War And Peace By Tim O Brien

War Then Peace Throughout time people have talked about peace and the many ways in which we can obtain it, unfortunately it seems the most successful way of accomplishing that peace is through violence. Many people claim they want peace, but in order to achieve it, they must fight in wars. War is described as bloody, gory, and deadly; which seems very far from the words that would be used to describe peace, but ironically the gruesome and disturbing wars that take place, are in fact how we obtain that tranquil state of mind. There are many reasons to go to war; religious purposes, to gain power and land, or for security to protect one’s territory from dangerous threats. Multiple wars have begun due to religious conflicts, but ultimately

Once Jenson and Strunk got in a fight, “Jenson couldn’t relax…like fighting two different wars, he said…no safe ground: enemies everywhere” (O’Brien 60). After Jenson hit Strunk he was waiting for him to retaliate, and after a few days and still no retaliation, Jenson grabbed a pistol and “used it like a hammer to break his own nose” (O’Brien 60). If Strunk had hit Jenson back before he hit himself, then Strunk’s reason for going to war would have been for security or protection. In an effort to protect himself from Strunk’s retaliation, Jenson went to war with himself with the motive of protecting/securing himself. Even though it may not have seemed to be a war as we think of war, it can be considered one, for Jenson fought and attacked himself the way Strunk would have attacked him if retaliating. He then rushed over to Strunk as “he showed what he’s done and asked if everything was square between them” (O’Brien 61). As this mini war between the two individuals advanced, they needed to achieve amity, and the only way to get to that tranquil state in Jenson’s mind was to retaliate for Strunk by injuring himself. As a result of Jenson hitting himself it now considered the two men “equal” causing their war to end, resulting in because of the newly formed friendship. Through fighting and injury, the men found peace. On another point, Germany had submarines that targeted “vessels of every kind…[as they were]

As Mead described the Eskimos, she noted “here are men faced with hunger, men faced with loss of their wives, men faced with threat of extermination by other men, and here are orphan children, growing up miserably with no one to care for them, mocked and neglected by those around them” (Mead 2). She also emphasized that “there is no war” by using the rhetorical devise of repetition to emphasize and really point out to the reader that the Eskimos are able to be at peace and still live in a war free society (Mead) 2. She proves through the example of the Eskimos, that we do not need war to achieve peace. Mead points out that the Eskimos are able to live in a war free society because they have no land. Therefore, they do not need to protect anything and are not focused on obtaining land. The Eskimos have their own style of living, where the many reasons of why most humans fight in war (expansion and security), are not present in their minds. But in reality, the majority of the population do have these problems, whereas the Eskimos are not faced with those problems, therefore the argument made is weak because it applies only to a very small, isolated group unlike the majority of humans living in the present. On another point, Kennedy believed that “mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind” (Kennedy 1). He also stated that we must “[create] worldwide law and law enforcement as we outlaw