The Best Years of Our Lives
All wars, regardless of the magnitude of its loss of life or the geographical breadth of its destruction, posses a number of defining characteristics. One of these traits actually takes place after the war. Almost all soldiers, upon returning home, engage in an emotional struggle nearly as great as the physical one they fought on the battlefield. The homecoming, while generally regarded as a joyful occasion, is not without it's down side. Soldiers are faced with the daunting task of having to re-integrate themselves into an unfamiliar lifestyle, rediscover themselves with their families, and attempt to put the atrocities of war behind them while simultaneously coping with more basic problems, such as finding new employment. These topics are often avoided and overlooked by the media, yet director William Wyler's Oscar winning film, The Best Years of Our Lives, confronted these issues through the return and process of re-acclimation of World War II veterans. The Best Years of Our Lives focuses on three veterans' return to their home town of Boone City after having passed several years in the Pacific Theater. The eldest, a man in his forties named Al Stephenson (Fredric March), was an infantry
Although the beginning of The Best Years of Our Lives centers on Al, the remainder focuses primarily on Fred. Homer's story is interspersed throughout. The early scenes with Al are effective in illustrating the vague sense of disquiet experienced by returning soldiers. He has difficulty accepting that his surroundings aren't part of a dream, yet, somehow, the reality doesn't even live up to the idealized image he had constructed during his absence. His children have grown, there's a distance between he and his wife (despite her attempts to bridge it), and he has little taste for everyday work. "Last year it was kill Japs," he remarks. "This year, it's make money." Al returns to a house abundant with laughter and jubilation. His wife, Milly, daughter, Peggy and son, Pat are all there to welcome him. Yet Al immediately becomes restless and uncomfortable among his loving family. It seems as though only upon physically entering his home is he able to grasp that his army days are truly over. To escape the looming readjustment to life of which he has just become aware, he decides to take Milly and Peggy for a night on the town. They make a round of all of Boone City's nightclubs and bars, polishing off a bounty of drinks along the way. When the film was released in 1946, American citizens were in the midst of an emotional struggle as well as the newly arrived veterans. The bloodiest war of the century had just ended. The atomic bomb had been unleashed, triggering the first sparks of anxiety about the potential of a nuclear holocaust. While the public struggled to grasp the vast gravity of these intangible events, the survivors who had experienced this gravity rather tangibly were home. They carried with them physical evidence of the events citizens on the home front had only imagined. Every scar, every missing appendage was a constant reminder to non-veterans that there existed an elusive valley of suffering between themselves and the veterans; the veterans who had once been a best friend, a first love, or a father. Perhaps the most telling s
Some common words found in the essay are:
Al Homer, Homer Fred, , Boone City, Fred Homer's, Nevertheless Homer, Air Force, Meanwhile Fred, Boone City's, Fred Homer, children grown, boone city's, lost hands, al homer, veterans' return, emotional struggle, veterans non-veterans, boone city,
Approximate Word count = 1399
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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