Tuesday, March 18, 2014

My Lai Massacre

Agenda:

-We will be watching various sections of a PBS documentary on the My Lai Massacre to understand how My Lai and the historical context of the novel are key elements of O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWchy6ykNnQ
-After watching the documentary, you will explore an interview with Tim O'Brien about his experiences in Vietnam

-After viewing the documentary and exploring the interview, answer the following questions (post on the blog):
1. Has watching the documentary and reading the interview on My Lai changed your reading of In the Lake of the Woods by O'Brien? Do you feel as though you can sympathize with Wade on some level, or are his actions completely unforgivable? 
2. What was your prior knowledge of the massacre? Do you think the fact that the My Lai Massacre is somewhat mysterious and unknown to many people adds to the complexity of the novel? How so? Do you think that if something of this caliber is concealed by those involved that the general public will ever know the true story? 
3. How does having some type of historical context incorporated into a fictional text affect you as a reader? What historical events or time periods are you considering for your own writing piece (this can be a list)?


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6 comments:

  1. Ben ZuegelMarch 18, 2014 at 9:09 AM

    1) The documentary did change my feelings about Wade, because now I feel more sympathy for him. He seems like he was pretty troubled going into the war, and then he's subjected to all the horrors of fighting in the Vietnam War. He must have been twisted by the time My Lai happened, and then the intense guilt that he must have felt afterwards, he must have just broken. I feel incredible anger after watching the documentary, but I also pity and have sympathy for Wade.
    2) My prior knowledge of the My Lai massacre was only that American forces in Vietnam massacred a lot of innocent civilians. I don't think that the fact that the My Lai massacre remains unknown to many Americans adds to the mystery of the novel, because if you know that he was an aggressor in a massacre, the details of where and when aren't terribly important. He's a screwed up person, and that's the essence of all that happened to him in Vietnam. I think that something like this can remain hidden, and maybe the public will never know the full story, but it doesn't have to. If we can accept the terrible things we've done as a nation, then the death toll, the exact circumstances, and the individual atrocities don't matter. So long as we feel a deep sense of shame, that's enough.
    3) I think that having historical context for a story makes the connection between the book and the themes it deals with clearer and more poignant. It's easier to make that connection between what happened in the book and what happened in real life. For my piece, I'm writing about the Russian revolution.

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  2. nathan pembrookMarch 18, 2014 at 9:13 AM

    1. Watching the documentary and reading the interview about My Lai gave reading In the Lake of the Woods a much more serious tone and a more somber story. Wade's actions are unforgivable, but at the same time, under the circumstances, it is somewhat hard not to feel any sympathy for him.
    2. I had only heard it mentioned a few times, i really had no knowledge of what happened at My Lai before today. I think it does because it makes the reader say, "Whoa, did that just happen?" Even if the event is concealed by those involved, it is inevitable for the public to learn of it, and whatever the general public learns about it, that is what becomes the true story.
    3. Having historical context in a fictional text anchors down the story and makes it more intense and realistic. For my own writing, maybe events or time periods such as, Pearl Harbor, the roarin' 20's, or Bloody Kansas.

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  3. UnknownMarch 18, 2014 at 9:29 AM

    1. Watching the documentary on My lai has changed my opinion about the events transpiring in the book because it gives me a background or so of, insight, into the feelings of these characters whether they are fictional or not. Of course reading the book and then hearing a back story on it will provide me with a dual experience of what the people in the event felt. We can sympathize with Wade because he has to make an important decision as to whether he wants to follow his instructions from his officers or be sympathetic to this woman.
    2. I had no prior knowledge of the event before reading the book and at that point I gained the introspect about Wade and the woman and gained a more sophisticated understanding of their feelings. The mysteriousness of the event does add complexity to the overall story, because while some people know the details and reasons why things are happening, others don't.
    3. The historical context that is the basis of the story is mostly true like O'brien says, but is also majorly fictional as he adds in more details. It confuses me, but not in an unpleasant way. I am considering writing about the Bosnian genocide.

