The Man He Killed

It all comes down to the finish line, two athletes, both trained equally as hard and now it comes down to one race, but one decides to not tie his shoes before the race, and right before the finish line, a trip of the foot causes one to full through to the finish line first, it might not be fair but it always has to be one winner. In the text, “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy tells a similar story about a man who is still in shock of the man he killed in battle. In the text by Hardy he tells a story of a man someone killed, but it left a mark on him, because the only reason he killed that man was because he was a foe, they could’ve been friends outside of war and had a beer in a bar, but it all came down to whoever fired first. He killed

The men in war stated that who ever was the first to fire was the first to live, and in Tim in O’Brien’s book was in utter shock because he didn’t have to kill, there could’ve been potential to the men’s life. As used in O’Brien’s piece “We all had him zeroed” and a similar quote from Hardy “I shot him as he at me/ And killed him in his place,” show that it was the fastest man to the trigger. O’Brien goes on to talk about this man he killed, and tells a accurate story of this man, but we come to realise that he is telling the story of himself, “He loved mathematics… he thought, how could he ever become a soldier and fight the Americans.” Both passages tell almost identical experiences of a kill in battle, and the man being in shock because they has taken a life, it’s never easy to comprehend what you’ve done. Both authors tell that the only reason they killed this man is that he was their “foe” or enemy, not because they want to kill but that they are in war to fight for their country even if they don’t want to. Two authors, one similar story of men in war killing a innocent man, and becoming traumatized on what they did. These two passages take place in two completely different wars, but connected in remarkable