Joshua Tindale
Course: Writing about Literature, ENGL 102
Professor: Austrie Duarte
Assignment Title: The Soundtrack to the Vietnam War
Assignment Details
In Greek theater there exists the “Tragedy” archetype of play. According to Aristotle, tragedies are appealing to people as it evokes the powerful emotions of pity and fear. People partake in these feelings during plays at it allows them to feel and release these emotions in a fictional setting. Unfortunately, America’s involvement in Vietnam was a genuine tragedy, both for those that went and those who watched its horrors back home. Using five songs, one short story, and two poems, attitudes and emotions about the Vietnam War are on full display.
These works are:
- “Hello Vietnam” by Johnny Wright
- “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by Sgt. Barry Sadler
- “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
- “We Never Know” by Yusef Komunyakaa
- “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “I Should Be Proud” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
- “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye
- “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa
Application
As a prospective history teacher, it is beneficial to process historical events through a myriad of mediums.
A key element of teaching history is not simply recalling what happened, but understanding why things happened, and understanding how people felt about what happened. This is made abundantly clear in the lyrics and words of songs and poems from the time of the Vietnam War.
The lyrics, themes, and art in songs provide an insight into how people feel about the subjects they write about. The Vietnam War was undoubtedly an American tragedy, and each stage of its tragedy are processed through the words and lyrics of poets and songwriters affected by the war.
History is passed on and experienced in a variety of ways, though particularly in writing. Understanding how to analyze and process writing can only help one broaden their understanding of historical events. Vietnam was a tumultuous time in American history, but one can only truly understand that when they read the stories of and hear the songs of those who lived through it. Understanding their emotions explains why the nation went down the path that it did following the crucible of the Vietnam War.
Results/Conclusions
Tragedies require certain key elements to fit this narrative archetype, but the story of America in Vietnam fits it perfectly:
The protagonist begins in a state of prosperity. Following World War II twenty years before the war, America was the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth. America was so sure that it could easily win in a conflict in Vietnam. America is our tragic hero, and their greatest flaw is their hubris
The central conflict eventually turns that character’s prosperity into poverty, called the reversal. As the war dragged on with no end in sight, American soldiers and civilians began to ask what was it they were really fighting for.
The protagonist eventually gains a sense of self-understanding in a moment called the recognition. Americans realized that not only was the war wrong, but there was also something wrong with the greater society that let this happen.
The songs and poems about the Vietnam War allow their listeners and readers to indulge in the feelings of pity and fear, though their feelings are even more genuine as these events truly happened to people. This expulsion of these feelings, the catharsis, allows people to make sense of the greater world around them through exploring their feelings in art. The answers to their problems may not be clear yet, but through writing, they know how they feel.
Challenges and Successes
The greatest challenge I experienced was choosing which specific songs I was going to highlight to support the claim that the Vietnam War was akin to a Greek tragedy. By understanding certain key elements of Greek tragedies, I understood how each work reflected a certain aspect of it.
- “Hello Vietnam” – Prosperity/Tragic Hero
- “The Ballad of the Green Berets” – Hubris/Tragic Hero
- “The Things They Carried” – Reversal/Tragic Hero
- “We Never Know” – Reversal
- “Fortunate Son” – Reversal/Recognition
- “I Should Be Proud” – Recognition
- “What’s Going On?” – Recognition/Catharsis
- “Facing It” – Recognition/Catharsis