blog 5.

In my previous post about war, I said that I didn't really think that the U.S. troops should still be in Iraq. This is kind of like Bartleby, because the people in the story thought that Bartleby didn't belong in the place, and yet he was still there. Both the troops and Bartleby were in places that they didn't belong, and where others didn't want them to be. Bartleby also connected to the war because there are a lot of people who do not understand why the United States is even over in Iraq. This is like how the narrator and other workers didn't understand why Bartleby was always at work, and never left, even going so far as to following them to the new location. I couldn't really find any other connections between war and the story other than these two.

Same Feelings of the Past

As I feel from my earlier post nothing has changed. I have read some new articles but my beliefs still remain strong and will continue that way unless something drastic changes. For instance a nuclear weapon or actually pulling out of Iraq and a modern civil war emerges as the Saudis and the Iranians fight for oil control into a massive war. If that happens I will not have gas and will be very angry. Iraq remains a quagmire that will not change. Bartebly's live style doesn't have many correlations in my mind with the war. It does have the American sentiment of not wanting to do work especially when we need to do and that we feel responsible for our mistakes, but we choose to dwell on them and not actually do any worthwhile work until it's too late.

Iraq compared to Bartleby

In my first post, I expressed concern that both soldiers and citizens alike were getting killed in Iraq. After writing my paper, the way I feel about the fighting hasn't changed. After reading Bartleby, I definitely found myself not feeling well-founded in my motives, though. The main character had trouble deciding what would be the right thing to do, and I did along with him. Our relationship to Iraq seems very similar.

At first, it didn't seem like a bad idea, but problems arose and we soon had a problematic situation with no easy way out. Now, no one really knows the best thing to do, because staying is endangering our soldiers and leaving would be irresponsible. Much like the scrivener, we don't really know how best to handle the situation. No matter what we do, we're going to be heavily criticized, both for going in and for the way we handled it. Characters in the story were also somewhat critical of the scrivener and had a lot of compassion for Bartleby, like militants and others do for Iraq. Hopefully, unlike the scrivener, we can find a solution that leaves both the US and Iraq stable and peaceful.

Before and After Essay Thoughts

Before I wrote my essay I believed strongly that instead of an occupation of Iraq that the U.S. should have just bombed the hell out of the country and claimed all the oil as its own.  After I cooled down and settled into my essay and research I soon realized that history (as it always does) had repeated itself.  Time and time again has the U.S. stepped into a heated situation in order to delegate and try and be a rouge peace-bringer.  This antic only brings the U.S. into unwanted situations and conflicts that cause harm to the integrity of the government representatives and the American people.  Throughout history countries and nations have thought to have had superiority of religion and government over another and in a crusade-like manner took it upon itself to forcibly extend the ideas onto other countries.  The whole continent of Africa at one time in history was subdivided by the countries that had taken territories in the name of respective homelands in order to bring the 'superior' government or religion to that region.  The U.S. is no different.  From the very first settlers, to the 13 colonies, each of these group took land from others in order to bring about what they thought was a superior idea and standard of living. The settlers took land out from under Native Americans and forced them West until they had to settle on designated reserves. History tends and will always repeat itself, maybe not in the exact same manner, but in some mutation from the original, history will always repeat.

So after having written my essay and looking back on my original post, I spoke hastily and with great emotion about the current situation of our country.  Speaking as a supporter of the war and a steadfast conquering of the country.  After my essay I have come to realize that the occupation might just be more than a retaliation to a retaliation strike.  It may possibly be, like others that have come before this time, another crusade to forcibly extend democracy in other countries.  Not saying that democracy isn't the way to go or that it is the only way to go, just that with force and being pushed, human nature is to only push back under such stress.  So maybe the approach, which was what was so controversial in the first place, wasn't on the right page and now that the problem has escalated beyond a conflict and being called a 'war' that the current situation may needed to be looked at from a different angle, thru the eyes of not only a bystander but a government official.  Maybe the occupation is just a way of the U.S. puffing its chest out, or maybe it is a righteous headstrong crusade to bring democracy, but what it definitely is, is a cause for concern for many American families and has affected the peace and security of this nation.  I support the war on terrorism but not the crusade for democracy.  Bring the troops home and fight for democracy on paper and thru words.

Blog 5

From all the research that I have done on my posts, I have found something common in my research. That is, people that were against the Iraq war seems to be changing their views. People think that we should definitely lowers the amount soldiers, but not to take all of the soldiers out of Iraq. People think that we should still keep an eye their for any nuclear weapons and stuff like that. Basically, people are little bit more skeptical on ending the war in Iraq.

Blog 5- Relationship to the War

I honestly think that there were a few students in who did know something about the war, they have kept up on news reports, CNN, and other 'reliable' sources. The majority of my peers including myself felt that they didn't know much about the war itself, but were fully aware of some of the effects (i.e gas prices). I think that after different questions have been asked of us for blog responses and especially with the project 1 being due, when you start to think about different aspects of your everyday life you realized that you are a lot more effected then you think, its just not in a way that is obvious. It's almost like I had an ephipany when I thought about a topic for the previous blog, when I start to associate things with war that may have nothing to do with war, that is when its like ok, maybe I am more effected then I thought. I don't think I'm alone, I think that a lot of my peers have realized that they are more connected to the war then they thought. I think that some connections people have made between pop culture in television, music, movies, etc.. that I would have thought were far stretches, but in these times I can see the validity.

