Piece of my heart
War memoir about the Vietnam war, by Shirley Lauro
Smore by Ankit Pradhan
Pic collage
Biography
Overview
Summary
Quotes
“I helped a soldier! I just got back from Nam.” This quote shows Leann being frustrated that no one understand what she's been through and yet still proceed to treat her like that just because she's a woman. This connects to the fact that none of the nurses are being recognized, or accepted or even listened to, in the real world and the war world.
"Black woman announcing that The Chinese are going to clobber the us in thirty days?" This one shows Steele, that she is extremely upset that she could have saved thousands of lives, but because she was a woman, and that too, one of color, no one listened to her, and Tet happened, which cause many lives to be lost. This connects to the world because back then, discrimination was still more or less a big thing, and because she was colored, no one listened to her, or took her word as something they should do.
"I'm quietly drunk in the corner while they sing carols around the piano on Christmas Eve--" Whitney hasn't been the same since she got back from the war, no matter what she hears, she's taken back to the war and how she was treated. How intense everything was there, the soldiers, dying coming to them. As she got back to her home, no one realizes all the things she's done, no one understands, and because of that, she drinks her problems away. Even in the world today, people drink because they can't solve their problems, and are frustrated with life, and it was no different for them.
Themes
Writers purpose
Symbols
Connection and recommendation
Connection- I connected to this book because I too have sometimes felt like people can't understand what I say or why I do things. This is just like Steele because she tried to explain herself to the officers about the attack, but they just looked at her like she was crazy and didn't listen to her at all. Sometimes when I do projects with people, or assignments where I explain things, people don't see what I mean, and usually I am correct, but I also read this book because I studied the Vietnamese war in 7th grade as a research project and thought it would be interesting to learn about.
Recommendation- I'd recommend this to anyone who likes the Vietnam war and dramas. This is an interesting read for anyone who likes reading about women's rights and other such topics.