Analyzing Cause and Effect "the Big Suck", and " an Ordinary Soldier of the Queen"

Analyzing Cause and Effects: "The Big Suck", and "An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen"

It is characteristic of the military mentality that nonhuman factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc) are held essential, while the human being, his desires, and thoughts - in short, the psychological factors - are considered as unimportant and secondary...The individual is degraded...to "human materiel. This was a statement made by Albert Einstein on the effects of war and what is considered of importance when dealing with war and the soldier involved. War can be a terrifying time especially when your thrown into it although the after effects can be even scarier for the soldier. In David J. Morris's story "The Big Suck", and Graham Joyce's " An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen they present the psychological effects of wars as well as developed questions from the soldiers for reasoning of the war they fought in. The elements in these stories exhibit another side to war and its after affects as well as questioning its foundation.

Although being in a war is a very difficult experience for anyone to go through, there is one aspect of war that people who were not involved often do not understand. For many, the emotional effects of war on soldiers do not end when they come home. In fact, for many, returning home is only the beginning. In Joyce's story the man Seamus Todd who has served duties in several places is sent into the Gulf War where he is ultimately separated from is battalion and is left alone in the desert. In the story he becomes stuck on an active mine and cannot move, he then sees a red butterfly land on his hand but within this time he realizes it was not a butterfly at all but the red dot of an Arab. When the Arab approaches he begins questioning him although the Arab is not very cooperative. With in this time the Arab rambles for hours but after he asks Seamus of he would like help and Seamus in the end asks him for help and the Arab states "But if I help you, you will never be rid of me."(p. 21) This was a definite sign that this whole interaction with the Arab could have been a hallucination and effect of past situations of war he dealt with in previous deployments. The whole conversation between Seamus and the Arab was very hostile during certain points. Gathering the information from some of Seamus's statements he has had to kill before and will do it again if necessary. For example Seamus says " I raise my rifle and aim it right between his eyes. I'm close to pulling the trigger."(p.29) After Seamus receives help from the Arab he believes is there with him he see's what he believes is a huge crow swooping around him. This crow is actually mortar and blows him off the mine without killing him. When he wakes up in the hospital he has the Arabs shemagh and starts seeing visions of the Arab everywhere. This excerpt from the story explains and presents readers with evidence on how going to war and killing enemies can be a lifelong effect. On Seamus's

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