The Things They Carried

Prompt: What was taken away from whoever went inside the tunnel?
The men didn't feel confident because they were labeled weaker than someone like Henry Dobbins. Henry Dobbins is bigger than the rest. I think the word bigger shows off manliness. Society views men with muscles and a six pack. They're not supposed to be scared of anything, but then what are other reasons why these men are so scared besides not being accepted into society?
Inside this tunnel, everything is taken away from them. From the beginning everything is already taken away from them, because they're at war away from their loved ones. But to put them in another unfamiliar environment where its pitch black. It's almost like stripping them completely naked and making them feel vulnerable and transparent. They also have no sense of direction, and having a feeling where to go always makes you feel ten times better. Just the fact that you know where you're destination is means the journey is over. You can get out of the stage where you feel butterflies and goosebumps. Losing sight is something unimaginable to think about. The thought that you can't see the people around you, what's coming ahead of you, and also the thought of anything can happen in a flash is unsettling. All the men have is their bare two hands, but it won't help them with their fears. Feeling their way out is another frightful process. It's like the feeling where you put a blindfold around your face and stick your hand in a box. When we see an object, we automatically decide whether to touch it or not. But in this case when site is taken away, the ability to have a choice is very limited. Your screams will be muffled, and no one would ever know what's happening. It's a creepy thought.

Gryphon

Miss Ferenczi is such a bold character. She's so confident in everything she says and it seems like she's comfortable in her own skin. She is a quirky and quite interesting person with weird beliefs, but it is kind of risky putting weird beliefs into a young child's mind. This is the time where they develop and they are very vulnerable to silly lies such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Some things she says aren't necessarily appropriate for the age she's teaching but others are quite interesting and fun to think about.

1. Six times eleven equals sixty-eight, if someone said that was true to me, as a child I would believe it. I have a very stubborn personality, so it would be hard later to grow up and realize that the answer was actually sixty-six. I would keep asking why and why and eventually it would lead to nowhere. That part was just confusing and irrelevant. Math has always been taught to be logical and find out accurate answers. It's not something you can have fun with. I wish it was fun; I think we all do, but messing around with a child's knowledge is simply cruel. Don't get me wrong I think I'd find it fascinating to have Miss Ferenczi as a teacher. I would love to hear all her adventurous stories, but how she twists around proven facts, things you just can't change, into lies would be confusing to a child.

2. I think the general idea that the author was trying to do was making Miss Ferenczi someone who would actually prepare the kids for the future and reality. I think sometimes adults never want to expose their kids to the real world, but we all have to face it sooner or later and you can't keep them hidden. But how she said death doesn't exist kind of contradicts the characters goal of exposing the kids to the real world. I'm not a very religious person, but everyone has different beliefs of what comes after death whether its heaven, hell, or reincarnation. I know one thing that is true, that we all die. That's all I ever knew to be true. The parts before and after death don't makes sense, but death is not something complicated. It's just a time where you let someone else live. It takes a long time to find out why I'm here and you always wonder where you go afterwards. It's also something my parents never tried to cover up and that's saying something.

3. I think it's nice that Miss Ferenczi exposed kids to a different religion other than Christianity. I know all my life whenever friends find out that I'm just not much of a religious person, they take me to church. Nobody was ever different and I think it's nice that she's giving kids more options to choose from and not just stick to something common. I was a Christian at one point but for the wrong reason. I just thought it was the right way to live just because it's the religion that I hear about the most. As I thought about it more and more I respected people's beliefs and how much they had faith in their high power. I just had a couple of disagreements and some parts just didn't make sense to me. Another part of me was saying, "No, why would so many people believe in this religion though?" I just thought I should just be open to many people's beliefs and listen before I decide to put my faith in it. I don't want to get my hopes up.