Beauty and the self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beauty and the self - Essay Example With these characteristics, a woman will always be â€Å"beautiful, whole, and free† (Walker 255), no matter what physical imperfections she may have. The beauty of a woman is multi-dimensional, combining the tradition aesthetic notions of attractiveness and inner self-realization with a soul pursuing her most innermost desires and dream in life. Beauty is a complex word with numerous, often conflicting, definitions. When connected to inner beauty, however, it results in a process of actualizing one’s identity by realizing one’s value. Walker first emphasizes the outer beauty. For the photographer, this is the beauty of what a photo can capture and for the artist; it is the beauty that can only be seen by the eyes when a picture is drawn. For the writer, just like most women, regardless of her age or ethnicity, to be beautiful is one of most important aspects of her life. After being blinded at a young age, Walker was so depressed about her eye, not because of her loss of vision, but because of the perceived blemish to her beauty. She was not strong enough to accept the fact that she was no longer the â€Å"cutest thing† in â€Å"biscuit-polished paten-leather shoes and lavender socks, tossing [her] head in a way that makers [her] ribbons bounce†, but instead the girl with â€Å"a glob of whitish scar tissue, a hideous cataract on [her] eye† (Walker 251, 253). She â€Å"[did] not pray for sight,† she â€Å"[prayed] for beauty† (Walker 254). She became lost inside herself. She did not find her true identity at first because she thought that her identity, or the ‘self’, was defined by how she looked. The relationship between the ‘self’ and beauty cannot be described without being conscious of one’s weaknesses and strengths. For a long time, Walker only saw her own weaknesses and used that as a basis for defining the roots

The Knife :: essays research papers

It all started on a warm Saturday afternoon. My parents decided that we should go out on the boat that afternoon. So we changed into our swimsuits, got our beach towels, and finally piled into the van for the drive to the cabin. The cabin, where my grandparents live, is where we park our boat. Their house is about a mile from lock and dam fourteen on the Iowa side.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My grandparents were away on a lustrous journey when we arrived. My dad went to fuel the boat, my mom loaded the boat with food for the day, and I went to go whittle on the roof of the garage. I went into the garage and got my filet knife out of my tackle box. Then went around to the back, climbed the fence, and got onto the roof. I had done this several times before and liked this place because it was serene and peaceful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I took a branch off the great oak tree that stood before me and began carving. Suddenly, the knife slipped off the fresh, smooth, moist wood and sliced into my leg for what seemed like an eternity. It hurt for what seemed like a decade, but was only a few seconds. After I realized what happened, I rushed down off the roof to get my mother. As I was climbing down from the roof, it began to pulse and hurt again. The wound was beginning to bleed profusely from the movement. Luckily, my mother was just leaving the house as I got down from the roof. â€Å"Mom, would you be mad if I cut myself?† Because of the blood on my finger, she thought I had cut my finger and needed a Band-Aid. â€Å"No, of course not, do you need a Band-Aid?† I then showed her the great gash on my leg. â€Å"Go into the house while I get your father!† I went inside and waited†¦ â€Å"Lie down on the floor while I get some towels to stop the bleeding,† he said calmly. With the bleeding under control he carried me to the van and rushed to the hospital emergency room.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inside the emergency room, we waited for nearly an hour before seeing a doctor. Finally, we were escorted back by a nurse to see the doctor. Then after about another half-hour the doctor came in. The cut was about two and a half inches long and one inch deep, so it was a nice one as the doctor said.

