He did not have a choice and therefore he hated everything about serving other than the friend he made and the good times they shared together. Telling stories is what helps him find peace where there was none to be found. “How to Tell a True War Story” evaluates the relationship between war experience, storytelling, and friendship as a soldier’s insight is manipulated by the Vietnam War. Kiley’s reaction to his best friend Lemon’s death results to a strong representation of cruelty and suffering. “War is nasty; war is fun.
shows, but through real life people. It is almost certain that these men will probably experience some type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Combat fatigue,” “shell shock,” or “war neurosis” (Kulka) are all associated with PTSD. But with the weight of Lt. Cross’s men on his shoulders, their lives resting in his hands, is definitely hard. Battling the war of love in his head, asnd battling the Vietnam War as well, is a great means of PTSD in the making.
Caputo starts out as a young man who was just joining to rebel, but in the end he is a confident leader and knows exactly what to do in certain situations that come in his way. He also learns how attached he can become to certain soldiers when he undertakes the job of being the assistant adjutant as a casualty reporter. He starts realizing the true fears and looks death straight in the face and realizes that this war is all too real, and his friends are starting to die. While he is also in training he is learning how strict the commanding officers can be to him and what happens when you think or react too slowly to a certain situation. All of these traits change over the course of the book and he becomes one of the best leaders in the
These two themes show the ugly side of war. Insanity among the soldiers and the way they view each other is very unusual. The soldiers can’t conform to one another or follow a common set of rules. The reader also sees that regardless of his mental state, Yossarian can’t be discharged. The theme of death, is one that is against war.
The essays “Why Soldier Won’t Talk,” by John Steinbeck, and “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien, are both about their own personal experiences in war. The authors explain the awful life or death choices the soldiers must decide and consequently deal with for the real of their lives. Although both of the authors have experienced war, their viewpoints and descriptions of war are incredibly different from each other. In the essay, “Why Soldier Won’t Talk,” Steinbeck directly avoids using the word “I,” and instead speaks in second person references. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand the harsh and difficult living conditions the soldiers are living in.
An important theme throughout the poem is the concept of war used to glorify violence. The title of the poem which was widely used propaganda at that time exalts the concept of war, saying it’s a good and honourable thing to die for your country, but in reality, as evidenced by the soldier in the poem could not be more different. The idea of suffering is explored with the use of depressing and dismal language. The use of simile such as “bent double like old beggars” gives the impression that the soldiers have been prematurely aged, and seemingly deformed by the harsh conditions of war. This simile is an important contrast of the information people were fed at the time of soldiers being strong and proud.
This notion is further emphasised through the use of jargon in the lines, “The Japs used to weigh us, to see how thin our bodies could get before we started dying”. This statement implies the nature of the camp to be brutal and unforgivable. Misto has incorporated both visual images and jargon to create an effective sense of authority to therefore relive their experience of war through memory. Likewise, the poem Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen is how the post himself saw war with no knowledge, imagination or training which prepared Owen for the shock and suffering of front line experience. Its horrifying imagery has made it one of the most popular condemnations of war ever written.
Anderson shows that war has a damning effect on war journalists as well as soldiers, and that their loved ones and families are also heavily affected. One of these effects on the characters is that they lose a sense of hope and as a result, always expect the worse. Talzani depends on fate to answer the toughest questions in his life and to comfort him by covering up horrors in his past by blaming it on the power of fate, which is out of his control. Dr Talzani admits, ‘would you believe that sometimes I am so tired, or the cave is so dark, I’m not even sure of the colours I give them’. To make himself feel better he embodies a fatalistic view which is that ‘there is no pattern to who lives or dies in war’.
There are no clear answers when war is waged. War is not as simple as a game of checkers. From policymakers and strategists to soldiers, war will inevitably take physical and emotional tolls on the participants of both sides on and off the battlefield that will last throughout their lifetimes. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried eloquently describes stories of participating in the Vietnam War and the events that occurred, factual or not, and provides readers with the horrors of war that soldiers
HOW DOES WILFRED OWEN CONVEY THE HORRORS OF WAR IN POETRY ? Many of Owen's poems direct anger towards the generals and those at home who have encouraged war.Owen's war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in 'Dulce et Decorum Est' or mental torment such as in' Disabled'. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy. Owen sympathizes with the vain young men who have no idea of the horrors of war, who are 'seduced' by others (Jessie Pope) and the recruiting posters.