The Human ConditionBy Sam McKendree

ThesisThesis

The Red Badge of Courage and Saving Private Ryan display the blatant disregard for human life during times of war. This is shown by the characters walking over corpses of fallen soldiers, soldiers shooting their enemies after they've surrendered and Henry and Capt. Miller's disregard for their own lives.

The soldiers in The Red Badge of Courage and Saving Private Ryan basically ignore the dead bodies of comrades and foes alike.

They simply step over the bodies or they take their possessions such as ammo and guns, or in Henry's case, a flag.

In Saving Private Ryan, they did everything they could to help surviving injured soldiers, but they also ignored the dead and treated them as though they were nothing more than an obstacle in their path.

Take No PrisonersTake No Prisoners

In Saving Private Ryan, when they stormed the beach, there were German soldiers that surrendered, set down their guns and raised their hands in the air. Some American troops shot them anyway.

I don't know if that was their orders, or if they were just angry about the war and loss of comrades.

Whether it was orders to do so or not, the higher ranking officers seemed to just look the other way when it was happening.

Captain Miller's SacrificeCaptain Miller's Sacrifice

In Saving Private Ryan, Captain Miller sacrifices himself, trying to grab the detonator so that he might blow up the bridge, making it unusable by the Germans. He stands up, knowing that he will most likely get shot, and almost gets to the detonator.

Captain Miller gets shot, but the bridge gets blown up!

He ends up dying from bullet wounds, but his ultimate mission was accomplished: saving Private Ryan.

Henry's Disregard For His Own LifeHenry's Disregard For His Own Life

When the flag bearer died, Henry picked up the flag and charged with it into battle.

Henry charged into battle with no regard for his well being; he simply wanted to prove his manliness at any cost, even if he died.

Disregard for Human LifeDisregard for Human Life

The truth is that we're all going to die. The movie we watched and the book we read both showed that, yet people manage to make life less important and less meaningful than it truly is in certain, life-threatening situations.

Impact On MeImpact On Me

This whole unit has shown me that everyone needs to live life to the fullest, since you never know if or when it'll get cut short.

As many people say, “You only live once!” so live each moment of each day to the fullest.

Of course, you should do the things you need to do, like working and going to school, but you should enjoy the little things about both!

Sites UsedSites Used

http://bkn29.tumblr.com/post/13781046500/yolo-you-only-live-once-thats-the-motto

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vFvz3sp9N4Q/Tx30hiiW0kI/AAAAAAAAAGE/bao3pdVfrKo/s1600/Lifetitle.jpg

http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0408/ddayImage1.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7OVdJJesc5U/SjZ2YY1SeQI/AAAAAAAAAII/xKHlgGleQOw/s320/rboc.jpg