Albert Bandera

Albert Bandura has made great contributions to the field of learning and cognition. His finding formed the foundation of modern social learning theory. Bandura studies were base on observational learning or modeling (2013). He believed that people learn by observing others, such behaviors, but not necessary by imitating or mimicking (2013) For example if you see a friend slipping on the wet floor, you would go around to prevent from slipping like your friend. Observing behavior is a form of information a person obtains, a process of learning to later recover when need it. It incorporates the basic principles of learning like attention, memory and motivation. Albert Bandura Bobo Doll experiment set principles on social learning. Through this experiment he observed 33 children, boys and girls. These children were then divided into 3 groups, each group watch a different ending of the video. The video was of a woman beating a Bobo Doll; she beat up the doll, threw it across the room, kicked it, and called it names. She was very aggressive towards the doll for no apparent reason. The first group watched a video that showed the person beating the doll receiving a reward after the behavior. Second group watched the person being punished for the behavior, and the third group watched the video with no consequences (2013). After watching the video the children were presented to a bobo doll just like the one in the video. All 33 children reacted aggressively towards the doll. The aggression varied on what video each children watched. The children that watched the person being rewarded were more aggressive; the aggression decrease with the children that watched the person being punished and aggression was neutral with those that watch the video with no consequence (2013). In conclusion to this study, Bandura explain the influence of observational learning. First is attention, in order for a person to learn he or she needs to pay attention, be focused (2013). If there is distraction the observational learning process will have a negative affect. For example a dancer learning a new step, while the dance master is howing a new step, Silvia notices her crush walk-in the dance room. Instead of paying attention to the new step, her attention is elsewhere. Second is retention, is the ability to store the information a person learns through observing, he or she obtains the information to later act on it (2013). Third, reproduction, which is the process of practicing on what the person learns from observing, likes performi ng the behavior. For example; after the dancer learns a new step by observing the dance master, she then practice the behavior, in this case is the new dancing step. Last is motivation, for a person to act the behavior learned after observing he or she has to be motivated. Reinforcements and punishments are actually important role in the process of motivation. For example, lets take Silva the dancer, she makes sure to learn the right steps to the dance routine because if she does the dance master will defiantly picker her to be at the show to perform the dance. Albert Bandera social learning theory has become popular in todays society, like entertainment, education, and especially in the media such as advertising. Bandura did not like how the media would use the observational learning theory because it was mostly used to show negative or violent behaviors that people would learn (2013). Fox example alcohol or cigarette companies use media to advertise their product. These companies use attractive models like role models that todays society look up to or are considered to be â€Å"cool†. Society watches these advertisements, they become amuse some act the behaviors, such as smoking or drinking because they think is the â€Å"cool† thing to do especially the youth. Albert Bandura theory brought great contribution to the psychology field, observational learning or modeling has very concepts process, but if you think about it is really just common sense. Observational learning or modeling would be use more for children because they have not yet developed right from wrong (2013). Is also away that a parent or just any adult can know how to act a certain way around children, because a child behavior always reflects his or her parent or role model.

Impact Of The Enlightenment On Modern Political Thought

David Wolkoff English 9CP/Western Civ. Mrs. Orens/Mr. Reiss April 1, 2016 The Impact of the Enlightenment on Modern Political Thought The philosopher John Locke once said, â€Å"[g]overnment has no other end, but the preservation of property† (â€Å"John Locke†). The social contract is the fundamental basis for modern government. This idea affects everything we believe a modern state should represent for itself and its people. This way of understanding the role of government was inspired by the writings of the Enlightenment era philosophers. This way of understanding the role of the state and its people is significantly different from what was believed in ancient Athens and Rome. The Enlightenment era philosophers did more than just think of new ideas of government; their works not only inspired changes during the 18th century, but also continued to shape modern governments. While it is true that certain forms of democracy evolved in ancient Athens and Rome, modern governments differ significantly from these ancient societies. In some cases, the very words put forth by the philosophers were written directly into the constitutions of countries practicing these new ideas. Without the contributions of John Locke and other enlightenment philosophers, democracy and government as we know it today would not exist. The shape of modern government in America and Europe today comes from many different ideas that existed before the Enlightenment even began. Concepts in ancient Greece areShow MoreRelatedThe Enlightenment Puritanism Essay807 Words   |  4 Pages The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this â€Å"awakening† time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparisonRead MoreOverview of The Enlightenment Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesThe Enlightenment was a period of history throughout the mid-decades of the seventeenth century and during the course of the eighteenth century, in which intense r evolutions