Blog #5

Massey has three different side that are all fighting against each other in Torn. First there are the soldiers which is the side that Elinor is on. Then there is the Taliban which is who  the soldiers are mainly fighting to protect the people of Afghanistan. Then there is the fairly new group of the Young Martyrs made up of young boys who fight against both the soldiers and Taliban. At one point during a fight between the Young Martyrs and the Taliban, Elinor saw the mysterious girl get shot. The way Massey describes her reaction sums up how most would react to the situation with these young children going to war. "It is so sudden and so violent, this contrast between innocence and the wild reality of war, that I think I might throw up". These children, most probably younger than 14, going to war is tragic and it's hard to believe that this also happens today. Massey does an excellent job of bringing to light situations that some don't want to or refuse to believe but are sadly true.

Blog #4

The most intriguing thing about this story so far is this young girl. Elinor's roommate, Heidi, who is a stone face corporal and a medic, has seen the young girl too but her reaction was strange. "But she looks stunned- no, more than that- she looks almost... frightened, her gun hanging uselessly at her side." Elinor is stunned by the fact that her superior is scared of a seemingly harmless girl. Massey adds to the mystery of her with what other people have told the her about the girl. Heidi warns Elinor against the girl telling her that "she is dangerous". The one of the Young Martyrs is captured and he tells Elinor that the girl's name is Aroush and that she is good luck; a "messenger of Allah". The boy says that "she was in a schoolroom when the planes come. Direct hit." Elinor can only assume that that the planes were missiles and she survived. This girl seems like a myth and I wonder if Massey will ever reveal what the truth about her is. The mystery Massey has built is great and maybe she will symbolize something greater.

Blog #3

As the story continues after the fire fight with the minors, the whole base wants to know why these children are fighting. Elinor and her team go through multiple villages who are hostile towards everyone who is outside of their village until the sound of distant gunfire catches their attention. As the get nearer Elinor once again sees the mysterious girl in her blue dress and Elinor swears she sees her get shot. But later as they follow a blood trail they see that the girl is alive and perfectly fine but the blood came from a boy she was with. As the boy, Farshad dies he tells Elinor that the children fighting are the Young Martyrs who "kill murderers" like the soldiers and Taliban. Before Fashad dies, the girl tells him "Salamun Alaykum" which Massey later tells the reader that it is from the Qur'an as a welcome from the angels to the dead when they enter paradise. The girl then disappears once again and Massey leaves us just as confused as Elinor. Is she really going crazy or is this girl an angle of death?

Blog #2

Here is where the action comes in. Massey is great at creating such a tense and suspenseful atmosphere as Elinor has to save a member of her team while the other half of her team was in a gun fight with minors. Massey also does a great job of showing the chaos of being on not necessarily the battlefield but pretty close. The way Massey describes the fire fight with words like "shorter blasts" and " the crisper, more controlled sound" really show a contrast with the fir power that each side has. Then Massey describes how Elinor is reacting showing how tense the situation is with "Sweat is dribbling from my forehead and into my eyes now". Then a young girl emerges out of nowhere and stares at Elinor unmoving. Her stoic nature is the complete opposite of the panic that is going on all around them. Then after she leaves Massey throws the reader back in as Elinor is preparing to blow the I.E.D. that a member of her team is standing on. They all make it out alive but Massey leaves me wondering how this mysterious girl will tie into the rest of the story.

Blog #1

The main character of the book, Torn by David Massey, is Private Elinor Nielson and the story starts off with her first day in Afghanistan. During her first morning, Elinor has to take a shower and as she does there were men on top of the neighboring building. Because of this, the men saw everything. This part that Massey describes is one of the reasons why people have reservations about allowing women into the military. Around the time I read this part, we were having a discussion, in my history class, of whether women should be allowed into the military, the topic of which I was all for. The reason for the reservations is mainly due to the fact of cases of sexual assault in the military, which I believe the solution is remind the soldiers why they are there in the first place, to protect their country. So if people are willing to give their lives for their country I say let them. That's why soldiers are regarded with the utmost respect and I don't think anyone should be denied that especially due to gender. I can't imagine having being in Elinor's position as a 19-year-old medic in such a hostile environment, and as result Massey has gained my respect for character. And I'm looking froward to reading more.