English free choice book Final

The theme of Blackhawk down

Christopher Len

 

The book Blackhawk down is an interesting read about a battle fought in the 20^th century. The book Blackhawk down is about the battle of Mogadishu fought on October  3-4 1993, and it is also about what the men had to experience and go through when they fought this battle. The men were originally supposed to go in by helicopter to secure the target building, and to load the captured militants onto humvees. Then the men were to run out of the city on foot.  Unfortunately the extraction did not go as planned. This brings me to the theme of the book, which can be tied in with this. The theme of the book is that one must never underestimate the circumstances for doing that may yield unwanted results.

The theme of Blackhawk down can be interpreted many ways. One theme could be that man may underestimate his enemy and may begin his downfall. In the book Black hawk down, the rangers have underestimated the Somalis. They mistook them for an unorganized, group of men, who when challenged would take a few wild shots and run. However they then proceeded to think that this would allow them to walk in unchallenged and take the top lieutenants in Farrah Aidid’s militia. Since they had no real challenge they left behind most of the gear that they would need, partially because they expected it to be easy, and partially because they thought it would only take 90 minutes. What ended up happening was: things didn’t go according to plan. The Somalis put up more of a fight then the rangers expected them to. Now the rangers have to fight against a fully trained militia, one that will not back down. Another problem is civilians; the rangers are use to the conventional warfare, one that involves shooting at targets that are armed. In Mogadishu the people who were not armed would throng to disturbances like flies to sugar. This makes it all the much harder for the rangers to distinguish their targets from civilians. This is another reason why the rangers underestimated their enemies; they thought that the armed men would just show themselves, that they would be discernable and easy to see. But they underestimated the Somali militias will to succeed, and did not prepare for some battle that involved shooting civilians. The theme of never underestimate the circumstances, also ties in with the title of Blackhawk down. The title, which suggests the whole theme of the book is about a Blackhawk that goes down, is very correct but it does not imply the reason the Blackhawk went down. The reason that the Blackhawk went down is because the pilots and the rangers did not expect the Somali militia to have RPGS or any tactics that could quickly down a helicopter. So naturally when the Somali militias showed up with their RPGS and their aim up tactics the rangers were caught unawares. So they shot down 2 Blackhawks with their RPGS and the rangers lost several pilots, all because they underestimated their enemy. Sometimes though the rangers were not underestimating the Somalis but they also underestimated the circumstances. When Blackburn fell from a fast rope he dropped 70 feet to the ground. He was carrying extra M60 ammunition and so he was heavier than he had ever been on a fast rope. The only reason that he injured himself is because he missed the rope entirely, from over excitement or from the height of the drop. What is clear is that he underestimated the circumstances of the insertion, and so ended up removed from the action and severely injured with neck, back, and head injuries. The theme of the book Blackhawk down is how the rangers underestimated their enemies and paid for it with blood.

            One of the main themes of Blackhawk down is that you should never underestimate the circumstances. This underestimation of the circumstances will often lead to terrible, often disastrous results. This can be attested by the example of the rangers and the somlian militia and how that turned out. This is relevant information for all people, for by passing this information over you are making a mistake. Your mistake is simple yet will have major repercussions later on. And though the repercussions may not be as momentous as the battle of Mogadishu it will still have the same reasons behind it.  Do not pass this information over. Do not underestimate this theme, for it holds the truth, or the future. Be prepared.