The Blood Storm

I've been racking my brain as to how to respond to the play "The Sand Storm”, by Sean Huse.  The mere fact that I don’t have a reaction, stirred a reaction in me.  The play was graphic, violent, and disturbing.  And I have to think to respond to it?  That is a problem.  That would indicate that I’ve been exposed so much to hate, violence, and human suffering; that I don’t form an emotional response when I read about it.   I certainly wouldn’t have read this play if I wasn’t required to.  I don’t involve myself in war or political matters.  This put aside, or perhaps because of this, I would rather read about something that interests me.  Some people find war oh so fascinating.  I think they believe it to be something noble somehow.   I see war is a vial disregard for human life.  I was relieved to find that the play didn’t try to paint an image of heroism when it depicted the battles.  It showed how dishonorable some of the solders felt about themselves and what they ‘had’ to do.  There deeds ranged from disregard for the needs of others to outright massacre of innocent people.  The play described some of them with bloodlust having no regard for the destruction they had caused.  Others reflected on a single detail of a battle and why it was significant to them personally.  I feel that the mental trauma that war places on people goes a lot deeper then even they know.   It is a fundamental part of every human conscience to be aware of the suffering of others and to value human life.  War forces people to disregard these most basic instincts.  The adrenalin of fight or flight kicks in while in battle.  The solder can feel powerful even invincible.  They are so intent on self preservation they forget that these are human lives that are being ended around them.  Is it self preservation, though, if you volunteered to be a part of a battle?  If you don’t do everything in your power to avoid going to war aren’t you in a way responsible for what you ‘have’ to do while you are there?  It’s something to think about.  The act of war is put behind rosy glasses.  The media depicts taking out the bad guy, never killing the innocent bystanders.  And it certainly doesn’t stress that both of these individuals’ lives were valuable and shouldn’t be taken.  If no one went to war, would there be war anymore?

Source:
"SandStormFront." cafepress. Web. 19 Sep 2010
"Peace." chattahbox.com. Web. 19 Sep 2010