Zach Gardner

First Draft

Fallen Angels

            War is very serious and emotional. Even though it may seem like it is just a lot of fighting and laughing, its not. The quote “The real question was what I was doing, what any of us were doing, in Nam.” (pg. 69) shows how every motion mixes together at once to be confusing and indescribable. The theme of Fallen Angels is how serious war really is.

            “’You see a lot of movies?’” (pg. 73). This quote from Perry to Lobel shows that they are talking a lot about movies and how the only real things in life that are serious are movies. I think this makes a lot of sense because movies portray life through fiction stories that we watch and relate to. Its not complicated and I think it is the simplest way to look at life, seeing movies as the only real thing in the world that makes sense to humans the way we look at it seriously.

            “Kenny, I love you.” (pg. 123). This quote shows the emotional side of war. Perry is out in the Jungle when he realizes he cant see anything at all. He only hears noises around him while he thinks to himself ‘what would happen to Kenny if I were to get hurt?’ and then he thinks to himself “Kenny, I love you.” This is really important because it shows how much of Perry has changed in Vietnam, and especially his emotions, which will never be the same again.

            “…the thought that I was going to die. I was going to die.” (pg. 204). This quote shows the serious and emotional sides of war mixed into one. Perry gets hit in his leg and wrist and he realizes that he feels excruciating pain. Then he also realizes that it is not from the wounds, but from the thought of death washing over his body and taking life away from him forever. He starts begging God and crying for life and also he realizes how extremely serious his situation is right then. War is both serious and emotional in the thought, cause, and effect, of death.