How was opposition to the Vietnam War portrayed in contemporary literature, film and popular song? - page 5
Keywords: gcse history coursework question one 1 vietnam war portrayed literature film song
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 5 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
in Vietnam. One soldier that I have discovered is Yusef Komunyakaa. A particular poem I decided to study was ‘Facing It’, a poem about Yusef’s post-war experiences. The state of mind that many soldiers tried to adopt was that of both apathy and nihilism as cutting of one’s emotions protected them from pain but the atrocious situations that Komunyakka has been subjected to leaves him reduced to tears, ‘I said I wouldn’t dammit; No tears. / I’m stone, I’m flesh’. One experience which Yusef writes about is the time he spent at the memorial site for the deceased soldiers employed in Vietnam. ‘I go down the 58,022 names half expecting to find my own in letters of smoke,’ the vast number of names facing Komunyakaa represent the serious number of fatalities that America suffered in such an unjust war. To many, including Komunyakaa, many of these names are insignificant, this is important in showing us the sacrifice that the soldier made – and for what? When Komunyakaa explains that he expects to find his name on the memorial realize that he has been left feeling empty and dead on the inside. This poem like many others written by veterans highlights the breakdown of mental stability and self-worth endured by American soldiers in Vietnam. Obviously the suffering of these soldiers arouses sympathy and generates an all around opposition to the war.
While researching Vietnam influenced poetry, I came across the site www.angelfire.com/wa/warpoetry/vietnam.html, an online community in which people can share their thoughts and opinions on the tragedies of Vietnam through the medium of poetry. One particular poem that caught my attention was ‘A Little One’s Prayer’ by Wanda. Although Wanda was not directly involved in the war, she had a very strong opposition to it and she empathetically discusses this through her poem. The poem is written in the mindset of a young boy and explores the child’s feelings about his father serving in the army. The little boy does not understand ‘why [he] had to leave [them], to fight in another land’. This child’s constant need to question ‘why?’ leaves us too, questioning America’s motives. We see the young child’s sheer desperation for his father’s safety through his intimate relationship with God however, the need to turn to God indicates the desperation and hopelessness of the young boy, even though young children tend to be optimistic, so again sympathy is created.
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