As a spoiled teenager under his parent’s loving care, Hemon took for granted his regular meals and insulted and degraded them, undermining its not-so-elegant significance. Hemon establishes points of familiarity with the reader – mostly to American children; the spoiled, unthankful generation capital of the world – by addressing common childhood thoughts and experiences. What sane child wouldn’t mind a long break from their “oh-so-horrible” parents? Hemon then goes into a lengthy reminisce of his meals in the military, surfacing a humble apathy by putting emphasis on the small-portions and monotony of the meals, followed by a recount of a man so desperate for proper meals that he starves himself in protest. He puts emphasis on the unattractiveness, which is stating it lightly, of the referred object, adding harsh detail to what would without be considered ordinary. In addition to recounting a life-changing experience, he impresses a moral: do not take things for granted, because you might not have them tomorrow.            

Immediately after introducing his story, Hemon starts winning over the comfort ability of children – young adult readers. He speaks from a spoiled child’s point of view, denouncing his parents as annoying, useless, and in the way. Typical childhood thoughts, every kid has had this particular idea course through their minds a few, if not more, times in their life. A parentless household with a TV, snacks, and no rules is every teenager’s dream, right? Hemon most likely believes that the younger generation  would be very minimally affected by his article had he not appealed to them, making them his opinion into mire thoughtful consideration. During the time and place that Hemon experienced this, extreme underage labor was being practiced throughout his country, placing children en masse into dangerous scenarios like coal mines and factories. We can assume, from the vain attitude in the beginning, that Hemon’s family made enough money so that he did not have to work as a child. Alternately, he witnessed all the child labor first-hand, incubating his disapproving ideas of it from an early age. Modern Americans, void of this long-term hate, need another tact to obtain their unconcerned attention. Namely, relating to them on a conceded level that they are used to. That says something about how American children are being raised

Nostalgic recounts of Hemon’s food deprived life as a military grunt brings a humble yet effective apathy for his malnourished lifestyle. Plagued by rancid food and insignificant portions that any modern American would turn their nose up at, Hemon reminisces on the inadequacy of it all “For breakfast we got a piece of dry bead, a boiled egg, a packet of rancid margarine, and occasionally a slice of gooey unsmoked bacon; we washed it all down with tepid sweet tea or decondensed milk in plastic cups that had been absorbing grease for all eternity.” The degrading level of sustenance provided is substantially less than what the average reader is accustomed to. This also questions to health risks and inhumane treatment of soldiers in the Yugoslav army. People will instinctively relate these horrid factors to military in general, ourselves included, surfacing a desire to become an activist  against the mistreatment of the men and women who die for us. Some would be inclined to show people the horrors of military life, exposing the inhumane conditions and inadequate meals, which could be a secondary purpose of Hemon’s article. “The first bite of spinach pie – that sublime blend of spinach and eggs and phyllo pastry – brought tears to my eyes.” Sympathy is a typical emotion coming from those who haven’t experienced the horrors first-hand.

Hemon elaborates in an eloquent, albeit dirtily worded style. Entitling normally ordinary objects with dejecting emphasis and overwhelming imagery. Hemon uses explicit detailing to create a vivid image of what he had to go through, “…plus a cup of prune-based bowel-movement portion.” He relied on a more negative influence in his writing, in place of prettily-worded sentences, choosing words that draw sympathy and remorse, that bring the reader into the image of his military life and emphasizing the horrid nature of it all. At that time in his country, if you spoke out and complained you were normally killed to avoid protests; this fact makes me question why the rebelling-for-food man was allowed to live. Being that he was actively raising a rebellion within the ranks. Hemon may be using the man not only as an emphasis on the food, but also a relation to this, the unspoken knowledge that complaining was not tolerated, and brutally enforced. Using elaborate, vivid preludes to describe his military life with great imagery was an effect that made this article appealing.

Hemon in his article seeks to, in the main argument, produce a larger sense of gratitude for what children are given daily. He believes they are too spoiled and therefore take the essential things in life for granted. He doesn’t agree with the idea that a child’s wildest desire can possibly be living without a parent’s aid, the irony of it appalls him, seeing as how they couldn’t survive without parental supervision. Hemon uses a profound apathy throughout the article in conjunction with very articulated diction to establish credibility with the reader and hopefully influence them. He uses experiences that most American children can relate to, establishing a more profound comfortability and willingness to listen. As a spoiled teenager, Hemon was transformed by a grueling, under-fed, harsh-conditioned military life into a respectful adult that can preach reinforcing experience, improving his credibility on the subject. Through a compact, nostalgic recount of his most valuable life lesson, Hemon instills in the reader a larger sense of gratitude for that which we take for granted and also an overwhelming sympathy for soldiers in the military. Throughout the article Hemon portrays the most visible of his morals: don’t take what you consider ordinary for granted, they may seem superfluous or in abundance, but when you don’t have them, you’ll be wishing you did.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia