Starting off, I had a really hard time following “Rites of
Spring,” by Modris Eksteins. To me, the story was very choppy and hard to
follow. The only thing I really got out of this reading is that it was talking
about the horrors of war, the act itself, and how gruesome war really is at
first hand. The second reading, “Soldier’s Home,” was very strange and sad. This
story showed the other end of war when the soldiers return home. Being in a
place where there is nothing but gunfire and death around can really mess with
someone’s head. Going from the intense training, living conditions, and seeing
friends die, to being thrown back into to normal society is not easy to adjust
to. To me these stories are important to read together because it shows both
aspects of war, the soldier during the war, and a soldier going back home after
the war.
“Soldier’s
Home” really got to me at the end when he told his mom that he did not love her.
He had been so emotionally stripped during his training and during the war that
he could not feel for her, or anyone for that matter. He was so emotionally
distant from everyone he came in contact with. He even repeated over and over
again that the war had made him this way, this is how he was trained. Their training
does not just go away when they return home, it stays with them forever. Very few
soldiers can turn it on and off like a switch, but for others it is a big
adjustment to have to go from war, blood, and death to family, friends and
love.
In “Rites
of Spring,” Modris Eksteins talks in detail about battles themselves. Eksteins
describes battles and how many people had lost their lives and how bloody the
battle field would end up, and so quickly. Hundreds of thousands of people were
losing their lives, and that can not be easy to be a part of. Looking back and
thinking about a war they were involved in and realizing just how many people
had lost their lives due to a battle that they were apart of can not be easy to
think about. They could have just as easily been one of those thousands of
soldiers lying dead on the ground.
If someone
were to read “Soldier’s Home” first, or all by itself, they would probably have
no sympathy or try to give any excuse to the soldier’s attitude and disconnect.
Reading “Rites of Spring” along with “Soldier’s Home,” helps the reader make a
direct connection between the two. This way the reader can easily see that
these soldiers go through a lot and not all of them come back the same. Their personality
and behavior have changed drastically due to what they go through when they are
in war, and due to the fact that they are trained to think and act completely
different than any civilian on the street.
