Word War II Essay Example for Free

Word War II Essay The book â€Å"PT 105† written by Dick Keresey was published in the year 1996 and was highly-acclaimed because it tells an exciting and accurate story about PT boats. Furthermore, the book sheds new light on the distinctive contributions made by these boats to the war effort in the South Pacific. During the Word War II, PT boats were considered as the fastest craft on the water in spite of its small size and vulnerability. PT boats were described as nimble, tough, and considered as the most heavily armed ships in the U. S. Navy. The PT 105 boats are patrol boat considered to be of the same class as John F. Kennedy’s PT 109 but execute test maneuvers in the Atlantic. Usually, a PT boat, also called as a â€Å"mosquito boat†, contains a crew of 12-14. These PT boats positioned at the Solomon Islands agilely stalked Japanese warships. The main objective of the boats in the Solomons was to thwart the delivery of supplies and troops to the bases of the Japanese. Moreover, these boats were very important because they fought in the very front line of the greatest sea war in history. Nevertheless, until today barely anybody truly understands and recognizes what they did. Due to the book of Keresey, the story regarding these strong little fighters offers new account on the roles and involvement of these boats to the war effort. Dick Keresey was the captain of PT 105 and he was also in the same battle as John F. Kennedy when the PT 109 of Kennedy was crushed and sunk. According to Keresey, the well-known event has frequently been portrayed erroneously and the PT boats were often described as ineffective and undependable. Aside from informing the readers regarding his experiences as a PT Boat skipper during the Pacific War, Keresey likewise imparts what it was like to be a young American involved in famous incidents of his time. PT 105 as written by Dick Keresey During the World War II, Dick Keresey had skippered a PT boat in the Pacific and, subsequent to spending the rest of his life practicing law, Keresey made a decision to write regarding his Navy career because when Keresey becomes a PT man, he happened to be intensely loyal to the boats and the men on them. Hence, the book â€Å"PT 105† was born. With Keresey’s book, the story about the incident was truthfully explained by means of illustrating the real picture of PT boats that makes use of Keresey’s personal experience at New Georgia, Guadalcanal, Choiseul Island, and Bougainville. Keresey’s book is action-filled and tells about avoiding night bombers, saving downed airmen and coast watchers, participating in cruel guan battles with Japanese barges including small freighters, setting aside Marine scouts behind Japanese lines, and dealing with disease, heat, and loneliness. I believe that Keresey’s story is full of varied emotions funny, scary, melancholy, exciting, and angry—this last feeling was triggered not just by infrequent past operational follies visited upon the boats by commanders far from the fighting but likewise since the boats’ involvement in the war effort has been either forgotten or misunderstood. Due to the fact that Keresey sets the record straight in his book with such clarity and energy, he was instantly requested to write an article for American Heritage. Moreover, in order not to lose Keresey’s proficiently drawn strategic picture and his personal anecdotes as well, Keresey was asked to condense his entire book into the compass of a magazine article. Nevertheless, I personally believe that the situation in the book that might have given me the most delight is a minor, nearly parenthetical one—although it concerns the most famous of all PT-boat men. JFK’s shadow has been the topic of a lot of cold scrutiny in current years that it is good to be offered an unanticipated preview of him plainly being a good guy. In the book, JFK, who was still young then, graciously greeting his forerunner is in effect furtively assisting a Navy friend. This Navy friend is Al Webb, who following his PT service turned out to be vice president of sales for Cavanagh Hats. With his fellow skipper’s famed bare headedness ruining his venture, Webb instructed Cavanagh to make two top quality custom hats and rushed to the White House to offer one to the President and one to Kennedy’s long-time friend, Red Fay who is a businessman. According to Keresey, Kennedy met the challenge of endorsing and promoting the hats in his own way. Because the following day after Webb brought the hats to the White House, Kennedy greeted ex- President Eisenhower at Camp David and after that sent Al a picture of the momentous event. The picture portrayed Kennedy bending forward, his right hand extended; and in his left hand he held a hat, the inside layer facing out toward the camera; hence, the Cavanagh Hats label was clearly obvious and noticeable. After several years, Keresey said in his book that he called the Kennedy Library to ask if he could obtain a copy of the said picture for his book. As written in the book, Keresey informed the curator what he wanted to ask and why. Keresey wrote in the book that the man in the library was thrilled because according to the man, Keresey has solved the mystery because Kennedy carried the hat around for two weeks, and no one has ever been able to work out or understand why. Furthermore, the subject of Keresey’s great memoir is his days when he was still a PT commander in the Solomons in the years 1942 and 1943. Written in a series of vignettes with a flowing narrative line, Keresey’s book concludes with a long explanation of a moral preference or decision made in the area that came back to him years afterward. I think that based on reading the book, I can say that Keresey is candid and frank regarding himself, his men, and the Navy he served in. Particularly astute is his frank admittance that what made him look extremely composed in battle was his cornered-rat inclination. In addition, Keresey likewise protects former Lt. John F. Kennedy for his actions and decisions in Blackett Strait when he sunk by a Japanese destroyer. In conclusion, I believe that Keresey’s PT 105 is a must read if the reader would like to take pleasure in learning what day to day life was actually like in the small command Navy. Moreover, I think that this book is an exceptionally well written factual story regarding life in the Pacific seen thru the eyes of PT 105 commanding officer Dick Kersey. Hence, if the reader wants personal eye witness accounts, then definitely he/she would love to re read this book over and over. # Reference Keresey, Dick. (2003). PT 105. Naval Institute Press; New Ed edition.

