Death will always complement war. This is seen clearly in Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Man I Killed”. In this tale the Main character, Tim, is vividly describing in his mind the enemy Vietcong solider he just killed life story before his death. He details everything, from the visible wounds on the soldier’s body to a fantasy of the man’s life. Meanwhile, to soldiers in Tim’s platoon acknowledge that he killed this man and try to speak to him about it. The first solider, Azar, congratulates Tim on the kill, while the other, Kiowa, tries to rationalize the man’s death to Tim. With this context, it can be stated that the overarching theme within “The Man I Killed” is death in war, specifically its after effects on the soldiers. These after effects are illustrated through the characters Azar, Kiowa, and Tim.
Azar’s character is unique because he
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What else could you do? (173). But Tim does not respond to Kiowas remarks and they progressively begin to become more frantic in Kiowa’s justification. At one point he exclaims, "You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down—you want that? I mean, be honest"(174). Kiowa is obviously trying to get Tim to accept this man’s death, but it can be inferred that he is also trying to accept it for himself. Kiowa is clearly using Tim as a coping tool for this man’s and is looking for solace in Tim’s word but finds none. This is shown throughout in the text. In one instance Kiowa states in Tim’s silence, "You feel terrible, I know that. Okay, maybe I don't know” (174) and goes on to ask if he was okay in another. Then Kiowa’s tone abruptly changes from sympathetic to aggressive. He tells Tim to “stop staring” and to “pull his shit together” (175). This is obviously an attempt from Kiowa to get Tim away from the death and back to reality, but it can be assumed that Kiowa is desperately trying to cope with the reality of death through