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Lesson Thirteen Soldier ’ s Heart by Louis Simpson. A Brief Introduction to Author.
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A Brief Introduction to Author • Louis Simpson (1923~ ) was born in Jamaica, West Indies. The son of a lawyer of Scottish descent and a Russian mother, he emigrated to the United States when he was 17 and went to study at Columbia University in New York City. Louis Simpson (1923~ )
He served in the Second World War on active duty in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany. When the war was over, he returned to Columbia University to finish his studies. After that he became a teacher at that school and later at the University of California, Berkeley, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Louis Simpson has published 17 books of poetry and is widely acclaimed as a literary critic.
Brief Introduction • War, this complex phenomenon in our life, has been one of the most favorite subjects in art and literature as well as in serious academic studies. The textis a first-person narration of World War II veteran about his personal experience, his feelings and sufferings during the war and the physical and psychological scars the war left him with.
Detailed Discussion • Paragraph 2: • … the life and death of an infantry soldier… • infantry: the combat arm made up of units trained to fight on foot.
Paragraph 4: • I was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1945 and went home. • to discharge : to allow or tell sb to go • e.g.. She was discharged form the intensive care unit last week and transferred to a general ward. • The judge found him not guilty and discharged him.
Paragraph 5: • One person had it that… • to have it that…: to say that sth is true • e.g.. We don’t know for sure what caused the accident. One rumor has it that the princess was trying too had to get rid of the photographers.
Paragraph 7: • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person's daily life.
Paragraph 8: • Their main duty was to … play playing cards or board games or reading a magazine. • board game:A game of strategy, such as chess or backgammon, played by moving pieces on a board and sometimes involving dice.
Paragraph 9: • Chekhov: • Russian playwright and one of the great masters of modern short story. In his work Chekhov combined the dispassionate attitude of a scientist and a doctor with the sensitivity and psychological understanding of an artist. Chekhov (1860~1904)
“Ward No.6” is a short story written by Chekhov. It describes a ward in a own hospital in Russia for patients who are suffering from mental illness. It is gloomy, damp, stinking and overcrowded. The ward guards treat the patients as prisoners, beating and abusing them constantly.
Weapons Mentioned Mortar Rifle Machine gun
Paragraph 13: • Normandy: • This a region in northern France along the English Channel where the allied invasion took place in the Second World War (June 6, 1944), thus opening the second front against the German fascists.
Ardennes: • This is a wooded plateau region in northeast France, southeast Belgium and Luxembourg where a bloody battle took place in the Second World War between 1944 and 1945.
Paragraph 21: • Somme: • This is the name of the 150-mile long river in northern France where in the First World War the allied forces of France and Britain launched a bitter attack against the Germans (July, 1916). The bloody battle lasted four months with extremely heavy casualties on both sides (about 420 thousand for Britain, 192,000 for France and440,000 for Germany).
Questions for Discussion: • Is the author eulogizing the heroic spirit shown by the American soldiers in the Second World War? • Is war a permanent human condition as the author says? • What are the causes of international conflicts? • How do we determine whether a war is just or unjust? • Is there anything positive to be said about war?
Synopsis of the Text: • Part I. (Para. 1~Para. 3): • The description of the author’s war memories in France in he summer of 1944. • Part II. (Para.4~ end): • The description of his life immediately after the war: how he goes back to the university to continue his education and how he breaks down and is diagnosed as suffering form “soldier’s heart”, a mental illness resulting form being shot at and shelled for months on end.
Assignments: • Recount the narrator’s experience in about 200 words. • 1. How did he get “combat fatigue”? • 2. What were the symptoms? • 3. How was he and other veteran soldiers like him treated? • 4. How did his experience change him?
