Thursday, October 10, 2013

"Speaking of Courage"

In Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker cannot stop thinking about his past in the army and even before the army. Like many other army veterans, Bowker had "no place in particular to go," so he drives along his father's neighbourhood (page 131). His old girlfriend, Sally Kramer lives in this neighbourhood, except "her name was now Sally Gustafson... She had her house and her new husband" (page 133). Bowker really wants to talk to her but cannot get her memories out of his mind; one day "he'd almost pulled over, just to talk [to her], but instead he'd pushed down hard on the gas pedal" (page 133). Bowker's memories show he still misses Sally when he almost stopped to talk to her.

Unlike Norman Bowker, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) lost all his memory from a field accident. Bourne was rescued from the sea by fisherman, and spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who he was and why there are people trying to kill him. On the contrary, Norman tries to forget these memories, except he cannot because his memories have become part of him and haunt him; Norman most likely has PTSD because of his symptoms.

Memories affect Norman Bowker and Jason Bourne.  Jason wants to remember his past; Norman, to forget his past. Norman even ends up having a pretend conversation: he talks to his dad about how he almost won the Silver Star. Bowker is upset he did not win the Silver Star, even though he did win "the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart... He would've explained to his father that none of these decorations war for uncommon valor... The routine, daily stuff--just humping [and] just enduring [the war]..." (page 135). The memory of how he almost won the Silver Star haunts Bowker so much he wants to talk to someone about it. Norman Bowker even considers talking to the town he is in, but "the town could not talk, and would not listen" (page 137). This shows how mentally unstable Norman is, he wants to talk to a town about his war experience; Norman is haunted by his past and can no longer keep all these gruesome memories to himself. He imagines telling his father his memory at the Song Tra Bong, as well as telling Sally Kramer and Max Arnold (his friend who died right before the war by drowning). Over half of the chapter is spent inside Norman's head, with him trying to tell his memories to someone. It is ironic because since we are reading he story, he is telling his memories from us, but he does not know that.

In The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne slowly remembers his past, one memory at a time. The United States government does not know that Jason is just trying to remember his past, they think he has gone inept. According to the government, the only way to solve this problem is to eliminate Jason Borne by killing him; the United States activates all their field agents in attempt to kill Jason, but this plan backfired because Jason kills them, not knowing the United States Government sent these trained agents.

Jason and Norman's memories give them a disadvantage to their lives. Jason's loss of memory is his bane because he needs his memory of his past in order to live his life; Norman Bowker's memory is also his bane because of the pain it brings him. Bowker cannot move on from his past since he is still attached to it; his memories prove that he is an unstable person who needs professional help. Norman cannot forget about his past, leading him to almost talking to an intercom at a fast-food restaurant.


Bibliography:
Katz, Marina. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Web M.D. WebMD, LLC, 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/post-traumatic-stress-disorder>.

The Bourne Identity Trailer. Dir. Doug Liman. Screenplay by Tony Gilroy and William B. Herron. Perf. Matt Damon. Youtube. N.p., 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://youtu.be/ZziTQTFCLqM>.

11 comments:

  1. I liked how you connected this chapter to The Bourne Identity because they both reflect on their pasts a lot. I agree with you when you said that Norman Bowker's past is a great disadvantage to him. I also agree that Norman acts like he has PTSD. Reliving his past takes up so much of his life that he almost goes crazy. Great job, Lindsey!

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  2. I liked your comparison between Bourne and Norman. I liked how you brought out the contrast between the two characters in terms of their memory, but also how you established the fact that both characters were struggling due to their memories. I also liked your proposition that Norman is suffering from PTSD, which is very likely to be true. Finally, I liked your link on PTSD symptoms. It is very informative. Good job!

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  3. Good job Lindsey! Firstly, I really like how you used quotes from the book to finish your comparison, and I also like how you compared Bourne and Norman. The two characters struggle with their ability to remember/ not to remember, and that's what makes them so similar to one another. I agree that their memories/lack of memories is a disadvantage in their lives. Great job!

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  4. Lindsey, you did a great job describing the situations of both Norman Bowker and Jason Bourne. You are right in saying memory is the enemy of both these men. One has bad memories; the other, no memories. You are spot on in mentioning PTSD as a possible malady for Bowker; this is definitely possible, as you pointed out, due to his abnormal behavior and haunting memories.

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  5. I thought that you did a nice job analyzing and comparing! Your analysis has helped me to understand more of what was going on in the chapter. I also now know what a PTSD is, so thank you for that.

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  6. I really liked the contrast of your comparisons at first and how you brought them back to relate to each other towards the end. Great post, I found it very interesting!

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  7. I really liked the contrast of your comparisons at first and how you brought them back to relate to each other towards the end. Great post, I found it very interesting!

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  8. The contrasting and comparing was a really neat trick, especially to the Bourne Identity, which is a recent movie, which everyone can relate to. I also agree with you that he has slight symptoms of PTSD, and is constantly thinking about war.

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  9. I loved the comparison and contrasting in this blog. I also now know what PTSD is now as well.

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  10. Lindsey, I liked your comparison between the Bourne Identity and this book. It was a great correlation between the two, especially with your reference to the significance of memory in both stories. Also, great use of the word bane!

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  11. I liked how you compared wanting to remember and wanting to forget because they seem like opposites, however they are closely related when you really think about it, and you explained that similarity which was really interesting. Good job, Lindsey!

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