The Scarlet Letter 10 :: essays research papers

'Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence: Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!';(Ch.24: 236) Hawthorne expresses the purpose of writing this novel in that short sentence. He creates characters who have sin and disguise these sins for their own salvation. Slowly these sins evolve the characters, it strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon. The story is Hawthorne's depiction of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of humanity during the Puritan society through the characters Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Hester's sin is that her passion and love were of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code, but she learns the error of her ways and slowly regains the adoration of the community. For instance, 'What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other! Hast thou forgotten it?';(Ch.17: 179). Hester fully acknowledges her guilt and displays it with pride to the world. This was obvious by the way she displays the scarlet letter with elaborate designs showing that she is proud. Furthermore, she does not want to live a life of lies anymore when she states 'forgive me! In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held fast, and did hold fast, through all extremity save when thy good--the life--they fame--were put in question! Then I consented a deception. But a lie is never good, even though death threaten the other side!';(Ch.17: 177). Hester learns from her sin, and grows strong, a direct result from her pu nishment. The scarlet letter 'A' was as if a blessing to Hester changing her into an honest person with good virtues. Fittingly, she chooses to stay in Boston with Pearl although Hawthorne admits, ';…that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame';(Ch.5: 73). She is trying to stay and face her consequences instead of running in the other direction. Most people would leave a town where they are looked upon as trash the scum of society. Finally, the colonists come to think of the scarlet letter as '…the cross on a nun's bosom';(Ch.

