was released in 1968, and it was addressed to young Julian, a son of John Lennon, who was a
close friend to McCartney and a member of the Beatles Band. It was written to comfort him
as his parents were going through a divorce, and its lyrics have since comforted many others.
“Hey Jude” comes out as a heartening and morale-boosting song that’s intention is to
raise the spirits of Jude, a young individual in desolation, and motivate him to chase the girl
of her dreams. The speaker starts off by stating, “…don’t make it bad…” [Verse 1]
attempting to motivate Jude not to concentrate on the bad things, and rather on the good
through taking “a sad song…” and transforming it into better. This can also be interpreted
accepting the difficult situation devoid of complaining and trying to deal with it in the best
way possible; making the best out of it. The speaker gives Jude advice to let the girl he is in
love with into his heart for him to begin to “make it better” [verse 1].
The speaker maintains that Jude will be happier and better the moment he and his girl
become close. Similarly, Kiowa, being the emotional compass of Alpha Company in “The
Things They Carried” attempts to comfort O’Brien during the period he experiences
emotional turmoil after killing the North Vietnamese soldier. Kiowa is committed to easing
Obrien’s transitions when he arrives at the war, constantly conversing with him to ease his
tensions (O'Brien, 2009). It is therefore clear that as human beings, we all need some comfort
when life becomes difficult, and most importantly, we need caring friends to step in and
comfort us when life becomes too much to bear.
Relationships and divorce are part of life. Emotional loss through separation and
divorce is as hard as physical loss through death. In his narration, Martel (2001) states, “To
lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a
tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above
you.” Martel is talking about physical loss through death, which causes anguish and
emotional drain such as the one that has engulfed Jude. Nevertheless, in the second and
