The War

 Word Count: 268 words

Throughout Marguerite's words, we get an honest recap of the events following World War II, and all the hardships faces along the way. She has many emotions and struggles as she nurses her dying husband back to health through this time. The way her story is written is broken up, shown in different parts and thoughts as if she wrote different parts sporadically. She wrote like a diary, recounting her most vivid times. She says, "I recognize my handwriting and the details of the story... But I can't see myself writing the diary. When would I have done so, in what year, at what time of day, in what house?" I really have tried to dig into this quote, confused about how she could have forgotten about writing the recall of such important events in her life. Potentially the trauma and extreme emotion made her forget smaller details such as journaling? One traumatic experience for her would be not knowing if her husband was dead or alive, dreading hearing the result as she was terrified. I think the what if in this scenario would completely eat me alive. Another powerful line she said was, "You don't exist anymore in comparison with this waiting. More images pass through your head than there are on all the roads in Germany. Bursts of machine gun fire every minute inside your head. And yet you're still there, the bullets aren't fatal." This quote shows how she was completely lost within herself with fear and trauma, the possibilities were endless and she was worrying sick. Overthinking will kill you before the news does.