How The World Changes The Self

Analytical Essay:

The world is constantly changing.  When people are young they don’t catch on to the change as easily.  Once those people get older they start to question whether they’ve changed as well or is the world just changing drastically around you.  Though many people believe that either the world changes a person or they change the world, the truth is that both happen simultaneously, with each being affected by the other's changes.


War is something that has been on and off between countries for many many years.  “The Yellow Birds” by Kevin Powers is a fictional story about the Iraq war.  Powers was a soldier who fought in the war so he used his first hand experience to make the story as realistic as possible.  "I was not surprised by the cruelty of my ambivalence back then. Nothing seemed more natural than someone getting killed."  This is a quote from “The Yellow Birds.”  The character saying the quote proves that the world is starting to change him and how it has changed him since then.  During the war he got used to death because it happened so frequently.  Since he’s talking about how he thought of death during that time in the past tense it is assumed he no longer is so numb to death.  The world may have changed his outlook on death atleast twice in his lifetime.  


The Yellow Birds really shows how numb the war makes soldiers.  the way almost every character talks about war makes it seem so common.  “People are going to die,' he said flatly. 'It's statistics.' Then he got up and left the room."  This quote proves that not only does this particular soldier look at death as a common thing, but also shows that life itself loses its quality and is not as valuable.  He views people’s lives as statistics or numbers.  Soldiers thought that if they’re numb to loss then they’ll survive the war, but they didn’t survive the war at all spiritually.  They turned numb to loss and almost lost the emotion of sadness.  Losing any emotion is like partially losing a quality of life, or losing something that proves a person is a healthy, living human being.


The last quote from “The Yellow Birds” isn’t like the other quotes.  The other two quotes do not occur when a death happens, but this quote does.  "I'll yell, I thought. I'll tell him they are old, let them pass... I said nothing.  Holy sh**, that bit** got murdered... there was no grief, or anguish, or joy, or pity in that statement. There was no judgement made. He was just surprised."  This quote proves that this particular soldier doesn’t grief the death of the woman at all.  He only feels surprised that she died, and will most likely get over it by the next day.  The world around him has changed soldiers outlook on death and life in general.  

In an interview, the author of “The Yellow Birds” Kevin Powers said “ I wonder why people are the way they are. I wonder how do we justify the things that we do, because it always seems like we are doing terrible things. But the stories that we tell ourselves are always about our goodness and our idealism and that contradiction has been interesting to me throughout my whole life.” This is an example of how people change the world or how it’s looked at by other people.  If all people hear about is good things in the news or any source, then they’ll believe the world is a good place and change its reputation everyone has of it.  When all the news talks about is negative things going on in the world it changes people’s outlook on it in a negative way.  Some may be concerned with the world when it’s in this state and some may just lose hope in the people around them.

There’s lots of different ways the world changes people physically, mentally, and emotionally.  People can only change the world physically and how other people look at it.  “The Yellow Birds” depicts a very negative and sad world where the soldiers are fighting emotionlessly and are not phased by anything going on around them. In a world like that the people will not continue to prosper and do great things like they have continued to do for centuries.





Works Cited for Analytical Essay:


Powers, Kevin. The Yellow Birds: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Print.

"An Exclusive Interview with Kevin Powers, Poet and Iraq War Veteran, about His Debut Novel, The Yellow Birds." Foyles. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015

Narrative Essay:

Growing up I never had to worry about money.  My parents always gave me money in exchange for doing things they ask of me.  Then once I got a little older, like any other kid my demand for money became higher and higher.  When I asked for a cell phone my parents told me the only way I could get one is if I can pay the bill.  So I got a paper route and started delivering papers. I got paid enough to pay my bills and occasionally some spending money for a week or two.  In the summer I’d do landscaping jobs with my friend Stephen just because my demand for spending money is higher when I have more free time. Last year I realized that I needed more money than Both a paper route or mowing lawns could provide, so as soon as I turned 17 I started looking for a job.  I didn’t find a job until around June.  I started working at a nursing home in Andorra called “Cathedral Village”.  I didn’t care how much they paid me hourly I just wanted money in my pocket over the summer especially since I had a girlfriend I knew dates would be expensive.  

As I got older a lot changed.  The things I bought, the amount of food I ate.  I just would not be able to make $40 last a whole month.  My world changed around me in that sense because prices of things I liked such as food, video games, and hockey equipment all went up in price.  The price of things is constantly changing because there is more of a demand or less of a demand for them.

Once I got a job it definitely impacted my weekly routine.  In the summer I worked about 24 hours a week.  When I used to delivers the newspaper I had to only work once a week for an hour.  I wasn’t used to having that little amount of free time, especially in the summer.  When I was younger I barely knew what day of the week it was in the summer.  But now I constantly have to keep track of it.  It was a real adjustment for me.  Getting a job was entering the real world for me.  A world I had previously not even thought about.  My world felt like it was moving too fast and because of that I had to change things I did and when I did them, like sleeping.  I stay up late and sleep late in the summer.  With a job I couldn’t do that because if I slept from 4am-4pm every day then I wouldn’t get to see any friends or my girlfriend on days I worked.  So I slept at a decent hour and still got to see friends and my girlfriend.  

The world changing around me resulted in me changing to adjust to the real world. Prices of things I wanted went up and I needed money if I really wanted those things.  I also plan to drive this year so I’ll need money for insurance, gas, and eventually a car.  Having a job matured me.  It got me used to working long days.  My world will continue to constantly change and I’ll change with it.  The key is to take everything day by day and one thing at a time.  


Comments (2)

Huzaifah Malik (Student 2016)
Huzaifah Malik

Overall, I would say that your essay is well written, I really like the narrative part because it shows the deep understanding of the 'change' which everyone face in their life. I feel like your thesis is definitely insightful which shows the truth of how the world and the person changes simultaneously. Good job!

Mali Fenning (Student 2016)
Mali Fenning

What grabbed my attention in your analytical essay was how you made a point to show how the war changed how the soldiers reacted to trauma. You were very clear in pointing out how soldiers often become emotionless. I think your thesis in itself was very interesting as well.