I chose the quote from the play, The Sandstorm by Sean Huze because the play was very current and I can relate to the story better than the World War II story. The quote I chose was, “What could be closer to playing God than ending another’s life?" (Huze 17). I underlined this in the play when I was reading it the other week. I underlined it because of how the soldier compared warfare to playing God. I never thought of it like that, however obviously God can end a person’s life in a snap of his fingers. This quote gives meaning to the play because the central theme is warfare. It discusses the horrors that regular people never witness. The solider discusses how he doesn’t enjoy killing a man, but it is “powerful.” That is dramatic in the sense that the media in today’s culture kill people in movies all the time. However, most people never personally witness a murder or kill someone in their lifetime. The soldier continues to discuss how after the death, he “searched for some sort of human feeling of regret or compassion. Searched and searched and came up with nothing" (Huze 17). That is the reckless, inhumane concept of warfare. The men become desensitized to murder, never realizing that they are “playing God.”
My cousin and her husband have both had multiple tours in Iraq, so I think of both of them when reading this poem. Her husband came back with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This goes to show how the men in this play came back from Iraq as different men. There is no way that they could have encountered these events, without becoming a little bit insane. It is very sad that people like my cousin and her husband still deal with the nightmares of war till this day.
To learn about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder click here: http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm
I have heard this reference of being godlike when taking a mans life before. I have heard it, and I have felt it. It doesn't last. Once the haze clears the feeling turns to a joy that it was him and not you, then it is just a regret for what you were forced to do. Once you realize that the enemy was fighting for exact same reason that you are, (because you think it is the right thing to do for your family, country, religion, etc.) then you begin to question who was really right. Who truly "deserved" to die?
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteTo be honest with you I do not know many people that have been to war but..."WOW" to think of being "God like" I feel defiantly describes what goes on in a war and how people really feel. By working at YRMC I have personally witnessed someone with PSD and it had been a really long time since they were in war so that shows how serious and scary it can be for anyone. You did a good job understand the play...as usual!!I prey that you family members are doing well now.
shelly