in science, philosophy, society and politics occurred. This part of history was important because it was an enormous departure from the Middle Ages. Seldom before and after this time, did the Church have as much power as it did during the Enlightenment. There were three main eras of the Enlightenment: The Early EnlightenmentRead MoreEnlightenment and Puritans782 Words   |  4 Pages The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this â€Å"awakening† time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparisonRead MoreEssay on The Enlightenment1246 Words   |  5 Pagesviewed as a s eries of developing threads that combine, interact, and, at various intervals, take pervasive shifts. The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century was one of these paradigm historical shifts, challenging the traditional notions of authority by investing reason with the power to change the human condition for the better. This ecumenical emphasis on reason and independent thought led to an explosion of change and development across science, philosophy, religion, and politics. Later ideologiesRead MoreThe Theories And Beliefs Of The Enlightenment Era1168 Words   |  5 Pagescurrent understanding of the world. During the different eras philosophical beliefs influenced events and documents of the time. The Enlightenment Era, often called the Age of Reason, brought about many astonishing works deliberating the nature of human beings. As times progressed to the age of Enlightenment the different ideas surfaced changing the way humans thought of themselves. Philosophers of the time beli eved in the essential goodness of human nature, this was based on the scientific and technologicalRead MoreThe Enlightenment1278 Words   |  6 Pages World Literature The Enlightenment’s Impact on the Modern World The Enlightenment, Age of Reason, began in the late 17th and 18th century. This was a period in Europe and America when mankind was emerging from centuries of ignorance into a new age enlightened by reason, science, and respect for humanity. This period promoted scientific thought, skeptics, and intellectual interchange: dismissing superstition, intolerance, and for some, religion. Western Europe, Germany, France, and Great BritainRead MoreEssay on Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment903 Words   |  4 PagesDiscuss the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment along with the subsequent reaction as embodied by the Romantic movement. Give specific examples of how these movements affected the arts. What was their eventual impact on the western intellectual world. The Scientific revolution and The Enlightenment period overlapped by a hundred years and were co-occurring between 1650-1750. The Scientific Revolution happening first and beginning around 1600, was a period of time when new ideas and toolsRead MoreTo What Extent Was The Enlightenment The Main Driving Force Behind The American And French Revolutions?1479 Words   |  6 PagesI. Source Evaluation This investigation focuses on the causes of Atlantic Revolutions and will explore the question: To what extent was the Enlightenment the main driving force behind the American and French Revolutions? The years 1685 to 1815 (Strayer, 2011) will be the focus of this investigation to allow for an analysis of the Enlightenment ideas’ impact the need for governmental change in the American colonies and France during the eighteenth century, as well as their governmental influencesRead MoreJean Jacques Rousseau s Work Essay941 Words   |  4 Pagesin Geneva on June 28th, 1712. Those who were present had no clue that this child’s life would serve as a catalyst for philosophical and political reform. Rousseau’s writings had so much influence in the 18th century that he â€Å"played a significant role in three different revolutions† (52). In fact his work leaves a legacy so large that you can trace almost all modern revolutions back to his writings. In 1749 Rousseau competed for an essay prize where the challenge was to write about if the advancesRead MoreAge Of Reason And The Scientific Revolution1089 Words   |  5 Pagesnext period. The second time period in the Age of Reason was the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was when scholars and philosophers started to reevaluate old aspects of society and how it functions. The Age of Reason was made up of science revolutionist and philosophers that tried to find ways to improve political, social, and religious life. Science revolutionist and philosophers were trying to find ways to improve political aspects in Society. The Science Revolutionist improved economics

The Death of a Salesman Free Essay Example, 2250 words

By designation, Willy Loman is a salesman but he is not cut out for the glib talk of salesmanship or for self-promotion. He has taken up to this assignment and theoretically, he has acquired the virtues of the salesmanship by professional training and by adjusting his temperament to sales and bargaining, but he has no conviction about this profession. He is there due to the compulsion of circumstances. He is thus a failure in the professional life, unable to achieve the targets. His interactions do not create the magical effects, the hallmarks of a successful salesperson, and in view of this, at the end of the day, he feels physically tired and mentally exhausted. This reaction reveals his internal weakness. He tells his wife Linda, I suddenly couldn t drive anymore. The car kept going off onto the shoulder, know? 13) I am tellin ya, I absolutely forgot I was driving. 14) But he has to exhibit his faith outwardly for his stunted vision of American Dream, for public consumption, t o be in the mad race, the final outcome of which he does not know. That day he returns home and tells his wife, I m tired to the death. We will write a custom essay sample on The Death of a Salesman or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Willy Loman s dream to amass wealth has ended in failure. His craze for achieving success in life goes totally haywire and finally, he commits suicide, and even in that action his compulsive materialistic approach is seen; he hopes that without him, the living will be better off for members of his family with the insurance money that they are going to get. Linda Loman is the understanding wife of Willy.

