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Examples Of If I Die In A Combat Zone

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If I Die in a Combat Zone The Vietnam War affected the United States population by causing most troops to experience mental health disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, and many more struggles that left Americans feeling empty after the war. The United States feared that communism was going to spread to South Vietnam. They feared that this spread of communism would lead to a domino effect, which would start with one nation becoming destabilized due to communism, and it leading onto other countries making a repeating effect globally. In If I Die in a Combat Zone O’Brien is the narrator, author and protagonist that takes place in the novel. O’Brien cared for his country, but was not for the Vietnam War when he got drafted to go fight for …show more content…

Many soldiers that served in the Vietnam war suffered dramatically pertaining to mental and physical health. O’Brien and many other soldiers also had the same views on the Vietnam War, such as that it was pointless for the United States. Most soldiers were frustrated with the fact that they were fighting for their country with no purpose or benefit for the American people. In the book O’Brian said, “I can’t stop crying. I can’t stop thinking of what a waste it all was” (O’Brian 7). This quote stated by O’Brien shares how himself and other soldiers felt about the war, and how they felt like their fight and war tactact was overall useless for the United States. O’Brien also mentions that he feels frustrated that the government would let thousands of Americans' lives to end just for a war that had no benefit or meaning for the country. O’Brien is a great representative for American soldiers who served in the Vietnam War because of the emotion and frustration he felt about the war and the war’s …show more content…

O’Brien did not like the other soldiers he fought with because they did not care about the Vietnam people. O’Brien claims in the book, “I hated the trainees, even more than the captors. But I hated them all. Passionate, sad, desperate hate” (O’Brien 33). Most trannies did not take the war seriously, but had clicks of friends that O’Brien did not take part in. O’Brein did not have many friends during the war, but did have one friend, Erik. Although O’Brein had Erik, he felt very lonely and independent during the Vietnam War. He mentions in the book that he trained by himself and learned how to do things on his own without any help from the captains or the trainees. This missing aspect in his life during the Vietnam War could have caused his outlook on the war more bitter than other soldiers, even though most soldiers did not like the concept of the Vietnam

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Tim O Brien Important Quotes

1348 Words | 6 Pages

Being their first hand, O’Brien is able to show people how it is. What the soldiers go through on a day to day basics. Being able to show the world how war was, helped the world to understand it. By openly writing about war, more people were able to help the soldiers. The transition from war to civilian life is a hard one.

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If I Die In A Combat Zone By Tim O Brien

1365 Words | 6 Pages

He and Erik shared the same beliefs about the war, and they often wrote to each other while they were in Vietnam. Towards the end of the book, O’Brien wrote to Erik that all he had seen was “evil” and no good (186). This description of the war helps paint the picture of O’Brien’s own mind and belief that the war was nothing but pure immorality. Near their first meeting, Erik even described his own wish to escape the war and move to Europe to become an author (34). O’Brien also admitted to the readers that their coalition was mainly against the war and was created to try and preserve themselves (35).

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The Changing Experiences In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

957 Words | 4 Pages

He talks not only about his experiences but, also his platoon members experience. War degrades the lives of war and post-war soldiers by completely ripping them from their normal lives and into war. The Vietnam war derailed many lives, as people were forced into a foreign land to fight an unknown war. The 60’s were a changing time, young adults were looking to succeed and rebel the norms.

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Novel Analysis

1469 Words | 6 Pages

But there are a few things the O’Brien validates for the reader. He did fight in the Vietnam War. Several different places in the book show this. He received his draft letter on June 17, 1968. He responded in not the normal way, but he ran away to the Canadian border where he spent six

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If I Die In A Combat Zone, Box Me Home, By Tim O Brien

994 Words | 4 Pages

In chapter 15, Alpha Company was resting in a village when one of the soldiers finds an AK-47 in a bush and all the other soldiers are orders to search the rest of the village. The men tore apart the entire village, destroying innocent people’s homes and even pouring sand into their well. When they found nothing they took three prisoners, tied them to trees, and beat them for answers (143-144). The sheer brutality of this event perfectly showcases how the Vietnam war was wrong and unnecessary, and it backs up the fact that O’Brien was very against the war. Another atrocity committed by the American troops was the massacre at My Lai where there were several women and children killed by american troops (210).

