Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” This was an illustrious quote famously said by former President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy was addressing the United Nations General Assembly when he uttered these words. At the time, the second Secretary General of the United Nations was killed during warfare and the key suspect to his brutal murder was war. It was Kennedy’s wish to end the war before the war claimed more innocent lives. Since the beginning of time war has taken the lives of close to a billion people. War has been constantly going on since the cavemen were first created. War has been a part of human culture and custom since the beginning of time. People around the world interpret war differently. However,

However, one does not simply wake up and decide to be a warrior in war. Many of the soldiers who fight in war are drafted forcefully and have no other choice but to serve their country. They are deprived of their education, family, and their freedom. These citizens lose their futures to the war. Many people overlook this aspect of war, and it needs to be addressed because everyone has a right to have a brighter future. Tim O’Brien in his novel, The Things They Carried, was drafted into the war. He did not believe in the war that he was supposed to fight in. It was against his morals. He thought about running away to Canada, “The border lay a few hundred miles north, an eight-hour drive. Both my conscience and my instincts were telling me to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop,” (O’Brien 42). He ran to the border, but he knew that he would be shamed and shunned from his hometown if he were to go through with his plan, so he returned and fought in the war. He simply did not have a choice. This is nothing new to this century, in the poem Beowulf, the main character Beowulf went to fight the dragon that was attacking the village. He was accompanied by soldiers. It was his wish to fight the dragon alone, so everyone else left except a true warrior who wanted to support the king. Sadly, Beowulf died in the firefight against the dragon. The true warrior who stood by Beowulf’s side rebuked all the soldiers who left, “Then a stern rebuke was bound to come from the young warrior to the ones who had been cowards. Wiglaf, son of Weohstan, spoke disdainfully and in disappointment: ‘Anyone ready to admit the truth will surely realize that the lord of men who showered you with gifts and gave you the armour you standing in-when he would distribute helmets and mail-shirts to men on mead-benches, a prince treating his thanes in hall to the best he could find, far or near-was throwing