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  4. gena driscollMarch 18, 2014 at 9:31 AM

    1. In the interview O'Brien talks about the built up frustration and fear that mingled in the American soldiers to create the disastrous murder at My Lai. Some of that is apparent in the book also. For instance, when John is afraid and tense, he kills his own friend, Weatherby. He loves Weatherby, but he does not know what he is doing in the moment, and he is not in control of his actions. When Wade shoots an old man in the face, it has some of the same elements of the incident O'Brien describes in which a fellow soldier throws a milk carton at an old man's face. In both incidents an innocent old man is harmed by a frustrated American soldier. I do sympathize with Wade because I feel that he is overcome by his fear and anger. A war is a very bad place for someone who cannot control their anger. I think that Wade brought his own self destruction, and that his actions that day will haunt him for the remainder of his life.
    2. I did not have a lot of prior knowledge of the massacre. I think that elements of mystery do play a role in O'Brien's telling of the massacre. It is not clear in the narration what exactly John Wade did, and it is written in a way that portrays Wade as wandering around the site of the atrocity in a trance. For example, John Wade's memory of the massacre is described as "the way chemical nightmares are remembered, impossible combinations, impossible events, and over time the impossibility itself would become the richest and deepest and most profound memory" (O'Brien 109).
    3. The historical context is interesting because it weaves aspects of reality in with aspects of fiction. The overall effect is that the reader is somewhat disoriented, and questions the verisimilitude of everything O'Brien writes. For my own writing I will write about the Revolutionary War.

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  5. egreskoMarch 23, 2014 at 4:52 PM

    1. The documentary on My Lai and the interview changed my perspective on In The Lake of the Woods to a more serious and sorrowful view. It is easy to say that what Wade did was wrong, and it is easy to not forgive him, yet I feel we must sympathize him because the pressures of war are difficult to comprehend and nobody can know
    what was going through his mind.
    2. I had no prior knowledge to the My Lai massacre. I think its secrecy of the event adds to the complexity of the novel because no one really knows a ton about it. It will be hard to find out everything that happened. We saw the lengths that Hersh went for his interview. All we may know is what we know now; genocide occurred, and American soldiers were at fault under unjust orders. All we may know is to sympathize or feel mortification.
    3. Historical context interests me because I may learn of something I had no prior knowledge to and I may want to further educate myself on such context. I am interested in WW2, more specifically the storming at Normandy or The Battle of Britain

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  6. Thiery#1March 24, 2014 at 9:06 AM

    1) After watching the documentary and the interview, they changed my thoughts on "In theLake of the Woods". Having more knowledge as to what exactly happened, it makes this novel more real and evenmore serious. I feel the sense of truth behind this book, and it's a bit eery. I feel as though we have no choice but to sympathize with Wade because he's been through so much and the fact that he was ordered to do such crimes makes it even worse. Not having control over your own actions, being ordered to do something so janus is just unthinkable yet so common when it comes to war. Also his memory of war is a bit fuzzy so we're just taking in what he's giving us.
    2) I didn't know of the My Lai massacre. This is the first I've heard of it. I think the fact that no one knows about it does entirely add to the complexity and mystery of this novel. Having something this huge and serious occur and no one knowing about it is very odd and haunting. We know a genocide happened and who was to blame, but we didn't know the details and emotion behind this event until this interview.
    3) Historical context is very interesting because it adds the sense of truth in the story. With fiction, we feel safe knowing that something like this didn't and hopefully won't happen, but with historical fiction there's the fact that these events could have truly happened at some point in time. Also, given a story like this where there's mass murders and war involved, it makes it all the more scary knowing that this it somewhat true, knowing that things like this actually exist and happen in out world and aren't just in someone's head. I'm very interested in writing about the beginning of WW2, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and dropping the Atomic Bomb more specifically.

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