Symbolism in Janus

4 Jonathan Whidden English 1900B Ian McAdam September 29th,2012 Symbolism in Janus â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl†. (Beattie 455) In the short story â€Å"Janus† writer Anne Beattie uses a simple bowl to be the central focus of symbolism in the story. The bowl can be interpreted to mean or symbolize many different things. The bowl belongs to the protagonist of the story Andrea, a successful real estate agent who is married to her husband of many years. It has been argued that the bowl symbolizes everything from the life that Andrea lives or the world that Andrea lives in.Though there are strong arguments for these arguments among many others, I believe the strongest evidence of what the bowl symbolizes is a personality or traits of a character that repeats itself throughout the story. This character is not so coincidentally the title of the short story â€Å"Janus†. In the following essay I will argue that the bowl symbolizes an ancient god by the name of â€Å" Janus† and all of his traits powers or attributes. Beattie uses the bowl to symbolize all of the traits of the ancient god thru the life of our protagonist Andrea.To begin we must examine who this god was believed to be so we can relate it to the story. â€Å"Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each looking in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time, planting, marriage, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a person's life. Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people. †(Janus) 4As mentioned above, it is no coincidence that Beattie chose this title. The two faces Janus the god has is a symbolism in itself, it symbolizes deceit as I interpret two-facedness as being deceitful or as Beattie wr ites â€Å"tricked†. We will learn that Andrea herself, proves to be deceitful and deceived, she is tricked herself. Andrea also is also stuck between two different life's as we come to learn. She is stuck in the middle of new beginnings and endings in her relationships. Andrea seems unsure or lacks he courage to decide which path she would like to take. Andrea's life had many doorways she could ave opened, unfortunately for Andrea, she stays on the doorstep. There are two important factors of Andrea's life that the bowl plays a major part in, her social life and her professional life. Let's begin with Andrea's social life. Andrea is married to her husband of several years. Though Andrea and her husband have been together for a few years, they have no children together. Andrea and her husband both have their own successful careers as Andrea is a real estate agent and her husband a stock broker. For all the financial success they enjoy, their marriage was far from perfect.Both Andrea and her husband are a lot alike yet distant from each other. â€Å"They were both quiet people- reflective, slow to make value judgments. † (Beattie 455) Their relationship is where the symbolism of bowl comes into play, the bowl was a gift from a former lover of Andrea's. The bowl was actually a gift from a former lover. â€Å"She had first seen the bowl several years earlier, at a crafts fair she had visited half in secret, with her lover. † (Beattie 456) Andrea hid the origins of the bowl from her husband which is evidence of her two-facedness, â€Å"There were times where she wanted to talk to her usband about the bowl. † (Beattie 455)The fact that Andrea has kept the origins of bowl rom her husband is an example of her deception. It also shows an unwillingness to let go of the past. If Andrea wanted to rid herself of the memories of this former relationship, would she not rid herself of all gifts or memories from the relationship? Instead she grows an unhealthy attachment to the bowl over time, valuing it over her relationship with her husband. Communications issues are just the start of the 4 problem with Andrea. Andrea is not without guilt, she does show an urge to talk to her husband about he bowl, however her fear and the consequences that could come from it were stronger. Doors would be opened and closed, perhaps she would have to let go of the bowl, something she seems unwilling to do. Her relationship ended with her lover because of her indecision, her unwillingness to start something new and close the door on her marriage. â€Å" Her lover said that she was always too slow too know what she really loved.Why continue with her life the way it was? Why be two-faced, he asked her. He had made the first move toward her. When she would not decide in his favour, would not hange her life and come to him, he asked her what made her think she could have it both ways. † (Bettie 456) Beattie gives us strong evidence of the symbolism of the bowl. Andrea's career is the other important aspect of her life where the bowl greatly influences her decisions and contains more strong evidence of its symbolism. As mentioned, Andrea is a successful real estate agent. â€Å"(She had a very profitable year selling real estate.Word spread, and she had more clients than she felt comfortable with. † (Beattie 455) Andrea used the bowl as well as other â€Å"tricks† to help her in her career, or so she thought. When she thought that some prospective buyers might be dog lovers, she would drop off her dog at the same time she would place the bowl in the house that was up for sale. † It can be argued that there is nothing morally wrong with these â€Å"tricks† that Andrea used to sell houses, I would agree. Yet the real deception comes from the bowl itself. Andrea has allowed the bowl to take credit for work she has done, allowing the bowl to deceive her.â€Å"She was sure that the bowl brought her luck†. (Beattie 455 Bids were often put in on houses where she had displayed the bowl. There is no evidence at all to suggest that the bowl influences the sale of the house. There is no question that customers like the look of the bowl, some even inquiring on where the bowl came from. â€Å"Once Andrea got a call from a woman who had not put in an offer on a house she had shown her. That bowl, she said- would it be possible to find out where the owners had bought that 4 beautiful bowl. Andrea pretended that she did not know what the woman was referring to. † (Beattie 454)This is more evidence of Andrea's two-facedness or deceit, ill will intended or not, Andrea is not ompletely honest with her clients. Unfortunately for Andrea, she allows the bowl to deceive her, convincing her that it is the reason she closes so many houses. How could a bowl do this, â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl. † (Beattie 455) I do believe Beattie shifts the meaning of the bowl throughou t the story. At times the bowl represents Andrea's life, how material things are the only things she values, it shows a dependency on material things because of her passionless marriage. Other times the bowl represents her inability to make a decision or to let go of her past relationship.It symbolizes her fear of choosing a path, choosing a door, closing relationships and starting new. Andrea instead allows the bowl to dictate her decisions. As mentioned above, arguments can and have be made for many different meanings . the bowl always returns to its roots. It came from a hidden relationship, it is used to â€Å"trick† home buyers. The bowl is a representation of a past relationship, one she had an opportunity to start a new life with, yet she didn't. She is stuck in the middle of two doors, two paths. There is no beginning or end for Andrea because she evidently lacks the courage or .The bowl represents the two-faced nature of Andrea, her trickery her two relationships. It deceives Andrea in convincing her that it is the reason for her success. â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl†. (Beattie 455) All these examples directly symbolize the traits or attributes of the ancient god â€Å"Janus† Works Cited 1. Beattie, Ann. â€Å"Janus. † The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Allison Booth, Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 453-456. 2. â€Å"Janus. † Encyclopedia Mythica. 2012. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 01 Oct. 2012 ;www. pantheon. org/articles/j/janus. html;.

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