Maus-Night Blogging Assignment.

I liked Night better because I felt it showed what a Holocaust survivor actually went through, whereas I found Mous to be confusing and focused on details that didn't pertain to the story. For instance, when Maus jumps between war time and present time I didn't like it. I would rather it be like Night, which was written in chronological order rather than jumping around in time. I felt like details such as Vlakik  burning the diaries of his wife, Anja,  and Art getting really angry with him and calling him a murderer, was annoying. I wanted to focus on the time period during the war and read more about what he went through as a Holocaust survivor.

I would not suggest reading both the books together because they don't compliment each other. I feel Night  is preferable because it is a serious book that explains clearly and in a readable way the horrible experiences the author went through. Maus, on the other hand, does explain well what happens but the author injects information I don't care about. I am not interested in the day- to-day stuff that goes on with Vladik and his wife Mala, or the relationship between the father and the son. I just want to know the details of how they survived the camps. 

I believe future classes should read only Night because it really shows what they experinenced. It's a better and more acurate perspective. Although I like comic books and usually enjoy them, I felt the fact the author made the characters into cats and mice took away from the  story. The author seemed to feel he needed to change what the Holocaust really was just to get people to read it, and it took away from the reality and horror of the situation and made it seem like a joke.

Restrepo vs Fallen Angels.

• In the documentary Restrepo, the Korengal Valley was just as dangerous as the jungles in Vietnam in Fallen Angels. In both cases you had to be very observant of hazards. In both places whoever was hidden the best had the upper hand. For example, in Restrepo, staying hidden but making it look like you were standing out in the open (with a wood figure) tricked the enemy into shooting, exposing their position. In the jungle, taking it slow and waiting for the enemy to move was the key element to winning.
• In both situations the soldiers had to be observant of the locals and understand who was the enemy and who wasn't. In Restrepo the man who owned the cow and wanted money made the sargeant suspicious in case he would give the money to the Taliban. In Fallen Angels,  the soldiers learned to be wary of locals after the woman handed a soldier a mined baby  which killed him. 
• In both Restrepo and Fallen Angels all the soldiers ate undesirable food. It kept them alive but it wasn't like home cooking. In Restrepo they ate rice and spices from the locals which they didn't seem to like much. In Fallen Angels they seemed to eat the same thing time and again.
• In Restrepo and Fallen Angels both squads were not sure what they were getting into. For instance in Restrepo when the soldiers were on the train having a good time and weren't expecting to be in a fire fight and being shot at almost every day. Also in Fallen Angels you see this at the beginning of the book when they are first in Vietnam they question where they are and start to get scared.
• Something thats noticed in both Restrepo and Fallen Angels is having the local villagers on your side  this is a key part of war. In Restrepo the soldiers try making peace with the locals after casualties on the civilians have occurred. In Fallen Angels U.S. soldiers do the same thing when they are on patrols through the villages.
• A thing that stuck out to me in both Restrepo and Fallen Angels was how the soldiers reacted to a kill. In Restrepo someone would get a kill the entire squad would celebrate it for one of there own fallen soldiers. This is very similar to what the soldiers in Fallen Angels would do to when they avenged a fellow soldier.
• In both Restrepo and Fallen Angels when the soldiers experienced a horrible situation, after when they would write to there family some soldiers would lie about the brutal realities of war.
• In Restrepo and Fallen Angels both squads have a very close relationship with one another. Seeing how each soldier relied on each other so heavily in Restrepo This really brought Fallen Angels to life.
• In both stories, the question"Why are we here and will our good intentions outweigh the costs?"In Restrepo were we being effective in the fight against terrorists?  In"Fallen Angels" the question was,"Were the people we were fighting for supporting the fight?"
• Will either squad justify the loss of there fellow Lt. Carroll or Restrepo for the minor part they played in the big picture.