Chasing Ghosts

Novels and plays, and even memoirs often depict characters caught between colliding nations. In the memoir Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff, the author Paul Rieckhoff experiences a collision between nations while fighting for The United States of America in a war taking place in Iraq. Paul Rieckhoff responds to this cultural collision in his memoir and even criticizes our government and speaks his mind about many tragedies and disappointments along the way.

Paul Rieckhoff is a soldier who disagrees with the war and explains his responses of the war through his memoir. By the end of the memoir, Paul is criticizing George Bush and his exaggeration towards some events in Iraq. (Pg. 306) “America was not safer. And it was his fault. And despite all this, he was going to win the presidential election in November. I was sure of it.” George Bush in Paul’s point of view is wrong in sending the troops into Iraq and knowing that things are going wrong over there, but then admitting that everything is fine. Paul Rieckhoff doesn’t agree with this, because Bush is the president and to Paul that is something he doesn’t look up to in Bush, especially since he has the feeling he will be reelected as president. (Pg. 306) “So my new band of brothers and I focused our eyes on the ball. We would fix what the most powerful people in the world had broken.” Bush was reelected president, and Paul believes that our country is still in jeopardy and the only way it can be fixed is to end the battle in Iraq, which Paul plans on doing and he is looking up to him and his brothers fixing the problems in this country. This part of the memoir is relevant to the memoir as a whole, because it shows a lot about Paul Rieckhoff. He is a soldier who wants to fight for his country, but at the same time he disagrees with the war and how it was planned. Paul is a man who doesn’t mind expressing his true feelings, in which he does a countless number of times in this memoir. He even criticizes Bush and his acts towards the war, and shows no fear while doing so, which shows how strong of a man he is.

The memoir starts off with Paul on his way toward Iraq and seems anxious as well as pissed off. As we know, Paul is not the biggest fan of George Bush and even though he disagrees with the man in charge of the war, he still has the strength to fight for his country. (Pg. 1) “George Bush had better be fucking right.” Those are the words of Paul Rieckhoff and are also the first line he uses to start off his memoir. Paul is basically stating that Bush was wrong in sending troops into Iraq and that there was probably a better way to handle it. In Paul’s mind, he feels that Bush will be brought down if the war is a mistake and a lot of men are injured or killed, which reflects back to Paul stating that Bush better be right. (Pg. 309) “George Bush wasn’t fucking right. But now we have the means to fix what he broke.” Again, Paul expresses his feelings towards Bush and the way he runs the country. After Paul had fought in Iraq, he realizes that Bush wasn’t right and that more troops would be sent into Iraq to fill in and keep the battle going. The only way Paul can see our country being fixed, is for the people of the country to step up and take action. Beginning and Ending the memoir with these words, are very significant to the memoir as a whole, because at first, it gives the reader the acknowledgement that Paul doesn’t agree with Bush, and then by restating it at the end of the memoir keeps the reader informed that Bush was wrong and that Paul isn’t a big fan of Bush, but still had the guts to fight in the war, not for Bush, but for his country and freedom. This quote also gives the reader the idea that Paul is going to bring out his emotions and some events that he probably had rough times with in this memoir, and also gives the reader that Paul isn’t afraid to speak his mind, which keeps the reader reading, which is very important to the text.

When Paul returns home, he has some words for Bush about policies that had affected him and his men during the war. (Pg. 271) “So I called the Bush campaign headquarters. I told the kid who answered the phone that I had just returned from Iraq.” I also left messages with the Veterans for Bush campaign. No one called me back. Big surprise.” Paul is again bringing up Bush, because he called for him and wanted to talk to him about the war and some issues that should be addressed. This shows how Paul isn’t afraid of Bush and doesn’t care about speaking his mind. When Paul gets no call back, he doesn’t really get affected by it, because he figured it would happen. This shows how Paul has no trust in Bush and his character, and also proves that maybe Bush knows he was wrong and that some of his actions were not well planned. This all relates to the text, because again it shows Paul’s character, and gives the reader an idea that Bush doesn’t really think on his acts towards something as serious as war.

In conclusion, Chasing Ghosts is a memoir which depicts the national collision America has with Iraq. It is also a memoir in which a character struggles during the collision of nations and then explains his feelings and responds to the country in some crazy ways. The story starts out with Paul sort of criticizing Bush and explains the reason for the war. Paul is shown as a character that doesn’t really care about expressing his feelings towards war and saying what he wants to say. This all comes down toward the theme of the memoir, in which war is a horrible thing and should be taken seriously. In Paul’s eyes, Bush wasn’t following that meaning and this memoir came out of those issues. Paul believes that the only way in which this country can be fixed, is if we do it ourselves and if Bush isn’t reelected.