Blog4- Pop Culture and War- Lupe Fiasco- "The Cool"

When I read the requirements for this blog the first thing that popped into my mind was my current favorite album, 'The Cool'- Lupe Fiasco. There are two songs specifically on the album that when I heard them I immediately thought they were in reference to the war. The titles are 'Streets on Fire' and 'Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)' . Both tracks have a sense of darkness and sorrow. In 'Streets on Fire' the opening line which later becomes the chorus repeats "Death is on the tip of her tongue and dangers at the tip of her fingers//Streets- Are- On- Fire- To- Night" I interpreted that as 'her' referring to a gun and the 'streets' being the battlefield. In 'Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)', the entire second verse had to be about the war, it goes as follows: "He just sits and waits for them to kick in the door//He once was a hero they don't love him no more//There's a blast//Every time until it hits the floor//His gift for not fighting another mans war//And if, they can get they hands on the mask that he wore//On his face they can put somebody else in his place and restore//The state, the illusion that it's safe, the faith//That being a slave is so great//As gas fill the room and rockets destroy everything around him//He stands to find himself surrounded//By thousands of soldiers that he once trained//To never miss they target". In reality the song 'Streets on Fire' is about the life of a young man in the city who can't find the right path to follow in life, and continues to return to the only thing he knows, the streets.
Does this mean that my mindset has been altered to relate anything that refers to death, danger, darkness, or sorrow, to war? I do honestly think that a lot of times I can take something simple and relate it to the war, does this mean that I have been subliminally effected by the war through the my everyday activities. The little bit of exposure that I do have to what is going on in Iraq has altered my mind and the way I view the little things. When I asked one of my friends what she thought the songs were about she said something completely different then what I thought, but it was still in reference to the war. When we discussed this whole issue, we were both thrown off each other's responses. The way our mindset has altered without any notice is a little scary.

Blog #5

One class period we breifly discussed the relationship between war and drugs, this is what i wrote about in my project one paper. i belive that the wars in the middle east have placed a great deal of mental and emotional pain on the soliders. many of the soliders were reported to have PTSD, post tramatic stress disorder, after their tour was up. many of these soliders suffered many painful nights back at home beacause of the horrific scenes they experianced while on duty. this disorder is treated by a wide variety of pills prescribed by doctors. these pills that are used to supress the disorder are being abused by many thousands of soliders and civilians alike. aside from the current conflict, many past wars have influenced many soliders too abuse hard core drugs. one such example is the vietnam war that has help create an enormous drug problem.

My perspective about war

My point of view on war has changed drastically over the past few weeks. This is mainly due to the information and sources we were exposed to. By researching, analyzing, and writing about this topic over the weeks, I have gained some considerable knowledge. I understand the importance of discussion of such a controversial issue. We were exposed to different type writings such as Blackhawk down, Bartleby etc. Through them, I got clear picture of the scenario and how it should be analyzed to get in to a good conclusion. The impression I had of war was different to what I have now.
These readings and discussions in classed changed my perspective. For an instance, I had no clue whatsoever as to how the soldiers in Iraq were treated in the battlefield. After reading Blackhawk down I noticed the type of stress they are undergoing and how they had to suffer. The discussions about war was indeed a successful approach to get a good insight to war

SenAsh

Does the Future Look Bright?

The Iraq War and Bartleby can be both described as nuisances that seem to have no positive effect on anyone around them. For one thing, the lawyer tried with great difficulty to get to know Bartleby and help him, whether emotionally, physically, or both. The United States can be described as trying with great difficulty to help stabilize Iraq and defend her people. All this, however, to not much avail.

With the arrival of a new president within the next year, withdrawal from Iraq can be compared to running away from a big problem that cannot be resolved in any way, shape, or form. This is no different than the lawyer moving his office to a new location to escape Bartleby. It seems problems in Iraq will never escape the United States nor its allies.

My dislike of the war continues to grow but recently I have begun to wonder what the situation in Iraq will be once the troops are withdrawn. Will there be less tension in the Middle East? Will democracy prevail in Iraq? Will attacks carried out by insurgents increase once American troops are sent home? Obviously, I have more questions than answers but it seems the amount of questions increase as the weeks go on.

Forming a Relationship with War

Unlike some of the posts made before me, I do not feel that media is really in control about how the whole population feels. It seems many believe that the media will portray the war in a biased manner, which causes those exposed to it to feel the same way. But I feel that it really isn’t the media who is at fault for a person’s outlook. Many know that certain stations, like CBS, are considered as being very liberal, while others, like FOX, have been accused of exhibiting conservative views. I feel people already have their minds made up concerning the war; therefore, they are going to tune into or read the media that most agrees with how they feel about the war. People who find the war as being horrible and wrong will most likely be viewing liberal media, who point out the negatives like causalities, while those that find the war necessary will pay attention to conservative media, who try to find the up side to the war like regaining peace in a certain territory. So while many think the media are trying to influence the viewers, I am thinking that maybe the media is trying to bend stories to how they feel their viewers wish them to be portrayed. Many people blame the media for the bias, but would they really want to view media without a tendency to feel a certain way?

As for the very first blog during week 1, I feel that many my fellow classmates felt that they had no direct connection or reason to care about war, specifically the one Iraq. I think many felt that if they didn’t know someone close that were being sent to Iraq, then they themselves had no reason to be concerned about what was happening over there. One blogger even stated how she felt worried that her brother could be drafted if it was reinstated, showing that personal connections to the war seem to make one more aware of the dangers involved. People who did have a personal friend or relative, seemed to be greatly affected when the ones they cared about were in Iraq or came home. Some made connections between how younger Americans don’t know anything about the war and are rather absorbed in the trivial happenings of adolescent life. Others claimed that the war felt very “distant” because they went on with their lives without every really seeing the violence or the repercussions of the war raging overseas. Some choose to find their closest relationship to the war from a more selfish standpoint, where they choose how to feel about the war because of the rising taxes and gas prices. Overall, I thought it was interesting how different people with different ties to the war, had different relationship and connection to the war.

Better Insight on War

Compared to the first week of class, I feel that I have a better insight on war, whether it is the one in Iraq, Somalia or elsewhere. I found the assigned readings very useful in understanding the complexity of war and its impact on art. I remember the article about the Marlboro Marine, which we had to read in the first week. Back then, I was less aware of the war-art relationship, but now I understand why the article placed emphasis on the photo of the marine who was smoking a cigarette on the battlefield.

Also, Bartleby the Scrivener helped me understand the importance of not showing apathy to the people who are in need of affection and relief. I think Bartleby's personality can be traced to that of any disgruntled soldier, like the one in the Black Hawk Down article, who was too afraid to go to combat. The sergeant who managed to motivate the soldier reacted much better than Bartleby's boss, who at one point tried to get away from him, telling himself that caring about the scrivener will only make him suffer more.

It does not do to dwell on that which you cannot change

The story about Bartleby seems to have a feeling of hopelessness and sorrow. The character is very misunderstood, and as a result nobody knows how to deal with him. They manage to get him out of their own lives, but perhaps not in the best possible way. As a result, he dies. Even so, the people that kicked him out don’t feel directly responsible because they didn’t kill him with their own hands. Once he was out of their lives, most people forgot about Bartleby. It was out of sight, out of mind. The main lawyer was the only one who showed any compassion.
Many of us had these same feelings about the war in Iraq, judging from our week one posts. We expressed sorrow for all the men dying, on both sides, but also feel hopeless to change the situation. The difference is, the people who kicked Bartleby could have, perhaps, done more than my peers and myself can about the war. They were frustrated, much like we are, because we have never experienced this problem before and don’t know what to do about it. Perhaps we can do more than we think we can, but we just can’t see those options now because we’re in the middle of it. The men in the story didn’t feel that they had any means to help Bartleby.
What can we do except try to put the war out of our minds and go on with our daily lives? Does it do to dwell on things we cannot change? These questions arise in both the story and in our lives. Sometimes people forget to stay sane. What good does it do to go crazy and make yourself upset over something that can’t be helped?

My current views on the war

I do not think my views on the war have changed since my week 1 post. I see no difference in where I stood then and where I stand now.This can be attributed to some extent to the fact that I do not really have anyone who is directly involved in the war. There were many similarities between Bartleby and the war in Iraq. The lawyer was trying his best to make Bartleby's life better which is what the troops were trying to for the people of Iraq. During the beginning ,Bartleby's co-workers did not know him properly and wanted him to be punished when he "preferred not to" do something but they later softened towards him.This can be likened to reaction of the masses when U.S. went into war as the people did not actually know what was going on in Iraq.At the end Bartleby's dies which is something which we hope happens to the war too and the war endsr

Open Minded

I believe the change from week one is that we have become more aware of what is going on. It is really interesting how I think about the war now. At first I had known nothing about it. I needed to look up stuff to even finish my assignments. But with all of the work we have done in class like examining the yellow on the pin the war movie, and relating different personalities that are thrown together in the army and how much emotion is involved when it comes wot war and fighting. I have a new found respect for the war and the people who are fighting in it. I still don't believe we should be there but I have grown respect for it. In the beginning I wanted nothing to do with the war because I felt like it was a waste of time and men. I felt like we were just killing innocent men and women to prove a point. I still feel this way but the difference is that now knowing what goes on I no longer look down on it or hold in my opinions. I like to know what is going on. I haven't gained interest just knowledge on this subject which has changed my veiws about war in general.  

Similarities

When comparing Week 1's blog posts to now, I feel that at least for me, my views on the Iraq war have changed. I had said in my first blog that I wasn't really affected by the war in any way. Since we've been talking about war & art and how they influence each other, I have become more aware of subtle connections to the war in books, in movies and on tv. They may not be direct connections but oftentimes they can be related in some way to our feelings on the war, the soldiers themselves or the countries involved in the war. Bartleby is written by a lawyer, and being in business, alot of times you can't worry about other people and just have to take care of yourself. Business relationships are also not as personal, however, the lawyer cared about Bartleby and worried about him. That is why he didn't call the police and tell them to take him away, and that is why he told the chef at the jail to give him good food. I think that is similar to the U.S. in the Iraq war. The U.S. does worry about other countries and tries to get involved sometimes, even when maybe they shouldn't or maybe they aren't obligated to. Nevertheless, if our country sees a country that needs help, we will go to the rescue.

Media, Whaaaaat?

It's like with my parents, they started watching more BBC World News, and less American news stations. What you hear on the news now a days is becoming less and less credible. The stories can be very one sided sometimes. People tend to listen to what these reporters are saying and a lot of the times they're not getting the real news. It's a shame really, no American should ever have to question the credibility or truthfulness of our own news stations.

Ah, humanity

Looking back at our posts from Week 1, I feel that most people pulled a Bartleby in response to first topic. The question from Week 1 was, "How does the war in Iraq impact you?" The war impacts everyone, even if you don't have any friends or family in the military. However, most people, instead of really trying to think of some way that the war impacted them that maybe wasn't that straightforward, simply chose to say, "I would prefer not to," a la Bartelby. It is much easier to simply say, "The war does not impact me at all," and turn away, avoiding having to take a position and dealing with a potential conflict or argument, then take a stance, and that's what a lot of people did.

Review of Week 1

In order to expand on others opinions looking back we all do have a lot of the same opinions. Alot of the time it is to ignore the war and we do not actively participate. However to delve deeper what is the reason that we do not participate, is it because we are getting lied to by the government. Or is it that we find war so horrendous that we do not want to deal with the atrocities going on around us. Or is it that we want to think that the world is perfect. I think it is the last one. I think we ignore purposely, I think we want to see the world as a perfect place and we ignore the happening around us in order to achieve that sense. It seems that everyone is realizing that we need to pay more attention but is it actually going to happen. Is everyone who said they were going to pay more attention actually going do it? My guess is probably not.

To respond to my first post, my views have not changed while I am taking to time to look forward to the next administration I am going to research each of the candidates and vote for who I feel will make the best president. I am going to vote in the election and actually participate in who is going to run this country. For now all I can say is that I did not vote for the current administration. 1.20.09

Ah! Bartleby. Ah! Humanity.

