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A Woman in War: Exposing Secrets
Coded Interview This file provides the passages from the interview that I used to create this synopsis.
The purpose of this study is to analyze how living during a period of war and serving for one’s country changed characteristics of the subject’s life. By examining what the subject told us in the interview about her pre and post war lives, we can see the characteristics of her life that changed because of the Second World War.
Changing Goals
The war changed many aspects of the subject’s, Eileen McGahhey, life. She told us in the interview of this study that before the war she wanted a business career as a buyer of childrenswear. This path was first diverted when the Blitz of Manchester occurred and her parents made her take a job as a typist closer to home. This is an occurrence of the war indirectly affecting her. She was not yet a contributor to the war effort or anyone involved, yet her life had been significantly altered by actions of the war. Her career path was altered again when she was drafted into the Army in 1942. She had to put her career goals on hold again to serve for her country. Three years later when the war ended, her goals in life had changed as now she was to go to America to live with her new husband. We can see the point here that the war affected the goals she had set prior to the war.
Personal Changes
Major changes happened in her personal life because of the war also. She met her husband because of the war. He was a member of the American army forces and the two met because the war was happening. If it had not been for the war, the two would have never met and McGahhey’s life would have been completely different. She probably would have settled down in England rather than America, she may or may not have had children. Who knows? The point here is that a seemingly outside force, and by that I mean a force that we cannot control, such as war proved to be a direct factor in the changes of ones life.
Family Dynamic
The structure of her family also changed because of this. Before the war she lived with her parents and was part of a close knit family there. Being drafted tore her away from this structure and forced her to become an adult quickly. She had to deal with serious, adult situations mainly being the reality of war. After her marriage she had a new family structure and left her parents, brother and sister behind when she went to America.
Thoughts on War
One factor that did not change was the subject’s view of war. Before she was drafted she stated she thought that war was horrible. From interviewing the subject, it is clear to see that she is a warm, caring, non-violent person. She continues to dislike the conflict of war and this most likely stems from the situations she endured as a young woman. She was only 20 years old when the war hit England in 1939. She learned the fear of war quickly, and as she revealed in the interview, the town she lived in was blitzed with bombs on several occasions. Her story in the interview of the incendiary bombs falling on her house, lets one imagine how scary a time this must have been. The story of losing her childhood school friends to the violence of war shows the personal impact that war incurs. These two accounts give reason to why someone would be against war. If she had not had these experiences she may be indifferent to the thought of war now.