OPPapers.com Essay Index >> Book Reports >> Literay Analysis
We have many free term papers and essays on Literay Analysis. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
literay analysis. In Walter Dean Myers book Fallen Angels, the main character
Richie struggles with the reality of war, which contradicts ...
Submitted by cheater11114 on May 15, 2008
Category: Book Reports
Words: 784 | Pages: 4
Views: 66
Popularity Rank: 102,215
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
In Walter Dean Myers book Fallen Angels, the main character Richie struggles with the reality of war, which contradicts the war he believed he was entering into. The book shows racial conflicts between soldiers. The loss of innocence within the young soldiers. How soldiers cope with the horrors of war. All of these factors change Richie’s view on the Vietnam War which he has entered.
Richie a young black soldier from Harlem has had to deal with racism his entire life. Though this made his life tough it never put him in life in the line of gunfire on a day to day bases. “Richie learns that the old squad leader, Sargent Sampson has been sent home. His replacement is the racist Sergeant Donagan, who always places black soldiers in the most dangerous positions. Early in their tour of duty, there are racial and ethnic tensions among the squad members, which frequently result in physical confrontations..”(Spark Notes). Racial issues made an already miserable war, even harder for Richie, being the most venerable to attack based on the color of one skin even though they belonged to the same unit, fighting for the same side shows the different issues with the Vietnam War.
Soldiers in Vietnam were not all grown men, insted teenagers who had not experienced the world. “The title of the novel Fallen Angels immediately emphasizes the theme of youth and innocence”(Spark Notes). When Richie enters Vietnam he was young in many ways, innocent in even more. Richie was nineteen, fresh out of high school, had never left Harlem, smoked a cigar, drank wine, or the most important to Riche made love to a women. These young men were expected to go out and fight an enemy that many of them did not know, or know the exact reason for the fighting. In chapter four Lieutenant Carroll states “All soldiers are Angel Warriors”. Dan Myers holds this theme of innocence above all the others, race, class, or religion. The war soon changes the naive boys, into...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!