I think the last line in Bartleby, which states "Ah! Humanity," is a direct statment about the war in Iraq. After so many harsh conflicts such as WWI & WWII, how can people still want to go into war and allow people to die. The lawyer in the story can represent the government and Bartleby can represent Iraq. It got to the point where Bush basically didn't know what to do anymore and couldn't handle Iraq so he went to war killing lots of people like the way Bartleby died. I can see now that Iraq does affect me, by affecting everything around me. War affects everything, including fashion, which is what my paper was on. I think Bartleby would have been a great story to use for this paper.

Open- Minded

I believe the differences from week one are because we are all more open-minded, or maybe just me. You see on the news, the stories about killings and deaths and you really don't go deeper into the story for a lot of different reasons. But because we are in this class and finding new information our minds are open to a whole new side we don't usually see. Like I read a book that told funny and sad stories about the soldiers for my first project. It went deep into the Vietnam War and a group of soldiers, but it opened my eyes. The news articles I have found and read and opened my eyes. I kind of want to learn more about it now. I still don't want to go fight, but I believe that the people fighting are heroes for just being over there. There is more stories behind the stories I am reading now, but I am learning. I believe that we can continue to learn and continue to see new aspects of the war. I think their are new stories about the war, basically everyday. They can be fake or real, but they still show you the war. I believe war is something that you can learn about forever, and I guess that is how it will always be.

week one dilemma

After looking back at week one blogs i realized a lot of people had personal horror stories relating to the war. Whether it be death of a family member, or death of someone in their town, it seemed as if mostly everyone was affected by the war. Not many people had much positive to say. Which makes me wonder, if mostly everyone has negative things to say, why aren't we doing anything about it. For over five years now we've been in a war, and it seems everyone's unhappy about yet no one is doing anything. People protest war like they protest Harry Potter, yet Harry Potter doesn't have the power to drastically change entire familys' lives in an instant. Why isn't more being done to stop the chaos? And now, as we creep closer to thee 2008 presidential election, it's too late to have Bush implement plans to remove troops. Or is it? Why wasn't there a bigger movement if so many were upset or affected by it? Is it because the American public didn't realize the number deaths incurred? Or is it because the American public is comfortable in their safe homes, far from chaos and war, and thus not directly affected by it? Either way, reading the blogs made me realize maybe we do need to voice our concerns. We live in a democratic society, and as Americans, we should exercise our freedom of speech and speak openly about what we feel strongly about.

Not a wince to be found

Upon looking at my past response to why America is indeed involved in the War in Iraq, I have found that my views have not changed at all. The first week of class was not too far from now, and I feel as if the given time period between then and now isn't nearly enough time for one's views to change. I, for one, still completely feel that our presence in Iraq in completely unnecessary and as a result, fully support pulling our troops out as soon as humanly possible.

My feelings about the motives of the war haven't seen a wince of change as well. Based upon the various sources that provide me my information, I still fully believe that Mr. Bush is finishing his father's goal. Regardless, I remain liberal with my views.

Looking at connections among various reviews, it seems as if everyone is well versed in world affairs. Every blog post I have read (and I have read many) seem very well written and intelligent. Your group of students seem to be very aware of what is going on in the world.

Aside from this blaring similarity, I have noticed that a fair amount of blog posts are split down the middle; people seem to hold either right or left wing views. However, there are a number of posts which contain middle views as well. I, however, am impressed by the overall open-mindedness of everyone. I like to consider myself open-minded and am glad to see others share this same ideal. 

All in all, I feel as if my views will not change drastically throughout this course. As mentioned above, I feel as if takes much time for ideas to truly change. However, I look forward to discussing more about the art of war and focusing on its effects on civilization.

WAR AND ART

Jasmine Singh
BLOG:
As I looked through the previous posts, I have realized that there is a distinct relationship between art and war. I believe in the fact that war actually affects art more than art affects war. Especially for my topic, war affected art since the book was set during the time warfare was occurring in Afghanistan. I fail to understand how art affects war. How can art based on a war affect war if the work of art was influenced by the outcome or the circumstances created by the war? I feel that in order for a piece of art to be successful such as a novel, it has to be influenced by something. For example, The Kite Runner was an awesome novel and the big part behind its success was by being set in constant bloodshed in Afghanistan. In addition it was the war that that forced the characters in this novel to move to American and start a new life.
As much as many people may deny it, but war affects many things besides art. It is ironic how art is supposed to bring peace to one’s mind, yet it is influenced by such as violent thing, which is war. The ethnic conflicts or the religious divisions are the roots of the wars which eventually lead to a masterpiece work of art. I think there are very few piece of artwork out there that have been successful without being inspired or being influenced by something.

Tipping Point

In an earlier post, a student talked about the "tipping point" in Bartleby and the Scrivener and with the Iraq war. He stated that the lawyer didnt reach the tipping point and yell at Bartleby to get out of the office and how America is not at the tipping point where everyone in this country wants to pull out of Iraq. Although i can agree that the lawyer did not reach the point where he seriously wanted to kick Bartleby's ass, i disagree that there is a tipping point for Iraq. We can not wait around for a tipping point and look forward to it. We need to have one thing in mind: Victory. To get a victory in the war, we need to focus and work towards our goals. The lawyer should have taken more action and focused on getting Bartleby out of his office and out of his life. The lawyer clearly lacked aggression, and it is a mistake that the U.S. should not make. The U.S. needs to be the aggressor in the war and we shouldnt think about a tipping point where we pull out. We need to be optimistic that there will be postive gains towards winning the war in the future. By saying we have not reached our tipping point to pull out, it is like saying we know we are going to give up and we are waiting for that day.

Today's Bartleby

As other have mentioned, the ignorance towards Bartleby in as if the ignorance towards today's wars. Noone seems to know anymore what is going on, as they had initially done in the beginning of the war.

In the beginning of the "war" on Bartleby, the co-workers thought they knew Bartleby well and were adamant towards kicking him out on the street. As time went on they realized how little they know about him and began to receed on their case and want non-involvement towards the situation. Like the universe, the more we learn, the more we realize how little we actually know. In the end it will be left to the reader of history books on today's society to how and why things happened.

I remain the same.

