A baby changes everything. This was no exception for the men in the camp. They were given a new human life and had no choice but to take care of it. I'm not so sure that it was their decision to change because of the baby, but it was the baby that changed them. They had to completely rearrange their lives all because of this child that they really had no responsibility for. It reminds me in a way of the Shakespeare quote, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." Raising a child is a great task... not everyone aspires to be a parent and not everyone can do it. These men had the responsibility of raising a child thrust upon them.
They wanted to do everything to be good parents to this child. They do things that they would not normally do to be good parents to this child. For instance the christening. "Tommy was christened as seriously as he would have been under a Christian roof, and cried and was comforted in as orthodox fashion." They took on completely different personalities. I find it interesting because they have almost found maternal instinct even though they are clearly not female. Something changes within a man when he becomes a father. Things that we was too "manly" to do before he suddenly does all the time. He becomes mushy in a way.
I agree in that I don't think they just changed because of the baby. Just having the baby in the camp changed them in a positive way in that it made them more selfless. They talk about how fighting was common in the camp before the baby. With the baby, they devote most of their time and energy to caring for the baby.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the transformation of the men was accomplished because of the baby, not necessarily something they all decided to do. It’s really interesting how you pointed out the “maternal instinct” the men found; I hadn’t even thought of it that way but I completely agree. The men hadn’t been around babies, or even women (besides Tommy’s mother), so it’s interesting that they were able to almost naturally pull things together. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the change among the men was not really a big decision. They were forced to take care of this child and so they take on the challenge and responsibility. As they are raising this child I believe a change comes within them without them realizing. They care so much about the little baby, which I find interesting since they are not really sensitive guys to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI liked seeing the reversal of roles. The way the men percieved the baby was completely different from the way woman would. I don't think the way the men changed was a big decision either. I don't think they had a lot of choice. Morally, taking care of the baby was the right thing to do. I don't think they intentially changed, but when it comes to raising a baby I think change just came naturally.
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