Math 302 Quiz 4 Chapter 11 20 Questions - 1896 Words

|1. |An insurance representative wants to determine if the proportions of women and men who buy the different policy types are the | | |same. The actual sales results for 50 women and 50 men are | | | | | |Policy A | | |Policy B | | |†¦show more content†¦|A random group of apartments was selected from a city to analyze the number of bedrooms they have. Is there evidence to reject | | |the hypothesis that the apartments are equally distributed between 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom apartments, at [pic] = | | |.05? | | |Year in school | | |1 bedroom | | |2 bedrooms | | |3 bedrooms | | | | | |Number ofShow MoreRelatedNormal Distribution16112 Words   |  65 Pagesblu34978_ch06.qxd 8/13/08 4:39 PM Page 299 Confirming Pages C H A P T E R 6 The Normal Distribution Objectives Outline After completing this chapter, you should be able to 1 2 3 Identify distributions as symmetric or skewed. 4 Find probabilities for a normally distributed variable by transforming it into a standard normal variable. Introduction 6–1 Normal Distributions Identify the properties of a normal distribution. Find the area underRead MoreHsc General Math Textbook with Answers153542 Words   |  615 PagesFor secondary school age. Mathematics–Textbooks. Mathematics–Problems, exercises, etc. 510 ISBN 978-0-521-13834-5 Paperback Reproduction and Communication for educational purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10% of the pages of this publication, whichever is the greater, to be reproduced and/or communicated by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it) has givenRead MoreMicrosoft Excel Workbook100984 Words   |  404 Pages..... 7 Chapter One: The Fundamentals...................................................................................... 11 Lesson 1-1: Starting Excel...................................................................................................12 Lesson 1-2: What’s New in Excel 2002?................... ..........................................................14 Lesson 1-3: Understanding the Excel Program Screen........................................................16 Lesson 1-4: Using MenusRead MoreVarian Solution153645 Words   |  615 PagesChapter 1 NAME The Market Introduction. The problems in this chapter examine some variations on the apartment market described in the text. In most of the problems we work with the true demand curve constructed from the reservation prices of the consumers rather than the â€Å"smoothed† demand curve that we used in the text. Remember that the reservation price of a consumer is that price where he is just indiï ¬â‚¬erent between renting or not renting the apartment. At any price below the reservationRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 PagesLearning Academic Resource Center 1-800-423-0563 For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com. Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted by e-mail to thomsonrights@thomson.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09 08 07 ExamView  ® and ExamView Pro  ® are registered trademarks of FSCreations, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation used herein under licenseRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesAmerica 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Brief Contents PA RT 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 UNDERSTANDING HRM The Dynamic Environment of HRM 2 Fundamentals of Strategic HRM 28 PART 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONTEXT OF HRM Equal Employment Opportunity 56 Employee Rights and Discipline 84 PART 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 STAFFING THE ORGANIZATION Human Resource Planning and Job Analysis 110 Recruiting 132 Foundations of Selection 154 PART 4 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 TRAINING ANDRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages3—dc23 2011038674 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0-13-283487-1 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-283487-2 Brief Contents Preface xxii 1 2 Introduction 1 What Is Organizational Behavior? 3 The Individual 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Diversity in Organizations 39 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 69 Emotions and Moods 97 Personality and Values 131 Perception and Individual Decision Making 165 Motivation Concepts 201 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 239 3 The Group 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Foundations of GroupRead Morepreschool Essay46149 Words   |  185 PagesEducation, 1430 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-5901. It was distributed under the provisions of the Library Distribution Act and Government Code Section 11096.  ©2010 by the California Department of Education All rights reserved ISBN 978-8011-1708-4 Ordering Information Copies of this publication are available for sale from the California Department of Education. For prices and ordering information, please visit the Department Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ re/pn or call the CDE Press

Why Did America Withdraw Its Forces Free Essays