Reflecting back on what was said by various people in the first week of spring term, we do have differing opinions on the war and ideas of what should be done about this war. I know that I purposely ignore it because I'm sick of hearing about it, I just want it to be done and over with. Just as many people are sick of it as well. Some people said they would pay more attention to it, since some people hardly have the chance to watch tv and when they do, the news is not going to be the first thing they are going to want to turn on. However, I don't think that has changed, or maybe it has, I have no idea. But what I do know is that it is so much easier to walk away from the problem than to actually face it and that is what was done in the story and what many people do today, not just in circumstances dealing with the war. Since my first post, I used to like to hear about the news once in a while since my best friend was in the army, but as horrible and selfish as this sounds, I dont really care about it anymore, my heart is not tied to it because I know he is home safe and I can't wait until the election so that the next president can get us out of this mess. Since, I feel like this whole situation is out of my hands, I have never been more excited to vote and to get myself involved so that the same mistake is not made again. 

Some people do not understand

We disccussed in class about how most of the people that fight in the war are from more poor families. I believe that this is the reason that why not all people are as concerned about the war than others. All of us can say that losing a loved one is a horrible thing. Although, not all of us lost someone in battle. A lot of people can say that fighting in a war is fighting for our rights, our beliefs, and our country. But imagine having your husband, boyfriend, or son in war not knowing if he is alive, sick, or doing well. The wealthy population may not experience this as much as the poor therefore they will support it. Regardless to how many people that do not support the war, there will always be people who do support it; because, they just do not understand how it feels.

The Change

As I looked back at the Week 1 posts about all our thoughts on the war I found some things that are very similar. Other than the fact that everyone commented on their personal experience, I think there is more of a connection between "Why are we in Iraq?". Just like in the real world, everyone is going to have their personal connections, but the one thing that links us all together is the question of "Why?". When I stopped to take a look at what some had to say to why, I couldn't find a definite answer. The answers to why we are in Iraq are so unique, it makes me wonder if anyone really has an answer to that question.
When I stopped to really think about it, everyone has there own analysis of why we are in Iraq, but there is no right answer. We are over there because that was our country's decision, that's all we know. To find a similarity in opinions is basically impossible because the opinions aren't closely related. Just like everyone has their personal preferences, everyone also has their own opinion of why we are in Iraq. To answer the question, I couldn't find a definite similarity from week 1 responses, but I can comment and say that everyone does ask the same question, why?

Where's Your Info From???

After looking back at the posts from week one, I found that many people had little knowledge of the war in Iraq. Most people were not directly affected by the war therefore giving them no incentive to investigate this matter to a further extent. As for myself, I was in the same position as many of my fellow classmates. I knew little of the war until I started researching it myself.

Upon the start of my research at the beginning of this term, I came to the conclusion about one thing about this war. Information on this war is severely biased. Depending on the source at which you are using, the information is going to be heavily argumentative towards one side or another. Very few sources give a legitimate description of the events of the war. Therefore, I have concluded that in order to gain a full understanding of this war, you must take the arguments of both sides and merge them together to find the true facts about this war.

Love, Peace, War

My feelings towards the war in Iraq has only grown immensely stronger. The past few readings and excerpts that we have been reading in class only make me feel that many people fear the loss of their loved ones in war, like myself. Black hawk down has just made me realize the harsh reality of war and what these soldiers go through but the movie Three Kings also makes me realize the pride in having one of my family serve the military. My cousin has just recently contacted our family and has annoucned that he will be returning in May. The news of this has brought great happiness to every member of our family and relief. We are glad to have him home, and are really proud of what he has done to serve our country.

Looking Back

As i recall my post for week 1, I feel a little differently on my views about the war. Before I was very careless about the war and did not pay much attention to the news and current events. Now that I am in college and I am learning more about war, I am finding myself more interested in our involvement overseas. My father still calls me to discuss things going on in the world, and now that I am educating myself further on it, we can have a legitimate conversation regarding the war. Learning and watching movies about war makes it easier for me to relate our current war to other wars. Reading Bartleby and other literature in English helps me realize that war is comparable to many different aspects within everyday lives. You can compare many things to war and decide if war is the answer to certain issues or not. I have changed my view about war and have become a more active citizen, due to researching current news articles and following the war that our nation is involved in.

The Lawyer's Ignorance in "Bartleby"

The way most people felt about the war at the beginning of this course was homogeneous; most did not "care" much about the war, and admitted that they probably won't give it the attention it deserves. The war, which seemingly never ends, makes it easy for people to forget that it is even going on. Therefore, most of us turned a blind eye to the current state of affairs in Iraq.

The lawyer in "Bartleby", on the other hand, has a different war to deal with. His issue is with Bartleby's idleness and enigmatic behavior. He doesn't know what to do with the situation, and tries the most common and simplistic solutions. When all of these ideas fail (such as firing Bartelby), the lawyer ends up moving his whole office, trying to "forget" about the whole thing.

Does this sound familiar? Bartleby is the war; the lawyer deals with the persistent and endless problem that Bartleby posed. The lawyer couldn't draw a conclusion on the matter, and ran away from the problem. This is figuratively parallel to our (the students) feelings and detachments from the Iraqi War. We are so perplexed by the situation that we just want to move away from it and forget about it. However, just as the lawyer doesn't fully abandon Bartleby, we students do not fully abandon the Iraqi War either. We acknowledge its presence and importance in the grand scheme of things.

Bartleby died at the end of the story. Hopefully, the Iraqi War does as well.

The War

Looking at my post back from week one I think I still feel the same way about the war. Since I have no one really close directly in or was in the war I don't tend to care about it as much as someone might feel if a loved one is directly in or was in it. This seems to be the same for other people I notice this with my friends none of them have anyone in the war but I in past classes some people had friends that fought or were fighting and they paid very close attention to it to know how might their loved one might feel or is over there. This seems to be the logic with this subject. If someone is connected to it some way they care and follow it with great detail. If someone isn't connected then they generally will not follow it but may complain or support our reasons of being there without knowing full details.

