“The outbreak of so much shooting has
taken me completely by surprise. I have looked through my father’s World War II
scrapbook many times; I have seen Vietnam on television; I have ingested
countless movies about Ancient Rome or the battles of the Middle Ages. But none
of it has prepared me for warfare I my own hometown” (249).
Riding her bike down the 1967 rioting
Detroit streets, Cal describes the shock she felt seeing the city she grew up
in becoming a war zone. Despite studying history and the endless amounts of
wars, Cal cannot fully understand and judge war until she is in one. This
misjudgment of war is also seen with other members of Cal’s family. Lefty and
Desdemona forget about the war they are in, believing the protection the Greek
army is permanent, and Milton misjudges war as he joins the navy but does not
expect to be deployed. The family’s misjudgment of war is part of the overall
experience of not fully understanding destruction until it is brought to your
own life.
A current event example of not fully
understanding destruction is the Boston Bombing court case. Even though the
jury is well acquainted with the terrorist attack, none of them experienced it first
hand. In attempt to personalize the attack and stir the emotions of the jury,
the prosecution called upon first hand witnesses to recount the destruction and
death brought on by the bombing. The New York Times reports, “the government’s
witnesses have spoken graphically, often choking up and moving jurors and
reporters to tears in the pin-drop quiet of the courtroom” (Bidgood, and
Seelye). Witnesses such as Bill Richard described, “how his family was blown
apart by the bomb planted by Mr. Tsarnaev” (Bidgood,
and Seelye). Whether is it the events in Cal’s
story or the Boston Bombing case, acts of violence and destruction cannot be
fully comprehended and understood until experienced by oneself.
Bidgood, Jess, and Seelye, Katharine Q. “Accounts
of Heartbreak in Tsarnaev Trial as Victims of Boston Marathon Bombings
Testify”. The New York Times. The New
York Times Company, 5, Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Eugenides,
Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002. Print.
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