By 1973, after a decade of brutal armed contact and with nearly 60,000 Americans dead, the once proud and mighty USA had been brought to its knees. Feeling isolated the USA decided to abandon its commitment in Vietnam after rising pressure from years of mistakes. America withdrew from Vietnam due to several main reasons; some were long-term e. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Did America Withdraw Its Forces or any similar topic only for you Order Now g. Protests of the American citizens, and others were short-term factors e.g. Morale of American soldiers. In this essay I will discuss the main factors for American withdrawal from Vietnam and try to process the most important ones. I will show how the US media combined with protests in the USA was the most important reason for American withdrawal and ultimately led to the American withdrawal from Vietnam. America’s first mistake regarding the war was the most fundamental. Their tactics. All of America’s tactics were inappropriate, brutal and they were only looking for fast solutions and never the bigger picture. America did the worst thing possible in a war and based all of their tactics on assumptions, which by matter of coincidence were all wrong. The first indication of American tactics being reckless and inappropriate was the infamous â€Å"Operation Rolling Thunder† ordered by LBJ and subjected the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other suspected communist bases in South Vietnam to bombing for 8 weeks. 3  ½ years later more bombs had been dropped on South Vietnam than all the bombs that were dropped in the Second World War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was still intact and the most casualties inflicted were those on Vietnamese civilians leading America to lose the â€Å"Hearts and Minds† of the Vietnamese. After the very first battle of Vietnam, set in The Ia Drang valley, America set a pattern for their tactics which would remain for the rest of the war; tactics which would question the very competence of the American government. General Westmoreland was convinced that if the communists maintained heavy losses they could not and would not continue the war, and also that the American people would accept the American losses if it meant the communists could be defeated. This lead to America measuring their success in the war by using kill to death ratios. In other words, if communists were losing more soldiers than America, then America was winning, and vice versa. General Westmoreland continued to believe that a use of superior firepower over the communists would lead to victory in any battle combined with the usage of search and destroy missions (for lack of a better word, wandering aimlessly into communist territory and expecting to surprise them). In light of the above it’s not surprising that whilst American tactics were failing, the communist’s guerrilla tactics yielded success over the Americans. After the first battle in The Ia Drang Valley the Vietcong knew they could not win large battles with the US as they had backing artillery and air support. They instead opted to do ‘Hit Run’ guerrilla raids on unsuspecting American troops during search and destroy missions. This would mean much fewer casualties and also having the element of surprise over the Americans. If they were forced into a large battle the Vietcong would try to stay close to the enemy to stop the Americans from calling artillery and air support (they wouldn’t want to hit their own troops of course). Over 51% of Americans killed in the war were killed by small arms i.e. pistols, machine guns, basic military equipment. The communists never tried to think they could go face to face with the full might of the American army and so devised guerrilla tactics to fight a war the Americans were unfamiliar with and were reluctant to fight. Whilst America was always on the lookout for NVA troops to have a large battle they assumed that the less trained Vietcong guerrilla fighters would be of little threat and left them to the ARVN. Whilst the Americans hopelessly looked for the NVA, the Vietcong would watch on and when they least expected would raid the Americans, and before US troops could call for back-up the Vietcong would be gone with miner losses and the Americans in severe distress. The Vietcong were not only dependent on ‘Hit Run’ operations but also used booby traps and mines. Booby traps were simple and easy to make and would mainly consist of a trip wire and some sharpened bamboo sticks. Mines were more sophisticated but had the same idea. ‘Bouncing betty’ mines would be triggered when a soldier stepped on them, fly up a metre in front of the man walking behind and go off (they were designed to reach the height of a man’s genitals). Over 11% of men killed in the war were caused by booby traps and mines and left the survivors frustrated that no enemy was seen, no one to shoot at. Guerrilla war success was due to Americas stubbornness over its tactics, reluctant to believe that such simple ways of fighting could defeat all the fire power in the US army, and also how the communists always learnt a lesson from their mistakes until they had a strategy for defeating Americans in combat, and seeing as America didn’t want to think it made a mistake in the first place it’s tactics stuck and a pattern was set for the rest of the war. American soldiers were left frustrated that they could never get a good full on fight with the communists like they were trained for, and with no one else to express their anger on they turned on the civilians. This leads onto my next point that through America’s