1. (A) the book is about a group of Navy SEALS that go on a mission that ends with only one of them surviving. Throughout the book we see the violence they endured and the struggles that they had to go through. The book ends with only one man surviving. We see each SEAL die and it is a very sad and emotionally charged story. It is written by the sole survivor and we get first hand accounts of what happened. The author of the story is good at connecting you to the story.
(B) the main message of the book seems to be that life is taken for granted. We live in a country freely. Not thinking about what people go through for us to have our freedom. People die for our freedom. We forget that.
2. I think the main reason that the book was written was in order to honor the authors fallen soldiers, his squad. He loved his men. They trusted each other with their lives. Cherish the moments you have now. We got to see what SEALS are challenged with. It gave us a glimpse into a life I can't imagine living. It put things into perspective.
3. I had been hearing many people talking about how amazing the movie was so I figured the book would be just as good if not better. I love history and war stories so the book automatically appealed to me. I think the fact that the characters were introduced so quickly and directly kept me reading. I felt like they were relateable and it kept me connected to the story.
4. I found the book to be very realistic and very true. It was written in a first hand account. Everything was raw and real. You imagine as a fictional storyline but then you remember it actually happened to someone and you're left shocked that these things truly happen. It's crazy to imagine someone that you know having to be put throught that, it's unimaginable.
People
1. Clearly the author was emotionally connected to all the characters. He loved his squad. He only talked good about them. The way he spoke about them showed just how much he cared. He wrote the book to honor his fallen soldiers. The authors tone seemed to remain the same, he was always thankful for life. It was almost like the book was written to show appreciation to his squad.
2. Mike Murphy was in his twenties. He was a hockey player and was known to be a smartass. Yet he was respectful and determined as well. He loved to read and was very intelligent.
Matthew Axelson aka Axe was "six feet four inches with piercing blue eyes and curly hair" he was smart, professional, athletic, and one of those people that was good at anything they tried. He had a rough side when he was at battle but his family and friends at home only knew the calm cheerful side of him.
3. I think that the main reason that I wrote about these two people from the book was because when I first read the book i was able to imagine them. They just seemed so relateable. Someone that I could hangout with. When you read a book and are able to imagine knowing the person it makes the book so much more appealing and keeps you coming back to read.
4. In the first chapter of the book we are introduced to the squad. He describes and lists both physical and personal qualities of all his squad members. "six feet four inches with piercing blue eyes and curly hair" this was and example of the direct charachterization. When describing one of the men he used a story of their swim test to indirectly show the determination of one of the guys. He also would bring up physical qualities. He told us about how they would grow beards to look less American, which would indirectly tell us that they were going to to whatever was necessary to survive.
5. When the author would talk about the characters he would seem to love to talk about them. He would ramble on about certaint characteristics of each individual and he seemed happier. He would talk about good memories he had with the men, whether it'd be staying up all night laughing because they couldn't get sleep or growing up with his brothers best friend and now serving in war with him. It almost seemed like he liked to brag about his squad and show them off.
6. I think that the protagonist is probably more dynamic than he is static. He goes through a lot of personal and emotional changes through the story. He has to go from depending on his team to then depending only on himself, then he has to depend on what looks like the enemy but are really good people. I think that he is also a round character. He went into the SEALS knowing what he was getting into so I think that he had already been fully developed and a man and a character.
7. Yes. The book totally had made me feel like I met the characters. The author did such a good job at using imagery and he used so many details to both directly and indirectly evolve he character into a person. The story was so good and really was one of the best at characterization.
Style
1. It's hard. He used some of both. He used some symbolism like the paint swatch but he would also use a journalistic style. He would tell the story exactly how it was when he was there so it gave it a journalistic feel. I think I'd say it was more journalistic that it was fictitious.
2. Again I'd have to say both. He used a lot of lengthy descriptions but he would also use dialogue. He was very good at getting lots of imagery and details in. The story had a way of pulling you in and creating pictures in your mind.
3. He used a lot of imagery and charged language
4. The author was just trying to get his story out the entire time I think he was doing it to honor them. It was like he would push tons of his focus into them. He made them out to be heros. He also was positive at the end when he was being helped by the community that was revolting against the enemies.
5. He mostly offered memories or stories about his and their lives. He didn't really offer too much articles or any of that. I don't think it would have made much difference. To me a fiction book doesn't really need to have evidence because it doesn't have any affect on the story.
Enduring memory
I think that one of the biggest thing I will take away from this book is the fact that we need to give more respect and appreciation to the men and women's that serve our country and fight for our freedom. We have one or two days a year where we pay homage to the people but after reading this book they deserve so much more. They face things that I could never imagine or even bare to think of. We need to make it so that our vets don't end up on the streets like so many do. They deserve so much more that what most get and end up with.
