In a world ridden with war today, it is seemingly impossible for a human not to have an opinion on the violence and anger, being thrown around like an American football on a Sunday. Tim O’Brien, the author of many short stories about the Vietnam War, included many of the important thematic issues, including cowardice, leadership, burdens, judgement, courage, and heroism. Of course, I myself have many views on war. I will discuss why I oppose war, whether or not I would fight in a war, and overall how my opinions on war have evolved throughout our conversations in class these past weeks.
It seems like everything we hear about in the news or see on television today all related to the same thing. War shaking the world. Whether it involves the
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Some of the discussions we had in class were very interesting and brought up different perspectives and situations that could occur. This includes the idea of having a draft. Once we started talking about the aspect of the draft, I really began to think to myself, “Wow, could a World War actually occur again? Would I get drafted?” The story about Tim O’Brien was a very interesting and well placed story to read because it was a situation that many teenagers most likely would resort to. For Tim O’Brien, the day that the draft notice arrived at his stays vivid in his memory. “It was a humid afternoon, I remember, cloudy and very quiet, and I’d just come in from a round of golf. My mother and father were having lunch in the kitchen” (On The Rainy River, 45). This made me think to myself, how would I react if I saw a draft letter sitting on my kitchen table. I think I would be in the same situation and have the same emotions as Tim O’Brien had when he first received his. Another discussion that made me think of my place in war was if foreign troops came to the United States and threatened the lives of my loved ones. What would I do? I would sure as hell do anything I can to protect the lives of my family and friends, even if it means having to kill