In THE WAR OF THE WALL, the narrator and Lou caught a painter lady, who wasn't even from around here, painting over their neighborhood wall and were concerned about Jimmy Lyon’s name chiseled at the top. He took them out fishing often but died in the Vietnam War. Despite their complaints and confrontations, the lady ignores nearly everyone and is shown to have a strict food diet when ordering from the narrator's mother's restaurant: she rejects the most basic ingredients in a dish. That week, Lou and the narrator thought up schemes like spray painting graffiti to stop the painter lady. But when they got there, she was long gone and could see through the crowds of people, a large mural full of familiar faces of famous African-Americans and even the neighborhood people like the narrator's family. On the top, the painter had found Jimmy Lyon's name chiseled and painted it in a rainbow with an inscription dedicated to the painter lady's cousin, Jimmy Lyons, who died in the Vietnam War.
Human conflicts, with the most serious and dangerous as wars, can not only harm a large part of the environment and many citizens but also break the connections between people within a community or social group. When people are harmed or sacrifice their lives to fight in large wars, the relationships between close people are messed up and create disharmony in a certain social group. In THE WAR OF THE WALL, the Vietnam War takes away Jimmy Lyons, a friendly member of the Taliaferro community, and influences others in the group too. Jimmy Lyons was friendly and close to many people in his neighborhood but sacrificed himself to fight in the Vietnam War. His death caused a series of discordant and inharmonious events, such as a hostile reaction to the painter lady painting a mural on the wall. Moreover, large, hot battles like the Vietnam War can cause small, internal wars or minor conflicts throughout the course of one’s life, just like how the Vietnam War causes the conflicts between the painter lady and the rest of the community. Human conflicts arise and cause serious damage to global communities and societies by hurting the members of a certain social group. The sacrifices made for the Vietnam War, taken as an example, caused the losses and deaths of 1,353,000 people and harmed over double the previous amount. Most wars force people to fight and sacrifice their lives for the sake of a country, and although that may help a nation, it does in fact damage many stable communities and increase the crease already made in some.
Within a community, many members judge newcomers a bit too quickly before ever understanding a person or a specific concept clearly and correctly. People are judged by not only their appearance, but also their actions, backgrounds, and culture; although these features do in fact reveal bits and pieces of a person, they still obscure the full image, leading to misunderstandings and quick judgment. In the short story, the painter lady is shown to be a stranger from New York who goes to Taliaferro Street and possesses peculiar habits, actions, background, food diet, and more. The painter lady, as described by the narrator, is like a thief who “steals” the neighborhood’s wall; she almost always ignores people who try talking to her and is so focused on her masterpiece that she never cares about all the commotion happening around her. She has many differences from other people in the Taliaferro community, such as her culture, beliefs, behavior, job, and lots more. Like the painter lady, there are always people who join a community suddenly every now and then who are completely unfamiliar with their surroundings and the habits of other experienced members. As a community member’s responsibility, people should welcome strangers and new members in the community, although it is hard to defeat the natural urge to judge someone immediately or too quickly. Most quotes warn people not to judge someone by their appearance, but other than that, one’s beliefs, backgrounds, actions, habits, and more can also create false impressions.
Our relationships and attachments to other people, especially in a specific social group or community, are securely connected and linked to the aspects of love, friendship, and remembrance and people who have played important roles in our lives. Furthermore, just like how every member in a community is interconnected to one another, a memory of one person is connected to one’s relationship and one’s sacrifice towards major things, even a war if possible. The short story shows in detail the aspect that many members of the Taliaferro community have a relationship and are linked to one another in a way. For example, Jimmy Lyons is greatly welcomed and is friends with nearly everyone, but after his death in the war, the connection between him and other members of the Taliaferro community either fades or strengthens. Here, Jimmy Lyons is remembered by many people, such as the painter lady (his cousin), and Lou and the narrator who chisel his name on the wall. His name is the most important reason by the two children dislike the stranger stealing their wall and dislike her entirely. The wall symbolizes Jimmy Lyons’ place in his community; although he has been taken by the war, he is still remembered by the people of Taliaferro Street, especially after viewing the masterpiece painted on the wall dedicated to him. Many people, just like Jimmy Lyons, are remembered in one way or another as their footsteps still haven’t vanished; people in a community are remembered by their relationships and connections with other members.
THE WAR OF THE WALL narrates a minor conflict between a neighborhood community and a stranger, who is also a painter, who paints on the neighborhood wall, much to Lou and the narrator’s annoyance and disapproval. At the very end, however, it is discovered that the painter lady only wants the community to remember her brave cousin, Jimmy Lyons, who died in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, like many other major human conflicts, cause people like Jimmy Lyons to sacrifice their lives and fight for their country, that can cause disharmony and imbalance in their community; the losses of one person can affect a social group entirely. Moreover, new people or strangers like the painter lady who suddenly who suddenly came across a community tend to be judged too quickly based on one’s actions, beliefs, habits, and lot’s more, while they don’t actually understand the stranger entirely, but only the bits and pieces of their story. The memory of someone who has left a community is strengthen when the concept is brang up or when a symbolistic object or thing is seen; the painter cleverly takes advantage of this (in a good way) to paint a mural on the neighborhood wall in order to let people remember her brave cousin, Jimmy Lyons, who died in the Vietnam War from until then.
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