Bartleby and Iraq

Most of the people that posted to the blog were not directly involved or affected by the war. In Bartleby the lawyer was not directely affected in kicking Bartleby out of the office. The lawyer wanted to do everything he could to help Bartleby be on his own and no longer be homeless. He even offered him money and eventually a place to stay. This is similar in the way we are helping Iraq set up a new government so they can thrive on their own. Unfortunately, Bartleby dies in the story so you could forshadow that Iraq will fail. I do not think this will be the case though, we have come this far and we will not stop until we win.

12/7/1941 and 9/11/2001: Is there a difference?

Looking back on the post I made in week one and seeing where I stood then and where I stand now, there is a huge difference. Over the past month I have found myself with more of a relationship with this war and have been engaged in more conversations with it as the basis. Most recently I attended a welcome home part for my boyfriend’s cousin who has just come back. Her story was interesting to hear and made me think a lot harder on the topic.

Her name is Carrie and she is a doctor in the US Army specializing in rehabilitation. The duty that she undertook over in Iraq was to prep all those so severely injured for the journey home. She had seen the worst side of the war in the faces of those who were injured serving their country. We talked for awhile and she told me that she is still trying to get use to returning to life back in the states. Once incident she told me of was when she was in her local McDonalds and a balloon pop and she ‘dropped to the deck’. Hearing this made me realize how this war is affecting people on every level.

A recent thought was posed to me about the relationship of this war on the American population as compared to other wars/conflicts this country has engaged in and made me think hard about how things have changed but finding myself not understanding why. I am going leave to this post with the thought that was posed to me:

‘December 7, 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor; they attack America on its home soil. In turn America rallies behind the cause and proceeds to fight WW2. It was not just portions of America that back and works for cause it was the whole country.
September 11, 2001 terrorist fly American passenger plans into three of our buildings one of which in our Nation’s capital attacking America yet again on its home soil. In turn we invade Afghanistan to strike back at those who took responsibility for the terrorist attacks. You do not see this whole great nation rallying behind the cause like it so gallantly did in 1941.
Why?’

Questions of Similarity

It seems to me that most of us who have posted during week 1 have all really had the same style of writing. Whether one person talks about something else, or uses different terms, one can still break down all the writing in the first week into a summarization of similarites. These similarities are the main questions that everyone brings to the discussion. Questions of why have we been there for so long, or why are we still there? Everything we have written is great, but always seems to come back to the main essential question of why are we in Iraq? So I think the same old questions always seemed to pop up throughout the first week. People wrote about what they thought only to have it lead back to these raised questions about the war. I don't believe their was much detail other than I'm not affected by it, or I don't take notice anymore. Or maybe talk about the media covering things up. Again, why are we over there? As we move on to these later weeks, I think we see a change, because we have taken a look at the war from different perspectives through reading and project one. I think we are analyzing the war alot more, which is what I am doing in this blog entry, "analyzing". We are taking a closer look at the war, and a better look into what we are actually writing, and I believe everyone is doin that. This is another similarity as we move deeper into the year. So now instead of always circling back to these main questions, we will pick them apart and get into people's minds so that the question becomes one that has a great answer.

Logic

As you look through all the things everyone has said since week 1, it is apparent that most people seem to accept that we are in Iraq and we cannot do anything to change it. However, more people now are realizing the human element and the consequences of the action that the United States took and the chain of events that has led to the point where we are currently at. However, the language used by some people including "hating the war" seems a bit too strong for the fact of the matter that war is always going to happen, and we cannot do anything to stop it. So if you are going to go on and hate something, why not hope for the best and support the positive efforts that have arisen from this conflict. Sure, people have died, but if the public continues to view every little possible thing about the war negatively, the only thing left would be to negatively impact the end result of the war. Soldiers are affected about how the public feels about the war. People can discuss their distaste of the war, but they also need to praise the work that the troops are doing over there. After all, they have sworn to protect and defend this country and our constitution.

We're in War?

Most of us don't seem to know much about the War in Iraq, and those of us who do have very strong opinions about it. I think that we all stated our opinions and mentioned some of the things we did and didn't know. One of the one's that I reread said something about it being strange growing up in a time of war which I found very interesting. I think to some of us it doesn't even seem like we are in a war. We don't all watch the news as much as we probably should, or maybe we choose not to because of the depressing things that are being shown. Also, there seems to be a lot of us who don't directly know someone in our family that is in Iraq. I know some people serving but none of them have been to Iraq. I know of one person in Baghdad but I'm not close with him. I know that he and one of his buddies wondered off base without any protection or weapons which I thought was pretty stupid. One of my friends in the air force told me the story and thinks that they are nuts. He said that he would be scared shitless... and that it's no joke overthere. I never really think about the War in Iraq unless it comes up for some other reason, on the news or in class. It doesn't seem like we are in war most of the time and sometimes it's hard to understand it. I don't understand war anyway but the fact that we are growing up being in one baffles me. I always think back to history class where my teachers would say to ask your grandparents because some of them lived through it, so now I think, great when my kids come ask me I'm not going to know what to say.

Looking Back!

In week one we pretty much decided that the Iraq war was not a point that it effected us significantly. We also have not reached the point that every American hates this war enough to pull out. If every member of Congress voted against funding the Iraq war and against extending the war than the war would end. This can be connected to the story we read for class. The lawyer was obviously upset and wanted to deal with Bartleby but he needed to reach that critical point before the lawyer finally would act. This could be the same thing with the American public because we have no reached the tipping point to act against the Iraq war.
Eventually the American public will become sick of the war in Iraq and finally we will leave that country. Until then we all say we want to pull out but the people we elect do a great job of letting us down.

similarites between us

It would seem that most of us have the same opinion and logic to Iraq. Even though we know that people are fighting and dieing we feel that were so far away that it doesn't affect us. The one s that are truly affected are the ones who have intermediate family members over in Iraq. This wouldn't apply to me only child and all, but others that have brothers and sisters in Iraq, seem to have Iraq closer to their minds than the rest of us. War is a strange thing, it brings some people closer and all they do is obsess about it. while it makes others try to go farther away from it.

