Friday, September 30, 2011

Coming Home

Please read the following New York Times article that was published this past week:

"After Combat, the Unexpected Perils of Coming Home"

Then, in a comment, briefly relate the story in the Times to the Odyssey in some way.

25 comments:

  1. First and foremost, the readiness to be a father was the primary thing that I felt related to the Odyssey, other than the obvious fact about a soldier coming home. Odysseus hasn't seen his son in, quite literally, pretty much forever. He'll probably wonder along the way himself, "I wonder what happened to my son, and how I'll treat him when I get back."

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  2. Like Penelope is still in love with odysseus, srgt. brian keith is still in love with his wife even though she wants a divorce.
    On the plane he is wondering what i will be like when he gets back, this is probably the same thing that Odysseus is wondering.

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  3. Brian Keith is similar to Penelope because he is dedicated and devoted to his wife. He is like Odysseus because he has been gone for a period of time, and is now journeying home with no idea of what has changed at his home. Both Brian and Odysseus will return home, and find that it might not be exactly the same as it used to be.

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  4. The journey that Brian Keith took home was like the journey of Odysseus. This is because he had to go through a rough course before he was able to return home. Odysseus' "rough course" was his ship getting struck down by Poseidon and having to swim to shore. And the "rough course" for Brian Keith was fighting in so many battles before he returned to the U.S. Both of the men don;t have their families. Brian got a divorce and is separated from his wife and son, and Odysseus is separated from Penelope and Telemachus for around 7 years.

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  5. I can easily relate these stories because they are both about war. Though, the biggest similarity would be the soldier's journeys home, and Odysseus' journey home. Both journeys were filled with uncertainty and wonder. Odysseus, being away from Ithaca, now had to step back into the job of king. Brian Keith had to go home to an empty home, and no family to support him. Would they be ready for that? I think Odysseus and the soldiers all share one thing, and that is the uncertainty of a new life.

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  6. This Times article relates to the Odyssey, because similar to these soldiers, Odysseus is relieved as well as nervous to come home. We see his reluctance to come home when he stays with Calypso for so long being unfaithful to his wife. He wants to come home but he knows that things will never be the same. As shown in the article, things are never the same after a war. Now, Odysseus will have to deal with the consequences of his actions.

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  7. These storys relate in a few ways. Frist they relate to each other because they are both fathers, and the second reason is that they are both coming home. Both fathers are coming home to their family who they have not been together for a long time. Since they have not been together for a while it is hard for them to come home, this would be the hard journry they took.

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  8. In the article there are soldiers who were excited to go home, and some who were not. Odysseus at the beginning is more opposed to going home which explains his seven year detour at Calypso's island. Maybe he had similar doubts and worries as these men. He overcomes his anxiety and makes a new effort to get home to see his wife and son who he seems to miss.

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  9. these stories both relate because in both there is someone, Brian Keith and Odysseus, who is trying to get home to his family. In Brian Keith's story, he already knows that loneliness from the loss of his son and wife awaits him. In Odysseus' story, he has no idea what he is going home to. For all he knows Penelope may have married one of the suitors that were obviously going to come and take her, his child, and his fortune away from him. Both are stories about fathers/husbands trying to go home.

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  10. This article gives you a hint about how Odysseus might feel about coming home to his wife and his son after the war. He might feel more distant from them, now that he has been delayed from coming home, but he still wants to see how his son has grown, and how his family has been holding up. the fact that he still wants to see them after being with Calypso, tells me that he's not a heartless man, who would just forget about his family after being without them for so long. Also, the article shows that he has not yet stopped thinking like a soldier, and that he is intent on getting home, no matter how he gets there.

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  11. For those of you who haven't commented yet, please try to push past surface comparisons and think a little more critically and deeply about connections. You may especially want to refer to the texts.

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  12. I think this article clearly shows all of the possible reasons why Odysseus is reluctant about going home. Yes he is trying to get home but is he that excited? Some of the people mentioned in the article were not too excited, or if they were excited once at home some of them suffered from anxiety disorders. Odysseus knows that once he gets back he has to be the king of Ithaca and he has to get to know this son of his that he has barely met, this seems stressful to me and he is definitely going to take a while to adjust once home just like the soldiers in this article.

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  13. Just by the way, I really liked this article and it made me very sad to read it but anyway, back to the post.

    There are many similarities between the Odyssey and this article. The whole article is about the homecoming and the uneasiness of some of the soldiers. They are all uncertain about if their lives are going to be normal when they return. They do not know what to expect, they don't know what has happened at home. This is the same as Odysseus. He does not what has been happening in Ithaca with his wife, the same as many of the soldiers and their wives in the U.S. Another similarity is the feeling of being home. It takes these soldiers from Iraq many months and maybe even years to have the comforting sense of being safe at home. It is the same with Odysseus and men in the Trojan War when they come home to their wives and children.

