Helmet for My Pillow
discussion
Nicknames
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Jana
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
May 22, 2008 06:00PM
Why do you think the author only used nicknames? To protect identities? To stave off people who remember people or events differently and would challenge him?
reply
|
flag
Not sure that the individuals are not known. I have never heard that there are issues with the bio. Plenty of the individuals are known who are in the book and search on the net throws lots of them up with even youtube interviews. Check this link out as an example. Edit. Wrong link. Here are some others that may help.
http://uselesstriviaandmindlessrants....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtbKH4...
I think it's more about the camaraderie Leckie got from the Marine Corps. Like a college fraternity or any other group where men share a bonding experience, nicknames often prevail ... I never got the impression that Leckie was trying to protect anyone ... he pretty much said what he saw.
just pretty sure that once u get a nickname in the marines it stickes with u for the remainder of ur life watch the pacific too pretty good if u dont mind gore and cursing
Jana wrote: "Why do you think the author only used nicknames? To protect identities? To stave off people who remember people or events differently and would challenge him?"
Finished "Helmet" recently: I think they came up with nicknames more often than not so as not to get too close personally for fear of many too close to them would possibly die in battle. The Marines stuck close to a few good buddies. Too many losses of close personal friends may be too hard to take. Leckie even referred to another Marine as "Rutherford", as in Rutherford, NJ, his own hometown. It was a casual acquaintance during the war. He didn't want another clsoe friendship that would be too close because of the risk. This Marine was later killed in battle. For him, it prevented a close loss of another friend.
I think it also brings you closer to the men. If you know someone's name it's just a name but if you know him by the name given to him by his buddies they become more human and therefore someone you begin to care for.
My two cents..I don't think these were nicknames used at the time, but were instead a literary device to give an "everyman" flavour to the Marines he served with. Few people know Lew Jurgens but many know a chuckler or a runner. In the case of the officers it may have served to avoid libel actions. One of my favourite books,read many time since I bought it in the late '70s
I think the reason the author put nicknames to his superiors and buddies is because those nicknames are connected and reminded him from something/somewhere he know of.Another theory is maybe because of some legal issues that Leckie might face if those buddies of him read it and argue something about them that were written in the memoir. Remember that the book was published just 12 years after the end of the war so I think the events are still fresh with their memories at that time.
I think everybody was called by a nickname it's just part of being a close unit. Just like a family has nicknames a Marine unit is a family as well, makes you part of the family.
Very good book. I really enjoyed it. I did like With the Old Breed better. But overall this is a great book.
I believe authors can get sued if a reader believes the author is talking about him/her.
all discussions on this book
|
post a new topic
