Zach Gardner

Fallen Angels

War is very serious and emotional. The quote "The real question was what was I doing, what were any of us doing, in Nam" shows that once you are actually a part of the war, theres no going back and that so many emotions mix together at once and makes war serious and emotional. In my paper, I am going to talk about how emotional war is and how it affects multiple aspects of life.

"Kenny, I love you." This quote shows how some of the more serious emotions come out at unexpected times. Perry is just on patrol with the squad in the dark. It is around midnight and Perry realizes that he can't see anything or hear anyone else so he becomes scared and feels emotions such as missing his family longing to be with them. He starts to even feel angry with himself when he realizes that if he were to die in Nam, there would be no one to really look after Kenny. Perry always did most of the work in Kenny's childhood and no one would be able too if he was gone. I think Walter Dean Meyers tells the story this way because it makes the reader feel sympathetic and share emotions through the story.

"...the thought that I was going to die. I was going to die." This quote shows that Perry not only feels loving and regret towards Kenny, but also against himself. Perry is hit in the leg and wrist and he feels excruciating pain when he realizes that he is scared of dying. He doesn't feel pain from the wounds, but from the thought of death overcoming life, and being gone forever. Even though he doesn't die he feels all the pain and fear of death. This causes new emotions to come out and Perry deals with it in the situation of combat. The reason Walter Dean Meyers does this is because it shows that even though you feel pain, it doesn't mean it is physical pain.

"I didn't feel any pain, but I couldn't move." Perry describes the situation as distant. He realizes that he is hurt and can't move, but he is slow to react that he is still in combat. Even though the hears the gunfire of automatic weapons and the screams of soldiers, he feels like they are not real. I think Walter Dean Meyers does this to make the readers feel death taking Perry, and it really connects to them but when he lives it all washes away. This shows how war can be emotional and death changes everything.