Purple Heart: Theme

     I have just finished Purple Heart, by Patricia McCormick, and it is a very strong and deep book. This book has many social issues, a story line that really impacts you, and a strong message that the author is trying to get to the readers. Purple Heart is about the story of Private Matt Duffy in Iraq. Matt Duffy is a new soldier that got shot by an RPG while in combat and ends up in an army hospital. When he wakes up in the army hospital, he's honored with a Purple Heart, which is a medal given to heroes. Even though he has this award, he doesn't feel like a hero. The reason why he doesn't feel like a hero is because he has a memory of a young boy that he knows, Ali, being shot. Matt feels like he shot him, but it was actually his friend Justin, who had shot Ali. Ali was just a little kid who enjoyed playing soccer and who was homeless, and he was shot because of the war. Also, when they went to the market and the whole market was being shot at, it showed the effect of war. I think that the theme, and the message that the author is trying to get to us is that the effect of war is really bad, and it affects many people.
     First of all, the author is trying to make us realize that war kills many innocent people. Just like the incident with Ali. Ali was in the alleyway where the battle was taking place, and he ended up getting a bullet hitting his chest. Since Matt had a feeling that he was somehow involved in his death, he really didn't feel like a hero, and he feels really bad about it. It really hurts Matt. Matt can't think about anything and he never gets that image out of his head. It haunts him. Also, when Matt's squad gets sent to patrol the market, a blast occurs and a gunfight starts. Before the blast, Charlene, Matt's friend, was just looking at rugs that this man and his son was selling. Everything was normal and innocent people were going on with their lives. As it said in the text, "The mood in the market was lively, like it was the day of the festival.People took their time shopping , milling around the various stalls, stopping to watch an old man dancing in front of a boom box instead of scurrying from stall to stall as they had before the ceasefire" (177). Everything was normal, but then a blast occurred. As it said in the text, "There was nothing left of the rug seller's stand except a piece of torn plastic sheeting flapping in the wind," (178). Since there was nothing left of the stand, the rug seller and his son must have died or at least have gotten injured from the blast. The rug seller didn't do anything, he was so innocent, and him and his son might have died.
     Second of all, war really affects the soldiers. Including the basic effect of being a soldier, which is actually being hurt, like what Matt, Justin, Wolf, and Charlene experiences, they also leave a family far away that needs them and being far away from the ones you love. Many soldiers get hurt and it can get more serious than just an injury and actually cause death. When Charlene and Wolf died from the blast in the market, Matt was really affected by it and was hurt. After that incident occurred, Matt was just sitting around the barracks all day long thinking. Matt even recapped the whole incident and remembered what had happened to his friends. Quotes of Justin were stuck in his head. "He wasn't who you thought he was," (184), was a line that was stuck in his head from what Justin said. Also, all of the soldiers have families back home that they support and love, and now the soldiers left their families. When Wolf died, some people were saying that Wolf's little sister was sending him Rice Krispie Treats.
     In conclusion, the theme of Purple Heart is that war affects many soldiers and innocent people, and that is just wrong. All these people have loved ones, and it really hurts the victim's family. The author, Patricia McCormick, wants us to feel that war is very bad and that war really messes up a country and all of its people. The author wants us to know that war kills many innocent people, such as Ali and the people from the market. The same happened on September 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 people died from the attacks that took place that day, and they were just innocent business people. They just went to work, like every other day, but this day, many died. I hope that the theme of this book gets across to every person who reads this book.