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  14. This article is relatable to the Odyssey because the soldiers, like Odysseus, don't really know what to expect when the get home. Metaphorically it can take them years of adjustment to truly arrive home, just as it is taking Odysseus two decades to finally get back to his family.

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  15. Similar to the Odyssey, the soldiers and Odysseus are both making their journey home. Not knowing if everything will be the same or even if they still have their families anymore. It make take the soldiers as well as Odysseus time to adjust to things back home. This may cause damage to the soldiers and Odysseus lives.

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  16. Odysseus and Sargent Keith are both coming home being fathers. They want to be back home but both are not sure what they are going to get. Odysseus has not seen his child grow up, and niether has srg Keith.

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  17. It is hard for soldiers in Afghanistan to come back to the U.S. Many of them get bored of a normal life and end up deploying again. They don't really want to come home. Odysseus had the same feeling about coming home to Penelope and Telemachus. So when Calypso was holding him "captive" he didn't try to get away because it delayed his homecoming. And when a soldier comes back home, it can be awkward to see their spouse and family if they didn't want to see them anyway. I predict that it will be tough for Odysseus to come home especially because he was sleeping with Calypso and he was gone for a long time.

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  18. The article relates to the odyssey because they all do not know how things are going to happen when they return home. Some of the soldiers have to learn how to live a normal life, Odysseus has to get rid of the suitors. Odysseus also probably wonders whether Penelope has abandoned him for another man. One of the soldiers has to come home to an empty apartment without a family anymore.

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  19. The soldiers in the article are just like Odysseus. He's been away from penelope and Ithaca for so long and when he gets back it's going to be hard to adjust to that new lifestyle. Just like the soldiers, he may have emotional problems when coming back from war but he also may have relationship problems with Penelope. They have both been away from each other for a long time and maybe over the course of being away, have forgotten how their relationship used to be. If Penelope finds out what Odysseus did with Calypso, their relationship might be challenged. Going home for Odysseus will be a hard experience, just like the soldiers.

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  20. This moving article relates to the Odyssey in many ways. For starters, the soldier mentioned at the beginning of the article can easily relate to Odysseus because he felt as though he was not ready to be a father, and he felt as though his wife was stressed with anxiety for his return and for the stress of bringing up their child. In a similar fashion, Odysseus asks himself if he is truly capable of being Telemachus' father after being away for such a big part of his life. In addition, one of the soldiers grew apart from his wife during his deployment, and Odysseus not only grew apart from his wife, he was unfaithful during his time away from home. Also, the soldiers in this article are coming home after a long time, and are uncertain as to how to act towards other people. They have been away for so long, they don't even know how they are supposed to act in a society among other people. They have grown used to killing people and trusting their instincts alone, and are uncertain as to how to react towards other people. Finally, the soldiers and Odysseus alike are haunted by the images of their pasts. Truth of the matter is, war kills people, and watching someone you know and rely on fall to the ground dead changes dramatically changes a person’s view of the world.

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  21. It is when penelope is in love. Sargent brian keith is still in love too even though she wants to get a divorce with her husband
    while flying on the plane he is thinking what he will be like when he is back. I think odysseus is thinking this too in his mind. That is what I think

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  22. The article is similar to the Odyssey in many ways, but just to name one, when the one man who lost his leg was trying to go through rehabilitation, he said that he was putting on a strong face, but he was in so much pain he was almost in tears. When Odysseus cried in the story, it made me think of how he was trying to recover from his own wounds from the Trojan War, although they were not wounds inflicted to his body, but more to his mind.

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  23. This article relates to the article, because like Brian Keith, Odysseus is coming home from war and although he is looking forward to getting home, he is a completely different person. War changes people, which is true for everyone, even Odysseus. Emotionally, he will have a completely different view of his lifestyle and life in general. His relationships might get tested. Like that one soldier, Odysseus might have problems with Penelope, and maybe even Telemachus.

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  24. It is similar to the Odyssey because the soldiers have witnessed so many foul things and they are not sure what they are coming to. Odysseus probably has no idea whether or not his wife Penelope has fallen for a suitor just as one of the soldiers was unsure whether or not his pregnant wife was ready to be a mother. Both Odysseus and the soldiers have difficult trips back home, and it is difficult for them to get back into the groove of things.

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  25. The article and the Odyssey are related to three different ways. First off, It is about a father coming home to his son. He is worried about getting along with him and how he is going to form a relationship with him. Odysseus has the same things running through his mind. Also coming home. Odysseus is trying to do the same thing. Lastly, Odysseus is going to have a hard time fitting in with normal people after being in war so long. The people in the story also had trouble going back to normal life.

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