brutal tactics they inadvertently lost the support of Vietnamese civilians. The Americans knew from an early stage that winning the support of the South Vietnamese peasants was a vital key to the war ( the policy was called winning the â€Å"Hearts Minds† of the people) but unlike the Vietcong the USA didn’t know how to do it and the South Vietnamese government didn’t want to do it. The main issue was land reform and the Vietcong made sure to take land from the rich landowners and give it to the poor peasants, a decision the South Vietnamese government were unwilling to make. Happy with the communist’s ideas peasants would give food, weapons and intelligence to the Vietcong as well as housing them, making it almost impossible for American soldiers to distinguish between friend and foe. Soldiers were angry they were fighting an enemy that could not be seen and would mercilessly kill them in surprise attacks, and so felt they had no choice but to eliminate all threats from nearby-by villages, always suspecting anyone could be a Vietcong and believing it was better to be safe than sorry. â€Å"Zippo raids† were frequently carried out on villages (which mostly weren’t collaborating with the Vietcong) where soldiers would destroy all supplies in the village including animals and then execute suspected communists. Defoliants would be sprayed on all the food and surrounding forest area so Vietcong wouldn’t be able to find supplies or hide (with the most used defoliant called Agent Orange, which was known to cause cancer, and would be washed into the streams by rain and drunk by soldiers on both sides). Although soldiers were directly told not to harm civilians, most peasants couldn’t be distinguished between innocent and guilty as the Vietcong wore civilian clothes. Soldiers would kill the civilians from anger and mistrust over months of low morale and failure (which would lead onto massacres like My Lai). Innocent civilians would be mutilated, raped or killed without a trial, and when the GI’s would leave only resentment and a lust for revenge would be left behind ironically turning most anti-communist civilians into communists themselves. An account from one GI after completing a raid was â€Å"if they weren’t pro- Vietcong before we got there, they sure as hell were by the time we left†. Frustrated with their failure to break the support of the peasants for the Vietcong, America initiated the â€Å"Strategic Hamlet† operation in 1962 where peasants were moved away from areas where the NLF was strong and into guarded hamlets, kilometres away from their homes. The operation was a complete failure. In many cases the NLF would already have supporters inside the villages and all that would have been done is moving communist supporters to a new area to spread their ideas. Those villagers who weren’t already in the NLF often would become supporters because of the way they were treated. GI soldiers were always told to see their enemy as subhuman and before long they would treat civilians as they treated the enemy. In the jungle GI’s couldn’t trust anyone who was not an American, as they had learned from past experiences, and weren’t prepared to spare the life of a peasant who could possibly be conspiring to kill them in a moment without mercy. American soldiers started wondering why they were fighting for a group of civilians that just wanted them dead anyway, and without a just cause many of the soldiers lost belief in the war. The argument that will be put forward here is that combined with the realisation that guerrilla warfare tactics dominated over US tactics and the understanding that they were surrounded by enemies, all alone in a country whose citizens didn’t want their help, US soldiers lost sight of the point of their occupation. The soldier questioned why he should fight and risk his life for someone who just wanted to kill him. Over time the average US soldier lost faith in his mission and morale dropped to new lows. Without the morale of the soldiers, fighting an already superior enemy was hopeless. At the beginning morale wasn’t an issue at all. All the soldiers in the army were career soldiers who believed in whatever cause the US government believed in, but after time more and more of them died, leaving only drafted soldiers who didn’t want to be there nor fight for a cause. A one year tour of duty was thought to keep morale high, but unfortunately this tactic was also a horrible failure. A constant supply of replacements was needed for men who had either died or finished their tour of duty and those who were close to the end of their tour of duty (being ‘short’) were desperate to avoid combat or risks, making them less effective. Replacements or ‘cherries’ as they were nicknamed, were inexperienced and would be put into squads with more seasoned veterans of war, whom would not except the cherries until they had proven themselves in combat. Platoons would be divided in two causing a breakdown in communication between the soldiers, making the unit less effective. ‘Fragging’ also became a major problem in platoons. Relationships between conscripted soldiers and officers would usually be strained. Many officers were career soldiers looking for promotion and so needed a high body count of enemy kills, whereas most GI’s who were conscripted just wanted to stay alive until their DEROS (Date Eligible for Return from Overseas). Hostility towards the officers sometimes