A passage that really stood out to me was from Sean Huze’s play The Sand Storm.
“I searched my soul for how I felt about the death that I brought that day. Searched for some sort of human feeling of regret or compassion. Searched and searched and came up with nothing…Maybe the only casualties weren’t the ones lying dead on the streets of Nasirya. Maybe some of us are walking dead, soulless shells of the men we were.” (Huze 17)
This play is about the Iraqi war as told from a marine’s point of view. This quote is very important to the whole story because every monologue in this play describes things that a civilian couldn’t even fathom going through once let alone every day. So many of the characters in this play discuss how they feel empty inside, or how they feel nothing. They zone out to do horrible things. They are told not to ever tell their stories. (Huze 1) The feelings of emptiness are coping mechanisms that help them get through and make it home alive. If we don’t let them share their stories then how can they ever let what happened go? These soldiers will never be the same as they once were. When they return home to their loved ones they may look like the same person but they will never be who they were before they experienced the war. The only people who really understand them are other marines. Unless you actually experience it for yourself you will never understand. This play is a glimpse of what it is like to be a marine in a time of war. When I read this, I read in horror of the things that were described. Yet, the soldiers telling the stories felt nothing. I think this is an eye opening experience because we send these boys over there and get back something that we do not understand. We make them into killers and look at them with horror like they are monsters if we find out what they have been part of. What we need to remember is that we have made these monsters. We can not ever judge them, they need to tell these stories. They need to know that we understand what they have done. This play is a play that everyone should see or read to truly support our troops. It is beat into a marines head that if they see a counselor or a psychiatrist that they are weak and less of a man. This passage screams to me that this marine needs help! He sounds like he is in a perpetual state of shock and does not know how to deal with it. The experiences in this play are the kind of experiences that are the cause of PTSD in so many veterans. They are not supposed to tell anyone about their feelings but we have to change their minds. This play is about what we need to talk about no matter how unpleasant it may be for the sake of our soldiers.
“I searched my soul for how I felt about the death that I brought that day. Searched for some sort of human feeling of regret or compassion. Searched and searched and came up with nothing…Maybe the only casualties weren’t the ones lying dead on the streets of Nasirya. Maybe some of us are walking dead, soulless shells of the men we were.” (Huze 17)
This play is about the Iraqi war as told from a marine’s point of view. This quote is very important to the whole story because every monologue in this play describes things that a civilian couldn’t even fathom going through once let alone every day. So many of the characters in this play discuss how they feel empty inside, or how they feel nothing. They zone out to do horrible things. They are told not to ever tell their stories. (Huze 1) The feelings of emptiness are coping mechanisms that help them get through and make it home alive. If we don’t let them share their stories then how can they ever let what happened go? These soldiers will never be the same as they once were. When they return home to their loved ones they may look like the same person but they will never be who they were before they experienced the war. The only people who really understand them are other marines. Unless you actually experience it for yourself you will never understand. This play is a glimpse of what it is like to be a marine in a time of war. When I read this, I read in horror of the things that were described. Yet, the soldiers telling the stories felt nothing. I think this is an eye opening experience because we send these boys over there and get back something that we do not understand. We make them into killers and look at them with horror like they are monsters if we find out what they have been part of. What we need to remember is that we have made these monsters. We can not ever judge them, they need to tell these stories. They need to know that we understand what they have done. This play is a play that everyone should see or read to truly support our troops. It is beat into a marines head that if they see a counselor or a psychiatrist that they are weak and less of a man. This passage screams to me that this marine needs help! He sounds like he is in a perpetual state of shock and does not know how to deal with it. The experiences in this play are the kind of experiences that are the cause of PTSD in so many veterans. They are not supposed to tell anyone about their feelings but we have to change their minds. This play is about what we need to talk about no matter how unpleasant it may be for the sake of our soldiers.
Works Cited
Huze, Sean. The Sand Storm Stories From The Front. New York, NY: Susan Schulman Literary Agency, 2004. Print. "Los Angeles Production 2005 Marquis Poster." seanhuze.com. Web. 8 Jul 2011. </stageplays/the-sand-storm>.
Noel, I totally agree with your post. When you send anyone out into the war, we can't expect them to return the same as when they left. After seeing all the things they've seen and holding their emotions in for so long it's hard to go back to the way they were before. I also agree with you on how we are responsible for creating the "monsters". Very good job interpreting both stories!
ReplyDeleteSierra
I really liked your post and agree with it. I also believe that the experiences our soldiers go through in war hurt and change them. I sometimes believe they don’t tell their war stories because they are afraid their families won’t be proud of them. They should have more medical care as they return home to their families. Today you hear a lot of stories of veterans hurting their families because they don’t know how to deal with their war experiences. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI love the passion you convey in how this play affected your view of men who have been affected by war.I know a couple of guys that have returned from war and they seem to be pretty well adjusted...or are they? Soldiers are used to hiding their emotions out of necessity to cope with the atrocities they have witnessed. You are right in that every soldier should be encouraged to talk with someone in an environment in which they feel totally safe. Understanding and compassion goes a long way in the psyche of humans. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, bro. You got it. Means a lot to me personally. S/F
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