Fallen Angels

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I really enjoy reading this book. I haven't finished it yet! I'm trying to.
I think this is a good book for adolescents to read because it presents the reality of war. Perry talks about not being able to see and shooting because that's where other soldiers are shooting. (I have an Amazon Kindle version that for some reason doesn't show me page numbers but it's at location 1453 on mine). This is shortly after Lieutenant Carroll dies. I feel like in films we often see soldiers shooting at the enemy and their vision is clear; they either hit their target or it shows them missing. But in reality war is such a chaotic mess.
I think it's good for any student who wants to go into the military to read this book. This is why stories by veterans are so important.

I also like another scene where Perry is trying to figure out who he is. "Monaco was the point man. Johnson had the pig, the big sixty, the heavy 'chine. Who the hell was I?"
He's trying to figure out his place in the world in the context of the war. Earlier, he mentions feeling uncomfortable when people ask him what he wants to do when he gets back 'into the World.' He doesn't know and the question bothers him. I think it's great how Myers describes Perry's confusion and his quest to find himself. It's a very typical theme in adolescence.

Perry also describes himself as 'an observer' in life and that reminded me of Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Perry is afraid to speak up because at one point when he tells a guidance counselor what he wants to be in life - a philosopher - she laughs at him. There's another part where he remembers talking to Kenny and Kenny asks him what he wants to do. When Perry can't think of what to say, Kenny offers "Something important?" and Perry says "Yeah."

Personally I struggled in figuring out what I wanted to do after graduation, and I think it's a pretty common problem. Finding yourself can take time and sometimes you just have to decide and commit to something. But even that can be hard. So I think this book will definitely resound with young men.

I don't know if I would teach this book since some of the material might cause students to feel uncomfortable. I would have to figure out a way to discuss the issues in class, nagivate through them without students feeling disrespected or uncomfortable to talk. High school students can be pretty hesitant to talk about books in general. As a student teacher, one of the most frustrating experiences I've had is just getting students to speak up. I could see having this book on a shelf in my classroom and recommending it for independent reading time. It would be a good book to teach as part of a unit on soldier narratives or modern warfare.

One question I have for the book is 'How do you keep yourself, keep your humanity, in the midst of a war that you start to realize you don't believe in? Does believing in the war make a difference, since all war is killing people regardless of whether or not it's justifiable?' I think this would be a good question to have students think about if I taught this book.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 11, 2016 at 7:06 PM

    I think even the soldiers struggled with this question. At the beginning they believed they were justified and that they were defending their but afterwards they saw the truth and humanized the enemy. The funny thing about being at war is that it forces you to question your life, face your fear of death, and even if you don't like what you see you have no way out until you are destroyed. If you go AWOL you might as well be dead because you most likely will be jailed. I've always found it a paradox that US soldiers fight for American Freedom but they are not free, they sign their name away to a number, a number that will be called on and expected to always follow order or else.

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  2. UnknownNovember 13, 2016 at 6:28 AM

    I totally agree with what Manette commented in response to the questions you pose. I also agree that these soldiers are supposedly fighting for freedom in their country, yet during a portion of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement was going on because minorities did not have freedom.

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