led to their men killing them and 3% of all officers who were killed in Vietnam were killed by their own men. During 1970-1971 there were over 700 cases of Fragging alone. Another case of low morale among the GI’s was drug-taking, which further diminished the effectiveness of the US forces in Vietnam. Marijuana was the most popular drug among GI’s in ‘R R’ (rest and recreation), but cocaine, heroin and amphetamines were also used to get ‘High’. In 1971, 5000 men were treated in hospital for combat wounds and 20,000 were treated for drug abuse. The fact that more troops were treated for drug abuse than combat wounds as well as sometimes Fragging their officers is definitive proof of low morale. More important reasons for low morale occurred during the war also. All soldiers need to know that the cause they are fighting for is a good one as well as knowing that the people back home support them and the cause. If they think that the war isn’t a good one or that the people back home are opposing them then they quickly lose faith in their duty. Between 1966 and 1973 there were 503,000 cases of desertion in the US army in Vietnam (Note – The figures include ‘Draft Dodgers’ and people who deserted multiple times). The truth is drafted soldiers no longer wanted to fight when they were despised by everyone, even their own people at home, and they couldn’t find any good reason left to stay in Vietnam unlike the North Vietnamese who were fighting for their homeland. All the soldiers were broken men and how could the US imagine winning a war if their own troops weren’t willing to fight anymore. All of this helps to explain that the war was not just lost for military reasons alone, and that politics played a large part too. At the start of the war the media and people believed the war was the right course of action but as time passed people started questioning the purpose of it all. People began to realize that America wasn’t really at threat from communism and the war wasn’t worth the lives of thousands of young soldiers. In 1966 the North Vietnamese finally let a reporter from the New York Times visit north Vietnam. He reported on the destruction of civilian areas and casualties caused by American bombing raids. The US army always denied bombing civilian areas or if there were civilian casualties, they claimed, there weren’t many of them. The reporters’ views widened still the ‘Credibility Gap’ and US citizens began distrusting what the American military was telling them. After the Tet offensive in 1968 the American people were outraged that the North Vietnamese so easily infiltrated South Vietnam with such numbers. For years they had been told that they were on the verge of winning the war but now they seemed further away than ever. Media coverage also helped to portray horrors committed by the American troops towards civilians such as My Lai. The American people were appalled with what they saw and began wondering who the bad guy really was, asking how they could support their own men when they were killing innocent women and children. The war was costing US citizens $20 billion dollars a year which meant that taxes would rise dramatically and LBJ would have to cancel his ‘Great Society’ programme of reform. This was obviously not a popular decision with the Public. President Johnson decided not to stand for re-election in 1968 knowing the war would cost him any chance he had of winning. What finally sparked off the entire nation was when the new president, Nixon ordered the initiation of ‘Operation Menu’. The order included the invasion bombing of communist bases in neutral Cambodia and Laos. This only appeared as another act of war and a chance of another ‘Vietnam’, which greatly angered the American public. Protests sprang up in universities across the country at the escalation in their country’s role. In one of these protests 4 students were shot and killed by the National Guard at Kent University in Ohio. This Sparked off a further 400 protests in other universities. Other huge protest marches took place in 1969, 1970 and 1971 under the Anti-war movement, and in April 1971 as many as 500,000 people protested in Washington. Two weeks later another demonstration in favour of the war was launched. Only 15,000 took part. It was clear now that the people had spoken and with no other options Nixon began his process of vietnamisation. So after 10 years of hard gruelling war America finally left Vietnam in 1973, accomplishing nothing and leaving behind a corrupt government which would inevitably fall into communist hands. Because of the media it was the first television war and clearly had an effect on their success, lowering the confidence of GI’s and American people in the war. With taxes rising from costs of the war and not knowing if they could trust their own government anymore, the anti-war movement raged in America sparking riots and protests all across the country. The Vietnam War was a huge blow for American foreign policies, showing that communism was a force to be reckoned with if it could beat America. The policy of containment had failed and America’s domino theory was a flop, as the world hadn’t succumbed to communism as America had feared (apart from Laos). A complex chain of cause and effect lead to the dramatic events of 1973, events which still cast a shadow over American policy today. How to cite Why Did America Withdraw Its Forces, Essay examples