When battle breaks out, Himmelstoss pretends to be hurt and hides in order to get out of fighting. He acts as a big, mean, and forceful guy until he feels the same fear and terror as the rest of the soldiers in the trenches do. Himmelstoss spoke about being courageous and how nothing scares him, but once he had to experience war for himself he realized it is not that easy to be
While “honor” and “self-realization” may be ideological terms often associated with a war cause, “brutality” and “self-scarification” are perhaps more realistic descriptors. The brutal and ferocious atmosphere of war often forces its young soldier constituencies to sacrifice any childish views of life, and mature. Walter Dean Myer’s novel, Fallen Angels, details the tragic loss of innocence of group of young soldiers who, surrounded by the unspeakable horrors of the Vietnam War, are forced to prematurely journey into manhood. Though initially and wholly innocent, the tense atmosphere of war forces Richie Perry and his fellow soldiers to leave behind former romantic views of war and realize its moral ambiguity. A truly unfortunate byproduct
“It was my view then, and still is, that you don’t make war without knowing why”. (pg. 71) Since day one, Tim has taken a stand against the war; he believed that you shouldn’t start a war without knowing what the real issues are. When Tim is originally notified of his draft, he is emotional, scared and angry. A million thoughts were going through his head all at once.
In the end I believe it turned into a complete anti-military novel as Caputo tried to understand the purpose of the war. The inevitable answer was that America had no reason to be in Vietnam and only put their people at harm as the government ordered them to stay. Before entering the war, the country truly did not understand what war meant. “So I guess every generation is doomed to fight its war, to endure the same old experiences, suffer the loss of the same old illusions, and learn the same old lessons on its own” (81). Caputo reveals his true feelings throughout the story.
Analysis The author lists the objects the soldiers carried to represent the emotional burdens the soldiers bear. One is the necessity for the soldiers to face the tension between fantasy and reality. These emotional burdens are intensified by their young age and experience; they no perspective on how to rationalize killing someone or witnessing their comrade’s death. One major effect the war has had on these soldiers is turning them cynical or gloomy. In the story “Love,” O’ Brien’s tells the story of the reunion of Martha and Cross; this is a reference to the fallout of Vietnam.
When one supports injustice, it is threatening to the quality of life they choose to live. It will lead to a violent lifestyle. In Gandhi’s ‘Nonviolent Resistance”, he powerfully explains the critical impingement of violence “Everywhere wars are fought and millions and millions of people are killed. The consequence is not the progress of a nation but its decline. Soldiers returning from the front
The Volunteer Army For One The military draft has always been and forever will be a hard sell to the American people. Namely because they wouldn’t want to fight in a war they could careless about. This attitude shows in our rapidly declining military reserves, when our nation is involved in two major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The voices of the numerous protestors cry out the same three arguments into the media; It’s unfair! It’s against our rights!
Jimmy Cross went to war only because his friends did, and that led him to danger. He had to lead a group of soldiers when he did not feel qualified to. Tim uses the characters to show the fear of shame as motivation for going to
This common is often the theatre of war; and therefore when our people go out to till their land, they not only go in a body, but generally take their arms with them for fear of a surprise; and when they apprehend an invasion they guard the avenues to their dwellings, by driving sticks into the ground, which are so sharp at one end as to pierce the foot, and are generally dipt in poison. From what I can recollect of these battles, they appear to have been irruptions of one little state or district on the other, to obtain prisoners or booty. Perhaps they were incited to this by those traders who brought the European goods I mentioned amongst us. Such a mode of obtaining slaves in Africa is common; and I believe more [Page 24] are procured this way, and by kidnapping, than any other. When a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares.
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