Logical Feeling

Reflecting upon the posts from the first week I started to notice that many people were indirectly affected by Iraq War. Many people knew friends or neighbors who were in the military, however, not their immediate family. Majority of the bloggers probably felt sympathy for the ones affectly directly by the war, and through apathy were they indirectly affected, very much similar to the relationship between Bartleby and the Lawyer. As an individual living in this nation at war, most people wouldn't say that the Iraq has not affected them a bit or that they don't care about the issues related to the War, thinking that way would make them feel very unpatriotic. I think it's this feeling that is controling the logic that people use to describe their relationship to the war.

Innocence Biased?

As I look back to our class posts since week 1, I noticed that many people stated their opinions and have also done much research into articles. One thing remains throughout this thread and that is our personal judgement. We all have different feelings about different subjects and matters. This is weaved into our thoughts and actions. One person may agree that the war in Iraq is not something the United States should be involved in and others the opposide. The media has the ablitity to appeal to our biased nature. Media sources try to be un-biased but someone sometime must make a decison on what is "news" and what they want their audience to see. The audience only sees what the media wants to show and ususally we only remember what we want to remember. Humans related with past experiences and memories, but the tricky thing about that is sometimes our memory is contoured by what we want to feel about a situation. Memory has the power to mislead our connotaions of what really has happened. With this war, many of us have mixed emotions, most likey because at the time we decided to invade Iraq all we could remember was all the negativity on what happended on 9/11. Our nation wanted to show terrorist that we would not tolerate them. But infact, we also are terrorizing the innocence bystanders in Iraq, that are forced to live knowing that at any second they could be involved in the crossfire. If this war was in our country, I feel the table would be turned but I think on both sides of this ordeal know what it is like living in fear of what will happen next.

In my first post, the war in Iraq seem so useless to me. But I understand that we are there to take out the militants and set up democracy. I do not agree with the methods we used and how we got in there, and I still feel we should have stayed out. Since we are in Iraq, we might as well stay until we set up a working government, one that will not fall. We started the war in Iraq, and we must finish it. Finishing it is not just taking out the militants and rescueing the harmed but to make sure the country basically becomes like a "mini-US", or as close to that as possible.


I guess what we read in class definately can sum up the ideas and feelings I have about the war. Just like Bartelby, I would love to stay out of the war, because well we went for one sole mission, which was Osama Bin Laden, but now we left him for Saddam. "I would prefer not to", as Bartelby would say, go into Iraq from the get-go, but since we are there we should complete the job. The people in Iraq are like the narrator. The narrator really want Bartelby out of his home/work place. Iraqis would love to have all of America out of their home and live peacefully without America, but they are attached to America because they need us to help the minorities against the militants. I guess war really does affect art and vise versa.

Reflecting

Looking back to week one, I realized that so many of us have the same opinion. There are many people that do not actively participate in the news aspect of the war, myself included. I do not take advantage of all the information that is out there-- instead I choose just to ignore it. I believe that since we have all made this acknowledgment, maybe we should try to be a more active participant in all that is going on around us. If each of us watches the news or reads a newspaper, we would all be more aware of what is going on in our daily lives, thus allowing us to be more worldly in our knowledge.

The past

After looking at the posts from week one, I have found that most people have not kept up with the news and what has been occurring in Iraq. Out of personal experience, it has been the same with myself. I do not keep up with the news or have any idea of what is occurring in the war currently and where our country stands. After the discussion we had in class about Bartleby, I have realized that the narrator is also like us.
Knowing that an issue exists which directly affects you, but you do not approach the situation yourself. Trying to find out more and not just making guesses that are usually incorrect. Such as the narrator guessing that Bartleby may have just been poor or another reason. We make guesses about the war now based off what other's say and do not do any research of our own.

Since week one...

Looking back on week one posts in this blog, I noticed that everyone generally wrote about the meaninglessness of us being at war. No one knows the real reason we are there anymore, and fighting a war that has no purpose is just plain stupid.

However, almost everyone this week brought up this point. True, as college students we don’t pay enough attention to the news as we should, but that doesn’t mean that there is no coverage on the war. I am guilty also for not keeping up with news headlines, but I know that there is still a lot of commotion over what is going on overseas. Especially now that presidential candidates are in the running for the election in November; every debate, every rally and every news report they give has to do with the war. It is the main topic in the race, mainly because everyone has different views on it and why we are there.

I’m sure that everyone is still just as confused as they were in week one about the war, but I’m sure we can all form our own opinions when and if we pay attention to the news headlines that talk about it.

While looking through our classes' first posts on the Iraq War, one thing I noticed they all seemed to have in common was that there was some sense of confusion, whether it was over why we were fighting a war there in the first place, or over what we should do now. I feel like it's difficult to take a stance on this war, because the fact of the matter is we don't know exactly what is going on. There are always multiple sides to every story, and the stories we often hear of the war are often filtered through the teller's own bias. Thus we end up with conflicting view points of the same events, and we are unsure of which side to believe. Not to mention the fact that there seems to be no middle ground. Either you are completely against the war or you are for it, and claiming otherwise because your opinion differs from issue to issue generally causes you to be regarded as apathetic.

I noticed a similar sort of confusion in the actions of the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener, by Herman Melville. The narrator of the story is perplexed by Bartleby, and feels an innate desire to help him while simultaneously loathes him. It is ironic that the narrator feels both pity for Bartleby and anger at how pitiful Bartleby is. When the narrator initially discovers Bartleby's awkward character flaws, he contemplates just not getting involved and firing Bartleby, but eventually he decides that this course of action is too harsh and tries to help him. I am sure many readers felt that the narrator was being foolish getting involved in a problem he could not do much to fix, but others probably felt that it was still the right thing to do. I believe that this is how many felt about taking military action in Iraq in the first place. Should we just leave these people to their fate, or do we risk causing more damage by sticking our noses where it probably doesn't belong? In the end, you could say our conscience got the better of us, just as it did the narrator.

