If anyone has time. I'd really appreciate it if you count read through my expository piece.and tell me if its complete rubbish or im doing somewhat okay.Muchhhhhhhhh apppppreciatedd
‘Conflict can be character-building.’ 10;20
Conflict is an inescapable facet of human life endured by all of mankind. It’s often in these battles where ones true nature is unravelled where the forces of conflict can overpower ones moral sanctity and human decency or the task at hand can release ones inner resilience and bravery. However, conflict on a larger scale that causes the destruction of societies and mass killings does not result in individuals building character. But rather individuals who are trying to scrape by and attempt to deal with the atrocity that they now face.
Soldiers who return back home are incapable of returning to their prior state as they have done things, seen things that no ordinary human being should experience. These experiences that they endure allow them to grow in ways that one should not grow. They shoot and kill young men knowing that a wife, a daughter, a mother’s heart has broken into little pieces that can’t be mended. These experiences are not character building as it numbs them from all senses. They return home physically but mentally they are not there. There on constant heightened awareness where a door will send them in all sorts of hysteria. Their children surprise them in the morning, only to find their father, the father that’s hailed as a hero push the young child onto the wall as he as mistaken him for an enemy. Emphasising, the detrimental effects that conflict can have on ones day to day living. These soldiers who return to their home land, who are deemed as resilient and brave are merely scraping by as they adjust to the serene life lived by society. ‘Every man in this village is a liar’ written by Megan Stack illustrates the difficulties that Stacks cousin faced as he returned back home from war. The impact proved to be too much which resulted in him shooting himself in the head leaving a child and a wife. Hence, emphasising the damaging impact that war can bring and the difficulty that one faces as they return back home. War is not character building, as death and destruction of societies is not growth but merely something that occurs when power and status is misused over the powerless that results in mass devastation.
Indigenous Australians were publicly ostracised and belittled by the White settlers which inevitably did not result in character building but rather take up bad habits in a bid to supress the pain that they endured. Indigenous Australians were refused service and were constantly patted down by the police simply because of the colour of their skin. This ill treatment resulted in them taking up chronic alcoholism which has contributed towards the 20 years shorter lifespan that the non-Indigenous Australians now face. Highlighting that the battles that one endures may not contribute to growth but rather an overwhelming sadness that takes over their life. Indigenous Australians rightly still have ill feelings towards the white settlers who completely disregarded the tranquil and serene life that they previously lived. This conflict that they are faced with did not contribute towards growth and internal prosperity but rather hate towards those that took away what rightly belongs to them. Those who suffer from the forces of conflict can only grow so much, if they’re constantly knocked back down its inevitable that it turns to ill feeling and resentment which destructs more than it builds.
Stack witnesses the difficulties that Raheem and his wife face since the US soldiers killed their only son, an innocent civilian. His wife shudders the moment she walks into the house whilst incapable of entering his bedroom where he once played. This pain that she’s suffered has paralysed her ability to carry on with her day to day activities. This has led to no internal growth or development but instead the pain has consumed her inevitably incapable of pursuing the normal routine of life. Raheem is pain ridden however he is capable of moving on as he comprehends that the living doesn’t die with the dying. He applies for a Visa, to live in America the country whose soldiers killed his son Mohammed. Thus highlighting that in some individuals the battles that they face can contribute to the building of character as they deal with the hurdles that life has thrown at them. Whilst others like Megan Stacks cousin and Raheem’s wife the battles that they endure contribute to no further growth but instead stunt them of ever living a positive and happy life as they are incapable of digesting the pain that they have tolerated.
Mankind are imperfect beings made up of different opinions, ideas, thoughts and different ways of dealing with the countless battles that they face throughout their life. In some the conflict proves to be too much whilst in others it allows them to prosper and take it in their stride as they strive to be the best that they can possibly be. If it proves to be too much it’s not an indication of weakness but rather being knocked down a count to many resulting in the inability to rise above the agony
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