Antigone

The effect of War on Families and Friends

In reading the segment on War and Power we can see the effects of war in many different ways but one of the most prominent and noticeable effect is how the family and friends of those involved in the warfare react to having a loved one involved and in harms way. The effects and consequences of war are far-reaching and extensive. The family of those in war is affected by war just as much as those actually in the war. In reading Antigone, Gas, and the Apology you get a chance to see how the families and friends are changed and in some instances torn apart. War has a tendency to control peoples lives and push them till they are worn out and hanging on to sanity by just a thread. War is not selective, its affects have been the same all through history and still are today, it affects everyone no matter who you are, its not picky.

In reading Gas, by Juan Rivera we see two brothers who are very close to each other and are part of a close nit family. One of the brothers is sent to fight in Persian Gulf War and the reader begins with Cheo, the remaining brother, telling the audience how his brother sends him letters at least every week. Cheo goes on to explain how he can tell from his brothers letters that he is horrified by the events that he views and takes part of while being away. "His letters were coming once a week, I could feel his fear. It was in his handwriting". (1.1124) Cheo's family became completely absorbed in his brothers letters and slowly without them realizing it their life began to almost revolve around those letters. When the letters stopped coming it can be seen how the family actually did rely on those letters and how the family did find comfort in receiving and reading them every week. Cheo's family falls apart, he finds himself not being able to sleep and all he can do is think about why the letters may have stopped coming. At the same time they began to hear about how bad it was getting in the Persian Gulf. "I couldn't sleep, my mother was suicidal, why wasn't he writing?"(85-6.1126) The war completely engulfed Cheo and his family and they were not even physically in the war. Just the absence of their weekly letter caused major trauma and wreaked havoc in a family with one son in a war.

In The Apology, we are introduced to more modern day events. Laura Blumenfeld is a writer conducting research on the issue of confrontation with Palestine. Laura's