Analysis of The Target - Essay Example

THE TARGET Creative Personal Essay The poem, The Target, explains about a person who was in the firing squad in an event of war. This person had to shot a boy in self-defense. If he failed to shoot him, he would be the one shot by that boy and might have led to his death. The soldiers’ mother could not find any sleep, as she had no peace fearing that his son might be shot in the war and die. The soldier even goes ahead and wishes that it was better that he dies as this will ease the fears in his/ mother. After shooting that boy, thoughts about his actions start hitting his mind. He/she starts thinking what if that boy was the only son in his family. The soldier thinks what this boy’s parents would go through upon receiving the bad news of their son having been shot (Gloucestershire County Council, para.1). The soldier is in a state of dilemma. He/she had to shoot that boy because that was what the job dictated, and it was not what the heart wanted. One can clearly note the way he starts to think about the action he had done. The soldier also explains that if he is caught responsible for shooting the boy, he/she will explain to the boy that he also felt pain when he shot him. It was not his will to take that action but he was forced to, so he was too feeling the pain even more than the pain that the boy was going through from the bullet in his body (Gloucestershire County Council, paras1-2). My personal response to this piece is to encourage the soldier to go on with defending his country and not to give up at the call of his job. The soldier should not get any haunting after he shoots someone during the war, as what he is doing is with good intentions; to defend his country. The enemies he/she is fighting with are not good people as their aim is to cause harm and destabilize that country. The actions of the enemies call for the soldiers to fight them, and this will include shooting those enemies as he works in the firing squad. The soldier should also feel any pain when he shoots because he is doing it for his self-defense. I f he failed to fire, he would be the one who would be shot, and this would have cost him his life (Gloucestershire County Council, paras.1-2). The soldier should continue doing what his job requires him to do, which, in this case, is firing at the enemies with the aim of defending his country. He/she is not shooting with his motives. An example, shooting at a person because of personal grudges, but he doing it because it is what is right according to his job and the current situation of war in the country (Gloucestershire County Council, para.2). I would encourage the soldier to go on with defending his country without wishing that he died to rest the fears of his mother. It would be more painful for her mother if she received news that her son was killed in the war by being shot. I would encourage him that he is going to make it and will come out alive. The mother would feel so proud of his for son coming out of the war alive and having defended their country. The soldier should have a picture of the mother in mind, how happy she would be receiving her son back home after the war has been terminated. That picture in mind will make the soldier feel motivated and not feeling to give up or to despair. I t would be so painful for the mother to learn that his son gave up I the fighting and, as a result, he lost his son (Gloucestershire County Council, paras.2-3). I would persuade the soldier not to have thoughts that makes him pity the parents of the enemies that are bringing the war in their country. The enemies aims are to kill and cause harm to this country thus they are the reason for the firing squad to respond through shooting with an aim of bringing peace back to their country. If all those people I the enemy group were having good intentions towards that country, they would not have initiated the war. Having that in mind, the soldier should have it in mind that all he is doing is in good faith to protect and defend his country. His/her mind should not be disturbed by the action undertakes. He/she should be having in mind that when they defend their country from the enemies. After the war, peace will be back in the country and every citizen will be settled, as fears of attacks from those enemies will be gone. The mother will also be part of those rejoicing after the war comes to an end. The soldier should always remember that, as it will act as a push forward for him to continue with fighting for his country (Gloucestershire County Council, para.4). Statement of Goals I chose this project of encouraging the soldier to be strong and continue with his defending job because he/she is almost giving up with the war. The soldier needs to be strengthened so that he gets the morale to go on because the country needs his participation to attain peace back in the country. My initial goals are to make the soldier understand why he/she needs not t despair in the war and let him/her see the positivity of his actions as he focuses more o the adverse outcomes. His actions have positive results, as the enemies need to be dealt with so that the war comes to end restoring peace in the country (Gloucestershire County Council, paras.4-5). The choices I made, as I worked on my project, were to explain my points of view as to why this soldier should not feel any guilt. Moreover, he should not think that the mother fears would come to rest if the soldier dies in the war. On the contrary, the mother will feel more pain if she loses a child to the enemies due to despairing (Gloucestershire County Council, para.5). In completing this project, I understood that being in the firing squad is not an easy task. One finds himself in a dilemma at one point, as the inner feelings from the heart tries to question what the family of the person one has shot goes through upon learning the death of their loved one. On the other hand, one has to do it because that is what ones job requires. A soldier is to the danger of being shot by they are fighting against and that calls for an action of self-defense that is shooting. If a soldier delays taking the action, he/she will be on the receiving end of being shot by the enemies. This project made me appreciate the firing squad unit for the sacrifice they make while performing their duties in defending their country I times of war. The sacrifice they make shows their high level of patriotism toward the land they belong. In addition, this project made me feel that the soldiers need some people who encourage them regularly. The moral support can be of so much help in ensuring that they do not lose the urge to continue with their efforts in defending their country. The soldiers might feel that they have to give up but due to the moral support offered while they are performing their duties, they will have the morale to keep pressing on harder (Gloucestershire County Council, para.5-6). This project affected my opinion of the text by making me support the soldiers’ action of shooting the boy. It made me realize that the soldier had the obligation of firing the bullet on the boy as he was defending himself from being shot by that boy and defending the country from the war. I learned that I should always appreciate the work of the firing squad in defending a country as it takes a lot to be in that unit. One is to dangers of losing a life and the difficulties with that human heart that feels bad seeing that a life has been lost from ones action. I also learned that e should choose a job that one will fit in perfectly, and not going for a job that entails one to undertake activities that will later haunt one’s mind. In addition, I learned that parents care a lot about the welfare of their children always. A parent will be at peace I a situation that they are that their child is at safety. From this text, the soldiers mother did not sleep due to fears that her son was in danger at the time he was in the war to defend their country (Gloucestershire County Council, para.6). Works Cited Gloucestershire County Council. The Target. 2008. Web.28.04.2015 :< http://allpoetry.com/The-Target>. Read More