If I Die In A Combat Zone By Tim O Brien

In If I Die in a Combat Zone, author Tim O’Brien argues that the Vietnam War was unjust by expressing his disapproval of the war through his own moral beliefs, sharing the descriptions of deaths in Vietnam of the innocent citizens, and by describing how much the war impacted himself and others negatively. In the beginning of the book, O’Brien openly stated his beliefs on the war. He believed it was wrongly accepted and unjust, but he battled his own opinions with society’s views anyway (18). Constantly, O’Brien discussed within his own head about the true definition of bravery and courage (147). Running away, one of his plans to do before being officially drafted into the war, would later become one of his discussed items. O’Brien realized

Captain Edwards told the author that he was betraying his own country for being so against the war. However, after he told him that, O’Brien quickly counters him by giving him the questionable results of either killing someone or refusing to fight. He made himself and Captain Edwards question the possibility of their souls as a result of the war (60). A large reason for the Vietnam War revolved around the idea of it being a christian duty to try and prevent the spread of communism, yet killing people goes against that claim and O’Brien realized

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). In addition to their own conversations, the author explains how Erik himself cornered the drill sergeant about the war. He explained how he believed that the war should not endanger people without certain principles at stake (36). This shows that neither of the men wished to partake in this battle because of the harm it has done already, and the causes of the casualties were not large enough to provide an accurate reason for why so many had died. While in combat in Vietnam, O’Brien depicts many detailed scenes where young and innocent Vietnamese people were harmed by the Alpha Company and other U.S. troops. After an undetailed scene, O’Brien and his troop mates gathered around a young Vietnamese woman in an NVA uniform. She had been shot and on the brink of dying as the medics tended to her. The man who shot her, one of the