday we fought the communist, today the terrorist, who will we fight tomorrow?  

1 comment:

  1. War does leave marks on people and society and certainly they are not good. What is good is that we can relay on our past to help us make our decisions for the future and the present but still we don't have a perfect society. Alejandro its great how you question yourself on who will society fight tomorrow because from what we have seen in the past, I think it can be anyone.

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