Guest of the Nation, Dulce Et Decorum Est The comparison

The story Guest of the Nation by Frank O'Connor and the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen both show loss and brotherhood throughout their stories. In both of these stories there are multiple scenarios that show that fighting for your country is more important then friends.

Guest of the Nation is about two Irish soldiers watching two captured English soldiers, they start getting used to each other and they become friends. In the end of the story the Irish has to kill the English soldiers because on the other side of the war the English had Irish soldiers and the English kill the hostages, so now the Irish soldiers had to kill their friends not by choice but for their country.  In the story Guest of the Nation O'Connor writes on page 5, lines 24-25,

"Noble, just as if he couldn't bear any more of it, raised his fist at Donovan, and in a flash Donovan raised his gun and fired. The big man went over like a sack of meal, and this time there was no need for a second shot."

This quote shows that they killed their supposed friend because that was right for their country. In Dulce Et Decorum Est there is a war going on. During the war the enemy throws poison gas at the soldiers and the soldiers only had a limited amount of time to put on their gas mask before they would die. One of the soldiers did not put the mask on in time so he suffered terribly when his friends and fellow soldiers had to watch him.In Dulce Et Decorum Est also shows loss of a friend by saying on lines 14-16,

"As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all of my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, chocking drowning."

This quote shows that the soldiers could not help their friend because he was already poisoned by the gas because he did not put his gas mask on in time. They had to watch their friend die right in front of them and they couldn't do anything to help him. What you you do if you had to watch your friend die right in front of your eyes suffering and you could not safe them?

 

 

Afghanistan War Conflict

In 2001 America went to war with Afghanistan. When Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Mohammed Omar and the rest of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were in collusion to hijack airplanes and attack the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and attempted to attack the White House. It says in the article Afghanistan War on lines 1-2,

 " international conflict in Afghanistan beginning in 2001 that was triggered by the September 11 attacks..."

This quote shows that the war was started by the 9/11 attacks.  After these actions America was shocked and confused. America lost many lives from these terrorist attacks and President George W Bush, the president at that time realized that these terrorist actions were made by the Taliban and decided to send our troops to Afghanistan, to find the leaders who caused the atrocities in America. America captured Saddam Hussein on December 13,2003, and turned him in to the Afghanistan military, where he would later get hanged because of his past crimes against humanity. American Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden on May 2, 2011. President Obama got hints that Osama was in Pakistan and the Navy Seals went in a carried out the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden.

There was a feeling that America had to fight back when terrorists killed thousands of civilians in the terrorist attack known as 9/11. America did not want to look weak and did not want to get picked on, America also lost a big factor in their economic power house, the world trade center. They also tried to kill President Bush but the passengers on the plane heading to the white house stopped them from attacking it. The war topic that is easily shown is loss all throughout this war. Many lives were lost and also the world trade center was lost in this atrocious incident, on top of all of the buildings in Afghanistan that were destroyed during the war.America ended up looking more like the victor in this war, even though no country wins in a war because many lives were lost on both sides.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghanistan-War

Venezuela Uprising

      The short documentary titled, "Behind the Protests in Caracas: Venezuela Rising" highlighted the desperate need for change in what is considered "the world's murder capital".   The political unrest has lead to mostly middle class protestors and the destruction of the already deprived city.  The video depicts terrified Venezuelan citizens who are desperate to bring about social change, and also who fear for their lives and the lives of their families. Citizens express their concern for their country by saying things like,

"There's no security in this country, no police, no protection for the humble part of society."

  The documentary shows riots, protests, and interviews with the Venezuelans taking a stand to bring about change.   It also shows resistance to these riots and protests by the current corrupt government system. 
      The documentary conveys many emotions and ideas throughout.  The common themes include all of the following: political unrest, dissatisfaction, fear, isolation, guilt, and loss. The political state has lead to all of these feelings as a collective country. The political unrest and dissatisfaction are what cause the people to riot and protest for the rights they deserve. The ideas of fear, isolation, guilt and loss all stem from their current situations.  One man in the video says something to the effect of, they only want peace in the cemetery. This shows the fear for their lives and their feelings of isolation.  As a nation they feel secluded and misrepresented by their government.  As the United Nations describes them as the, "world's murder capital" we can only imagine the feelings of loss that they have and the guilt they feel for not bringing about change earlier. Out of all the themes in this documentary I believe loss is the most important. Losing family members can be very traumatic, but losing your own life can break the hearts of the loved ones around you. What do you believe is the most important theme in the documentary, "Behind the Protests in Caracas: Venezuela Rising?"

The Wolf of Wall Street Post 3

     The Wolf of Wall Street has many Archetypes, but the most important one in my opinion is Jordan's Hero's Journey. Like I explained in my first blog post he goes from being, 

" lower then pond scum" to a big millionaire on Wall street.

