War is devastating
War is devastating
Private Chris MacGregor
Private Matthew Hodgson
War is devastating. The man in the first set of pictures is Private Chris MacGregor, a man who is in the British military. The man in the second set of pictures is Private Matthew Hodgson. These pictures were taken in a 7 month period, the first one on the left is before their deployment to Afghanistan, the second one is during, and the last one is after. You can see that in MacGregors pictures his cheekbones gradually sharpen and become more prominent. The soft and carefree look in his eyes and face gradually harden into a stressful face. His eyes now look darker, he doesn’t look like the same person he was before the deployment. This shows how the soldiers who come out of the war not only lose their innocence, but also their peace of mind. You can see that in Hodgson’s face, he goes from looking mellow and prepared for what’s coming, to looking afraid and traumatized. Hodgson’s eyes also gradually dim, the bags under his eyes also deepen. “In a city there’s a million places they can kill you from. It freaks you out but at first. But you go through like you were trained, and it works” (Redeployment 12). In this quote, you can connect it too how these men are having a difficult time adjusting to a safe environment, when they’ve been watching their backs and taking night shifts to look out for each other for who knows how long.
Snow, Lalage. N.p., 10 May 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
When one says War is devasting one imagines a group of people dead or a whole country in ruins but this image is a perfect example how it affects the soldier as well. One spends too much time thinking about the war but not the actual people fighting in the war. It gives more of a real life sense to it. This image is powerful because it feels like you're experiencing the war first-hand but of course one will never know how it truly feels to fight. The line "his eyes look darker", made me challenge my thoughts. It made me realize how one loses a sense of self while at war. They experience events that no human should ever have to go through but it also goes to show how these men/women have a lot of courage and should always be greatly respected.
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