Where+Men+Win+Glory+Third+Meeting

On your group's Wiki page, discuss the themes and images that your book contains. What are some of the images that are used? What do they seem to represent? Why do you think the author uses these images to convey his or her meaning?

The themes in 'Where Men Win Glory' include bravery, devoted service to your country, and pride. These are the traits that Pat Tillman displayed in throughout the course of the story, from his high school football days to his unfortunate death in Iraq. The image that stuck out the most in the book was George Bush's speech at Veteran's Stadium on the JumboTron. The picture of the president with the American flag over his shoulder speaking about his decision to wage war on al-Qaeda represents the beginning of the end of Tillman's football career. It became the first step in his transformation from a football hero to a national symbol of devotion. The author, Jon Krakauer, uses this image as an example of why Tillman decided to make this decision. The way he pondered the president's words showed the difference between him and the vast majority of the world's athletes. What does Marie’s reaction to the news of Pat Tillman’s death reveal about her?

Although we can feel that Marie is devastated, she never shows it to the media or loses her composure. This shows that she was a product of Pat Tillman, showing traits that he had demonstrated all his life.

What does the author mean when he says in the last sentence, “In which case it wasn’t a tragic flaw that brought Tillman down, but rather a tragic virtue”?

The author attributes the death of Tillman to his devotion of his country, not his failure to stay in the NFL. The last paragraph in the book is a tribute to his 'stubborn idealism', a trait that drove Tillman to make it to professional football and then to enlist in the army.

Why do you think that Marie never directly blame Tillman for not staying in America and living a satisfying life?

It was clear that she respected his decision to fight for his country, and never complained about Tillman putting his country before himself or even his family.

Do you believe Tillman’s image was wrongfully used by the government for propaganda and if so, how?

We believed his image was used both ways. It was used as a symbol of patriotism and as a hero, which he was. However, they took it too far by covering up the fratricide and continuing to use the image of Iraqis killing an American hero as motivation for people to enlist.

How do you believe the fratricide situation could have been handled better by the higher-ups?

Yes, Pat's death should not have been portrayed as death by combat.

Summary:

As Brian and I finished the book, I never realized how inspiring Pat's story really is. As I started to get towards the end of the book, I became disappointed that the book was winding down. I truly believe that anyone would enjoy this book because it is more than your typical American hero story. It has true life lessons throughout the book, it talks about sports, and has so many different genres across the spectrum that people of any taste would enjoy. We both really loved this book and as someone who doesn't love a lot of books, I've never read a book like this. I would definitely give this book a ten out of ten because although I loved reading the book, I felt like I could talk about the book the entire discussion time allotted.