    Another Archetypes that is in the book is Hero and sidekick. Jordan in this case is the hero he is the guy in charge he has the talent and the ideas for everything. Donnie which is Jordan's best friend or "sidekick" helps Jordan when Jordan is in need and he brings Jordan up. They become a dynamic duo some might say,because they both started out with nothing and got so far. In this quote it is Jordan talking about how loyal Donnie is to him. 

"My warriors, who won't take 'No' for an answer. Who won't hang up the phone till their client either buys. Or ******* dies!" 

   An Archetype that is seen all through out The wolf of Wall Street is the Devil figure. Usually the Devil figure is a human but, in this case it is Jordan's drugs. These drugs made him make irresponsible decisions. He goes on in the book and boasts about how many he takes on a daily basis. In the story he says,

"On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out,cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine ... Well, because it's awesome."

 This shows that he is under the influence at all times. In most cases this is not good and this reflects on him for the worse. He ends up getting in a car accident, crashing his helicopter, and flipping out on his family.

Wolf of Wall Street Post 2

If you changed some elements in the book, the Wolf of Wall Street the whole lesson or theme would be totally different. If the main character Jordan Belfort was not on drugs most of the mistakes he has made wouldn't have been made. It says in the book,

 "On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain", Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out,cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine ... Well, because it's awesome."

Jordan taking this many drugs daily was not good for his actions, let alone his health. Jordan would not have crashed his helicopter because he was high. He also wouldn't have went crazy and got in a big fight with his wife and tried to take his children away from her, he wouldn't have went to jail either.

Another theme that would be totally different if elements were changed would be if he never met his best friend Donnie. Donnie and Jordan started Stratton Oakmont, because they were tired of getting treated like pond scum. It says in the story,

"You're lower than pond scum" said my new boss..."

If Donnie was not in Jordan's life I believe Jordan would be successful, but not as successful as he was at Stratton Oakmont. Also if Donnie was not in the story Jordan wouldn't have went to jail for as long because half of the things Jordan went to jail for was Donnie's fault. He also wouldn't have been caught telling Donnie to not confess to the police because he was wearing a wire. I do not believe that this story would be better if there was no drugs involved. If Donnie was not in the story I believe it would still be around the same, but I just believe he would not be as big as he was. What do you guys think that the story would have been as good if Jordan was not on drugs, and Donnie was not in the story?

The Wolf of Wall Street

  In the Wolf of Wall Street, the main character Jordan Belfort goes through his "Hero's Journey".  First Jordan started out at his "status quo stage" the beginning where everyone starts out. At first Jordan's boss called him,

"lower then pond scum"

this is when Jordan just started his job, he was a stock broker. This is the company Jordan learned the ins-and-outs from.. Jordan was great at selling stocks and him working there made him even better.
  Then Jordan got released from his job and he went through his "call to adventure stage". He got hired selling penny stocks in a much smaller office and he brought his talent and knowledge to his new job. Further along in his new job, he  became the all star salesmen at this new job.
  Furthermore Jordan met his neighbor at a restaurant his name is Donnie, this is when he went through his "assistance stage". They talked about opening up their own business, and  Donnie quit his job and went to work with Jordan. From there on Jordan knew he could trust him.
   Jordan left the little office that was selling penny stocks and together they opened up their own business, the "departure stage". The name of this business was Stratton Oakmont. At first it was very slow like any business that just opened would be.
  The "trials stage" was when they started to blow up. They started to make millions of dollars in their investment company. Their name, office, and  staff got bigger and bigger; Jordan became known from the media as,

"the Wolf of Wall Street"

  His "approach stage" was when he began partying and doing multiple drugs 24/7 as said in the story.

"On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month"

  Jordan's "crisis stage" is when the law began to catch on to all of the illegal things they were doing. At first they couldn't go in and arrest him because they did not have enough proof to arrest anyone.
  His "treasure stage" was when he took multiple drugs and began to take out his anger on his family. While driving when high Jordan hit multiple things and was caught by the police at his home and was taken in to custody.
  The "result stage" was when Jordan finally got caught and the police finally had enough proof from the company that they were doing things illegal, Jordan then went to jail for 22 months.
  When Jordan was released from prison he went into his "return stage" Jordan is now drug free, and began talking to his wife, and began making up for all of the bad things he has done.
  His "new life stage" is when he finally got back with his wife and kids and they have forgiven him. After all of the obstacles in his life Jordan proceeded to stay drug free.
  The "resolution" of the story or the main lesson of this story is to never go against your family even when things go bad because they are the ones that will always have your back.