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Summary Of On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

443 Words | 2 Pages

In addition, Tim O’Brien conveys how society’s view on cowardice leads to the feeling of guilt in soldiers in the Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien claims that he opposes the Vietnam War, and he sees no reason for the war. However, against his own will, he is drafted and is required to go to war. O’Brien reacts negatively to this saying, “All I wanted was to live the life I was born to... now I was off on the margins of exile, leaving my country forever, and it seemed so impossible and terrible and sad,” (50 and 51).

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Doing The Right Thing In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

465 Words | 2 Pages

Being a soldier was well respected in his conservative hometown, and not fighting would cause disgrace to fall upon his family. Despite his morals being against it, O’Brien decided to go war and fight, “I survived,” he explained, “but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (O’Brien 79). Although O’Brien was against fighting in the war, he still fought because he was ashamed and afraid that he would be scorned if he did not.

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Courage In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

730 Words | 3 Pages

The men who served in the Vietnam War were just barely men, some of them were just hitting the age twenty. It was the draft which brought these boys into the fight involuntarily, to fight a war which they saw no meaning in. Many of these boys are the sons of veterans who fought in World War II, that came home to parades and were held up like heroes for fighting. Honorary men of the country and the soldiers fighting for Vietnam did not want to disappoint them. Thus, when O’Brien mentions in the quote, valor was not the point, he is trying to explain to the reader that the men went like it was a job they had to do, not a random act of courage that willed them to proceed.

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The Themes In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

496 Words | 2 Pages

And one by one, the others did it too. ”(O’Brien 226). But after each death, they all became numb to the feelings that came along with the passing of a brother or a Vietnamese citizen that was killed by their presence and the only way they could cope was by the humor that they had even if it seems twisted. But even then after all that time, O’Brien never lost all of himself to the war because he would always feel guilty that someone else perished at his hands, “ Later, I remember, Kiowa tried to tell me that the man would’ve died anyway. He told me that it was a good kill..”(133).

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Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

703 Words | 3 Pages

However after the war, O’Brien’s attitude changed to a former soldier who realized the effects that the war had on oneself, and the importance of emotional feelings during his time served in Vietnam. “The war over and there was no place in particular to go” (O’Brian 137). This statement is too ironic because throughout the war, the soldiers criticized and wished they had freedom, however, when the soldiers finally acquired the ever so coveted freedom, they had nowhere to go mentally. In other words, the soldiers did not know how to “feel” in society because the war provided an emotionless lifestyle (killing men, smoking drugs, etc.). Irony is

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If I Die In A Combat Zone By Tim O Brien

1043 Words | 5 Pages

In If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien argued that the Vietnam War was unjust and unethical through his depictions of the inhumane fighting between American and Vietnamese soldiers, with examples of his opinions on how this war was pointless, by detailing the soldier's experiences of death and the mental and physical turmoil they endured during their time in war. According to Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam war left so many soldiers mentally and physically damaged. They literally had to alter how the truly felt about death and fear. Tim O'Brien said, “To talk about death was bad luck, the ultimate self fulfilling prophecy.

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Physical Burdens In The Things They Carried

795 Words | 4 Pages

“Many of his [Tim O’Brien’s] novels and stories draw on his experiences during the war” (Gardner 1332-1333). Authors may feel as though they have a unique perspective on an event because they witnessed it first hand and know details about the event that few others do. Tim O’Brien was promoted to sergeant during the Vietnam war and later decorated with a purple heart (Gardner 1332-1333). Tim O’Brien was a high ranking enlisted man in the Vietnam war. One can assume there were times he had to make difficult decisions for his platoon and himself.

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The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

2437 Words | 10 Pages

We believe that true, patriotic heroes go to war without cowardice or complaint. Yet, as O’Brien demonstrates in his novel, war is incomprehensible and lacks the morality we expect it to have. The Vietnam War was fought for reasons unknown to the soldiers involved as seen in the lines “The very facts were shrouded in uncertainty: Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression?

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On The Rainy River Courage Quotes

1302 Words | 6 Pages

I hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes. The sight of blood made me queasy, and I couldn't tolerate authority, and I didn't know a rifle from a slingshot. I was a liberal, for Christ sake”. Through these doubts, acts of bravery and courage from those who have served their country would not matter to O'Brien. O'Brien's view on the Vietnam war was having those who “support a war” should be the ones who put their “own precious fluids on the line.”

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The Things They Carried: An Analysis

688 Words | 3 Pages

He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

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