Looking Back

Looking back on week 1 posts, I realized that so many people do not understand why we are in Iraq and so many people do not care to learn. It is difficult for anyone to understand why we are still there because there is barely any news coverage on it and there may truly be no reason. We also have so many other problems in our country that it is hard to pay attention to something that is rarely talked about. I never have time to watch the news so I didn’t realize that there is minimal coverage on the war. It is not something that one thinks about every day, which could technically be a bad thing. The fact is that no one understands the war and when there is so little coverage it makes people not care. Also, I noticed that many other countries are not involved in the war at all. This is hard to believe because in so many other wars we have had countries on our side throughout it all as well as against us. It is a sad reality and hopefully one day we will have an answer and an end.

Anger

There is a new post talking about comparing peoples breaking point in Bartelby and comparing that to the people of America about war. I agree but I believe they went in the worng direction. Going along with what was said the American people have finally reached their tipping point with the way but it wasn't because of the death toll alone. From personal experience, I've heard people really begin to be upset over the lies that were fed through the media. This also goes back to post talking about what the media lets us, the people, hear about the war. The media initially said that there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that was the reason we were going in. Later it was found to be false and this is what I saw a lot of people getting getting angry and, reaching that tipping point. The people can only take so much frm the govenment until they will hit another tipping point which hopefully will lead to the end of this war.

Bartleby the Scrivener

My thoughts on peoples post is that now people are mad that we went to war. In class we were talking about how everyone reaches a breaking point where they are forced to act and that the author of the story Bartleby had finnaly reached his breaking point after a long time of putting up with all of Bartelbys antics. When we first went to war people weren't as angry about it. We had just been attacked by terrorists and this was our response to those attacks. After a while of fighting during the war after the death toll started rising it seemed that many people started reaching that limit where they didn't feel that the war was as neccesary as it was a few years ago. Maybe people who were por war before are now anit war. Much the same way that the feelings for Bartleby changed. The post seemed to be all anti war becaused it has been long enough for peoples opinions and feelings to change. This is the big relationship between the posts and the Story Bartleby the Scrivener.

Ginger Nut

I feel like a lot of good connections to Bartleby and the Iraq war have been drawn together so far. One that I think is a very valuable connection and one that we can relate to is Ginger Nut and ourselves. Reflecting on the earlier posts there was an overall majority that said they don't care about the war and the information they do know is usually from a bias source. Ginger Nut is a twelve year old apprentice to the boss whose sole purpose in the story is to do what he is told without question. I feel in a way that the youth of this nation can relate to Ginger Nut. We accept most of the news we receive on the war whether by news papers, t.v, or just word of mouth as truth. Similarly Ginger Nut receives orders from all four of his superiors : The lawyer, Turkey, Nippers, and even Bartleby without question. Overall the youth of this nation, just like Ginger Nut, are just trying to absorb what they can and learn what they can so they can be sufficient individuals in the future. 

Don't we "prefer not to"?

A majority of the posts exuded some level of anger for the current plight the United States finds itself in with the war in Iraq. There was a universal concern for why we are still over there and when enough fighting is indeed enough. On the fifth page of the Bartelby reading I found that Bartelby's threshold was reached. Bartleby had the occupation of writing - the reading even brings out that he did an "extraordinary quantity of writing" - but his hands had grown weak and when he was asked by the narrator to take on another task for him, he retorted "I would prefer not to" (Bartleby, 5). Indeed, as a nation the US is slowly, but surely coming to this same conclusion that they "would prefer not to" be in Iraq. This similar theme of preferring not to be at war was a common focal point amongst a great multitude of the blogs in the first week.

Wanted/Unwanted Help

As I browsed blog posts from the first week, I skimmed through a lot.  Many of them were based on how the US is still in Iraq, and many wondering why we are still there.  The blogs reflected a questions of if we had even changed Iraq at all and also if all the deaths that have occured, both US soldiers and Iraqi natives, are worth it.  Thinking back to Thursday's class, I remember a quote from Bartleby, something about organic/natural, sin? I don't really remember the quote, but I remember realizing that in the book, the narrator (boss) feels the need to help Bartleby, but Bartleby doesn't want the help.  What were the narrator's intentions? This got me thinking back to the blogs of the first week- Why did the US feel the need to help Iraq?  Are they making a difference?  Do they even want the help? What are the true intentions of the US? (oil advantages?, )  Like Bartleby, Iraq has been invaded by help that is questionable.  

Excuses, Excuses...

During the first week, Erik made the post: Could It Be For The Money? One of the points that he addressed in this post was about an alternate motive for the entrance to this war – oil. If oil truly was the real reason that our country entered this war, then the Bartleby Effect on the notion of excuses comes into play.

In the story, the narrator expresses that he feels sympathy towards Bartleby – he has nowhere to go, he has no money, he has no friends…etc. And in, what I would assume to be a sign of “compassion”, the narrator allows Bartleby to stay at the office to sleep and doesn’t “overwork” him. And why should the narrator make Bartleby work just as hard as the other workers in the business? The narrator’s passive personality type is just an excuse to avoid the potential conflict of having to deal with Bartleby. The narrator also comes up with a philosophical excuse for not finding out any other options for helping Bartleby – the problem “exists within his soul”. The claim that the soul cannot be reached by a person outside of its domain is yet another excuse.

Excuses are the essence of this war. If the claim is that "we are in Iraq as a way to rid the terrorists of weapons of mass destruction and seek out revenge of our country’s loss on September 11th", then the concept of retrieving oil as the “sub-motive” is really the excuse to go in the first place. And on the contrary, if the claim is that “we are in need of oil”, then the concept of “fighting for our country” is an excuse for fighting in the war. There seems to be a pattern here: whatever the main motive is, for the war’s cause, the alternative byproduct, the “what’s behind door number two” scenario, seems to be the excuse for going.

Looks like our country might be being lied to…