American Society Is a Society of Denial - Essay Example

American Society Is A Society Of Denial Introduction The American society has learnt to perfect the defense mechanism that is denial, especially with regard to the experiences of war. From the First World War, then the second, followed by the Vietnam War and lately, the war in Iraq, we have always dispatched our soldiers to all these wars. Without doubt, atrocities and loss of lives occurs. Nevertheless, we appear to shy away from all this. Even when our soldiers come back home from war, we reward them with medals, and seem to welcome them back join one condition; that they remain silent about their experiences (Rockwell 2008). The troops too have been conditioned on the power of silence, and so they have no one to share their stories to. Apparently, the civilians have learnt to shut out the war veterans, literary, as they attempt to share their experiences and tribulations at war. Who then, can dispute that the United States is indeed a society in denial War experiences and testimonies In his 1994 publication titled, "Achilles in Vietnam: combat trauma and the undoing of character", Jonathan Shay (1994) describes, through the testimonies of veterans in Vietnam, how the war commanders would habitually attempt to eradicate normal compassion feelings and perception that were elicited by troops from the United States who were in this war. During times of war, military necessity, along with political propaganda acts as a yardstick of not just what the troops are able to perceive, but also the manners in which they are able to do so. According to Shay (1994), military superiors that were charged with the responsibility of handling both trauma and crime had a habit of telling their troops that these two occurrence never happened in the first place, and that the troops did not also experience them (Shay 1994). With such a mindset therefore, little wonder then, that when they were being interviewed by news reporters, the troops would not hesitate to point out that that trauma never occurred, and if it did, they somewhat expected it. Shay recounts how he recorded the testimony of one former troop in Vietnam, and how he recounted the ordeals back then with a taste of anger and bitterness. Apparently, his superiors were trying to alter the veteran's perception as regards the collective murder that he had not only contributed to, but also saw the dead bodies when daylight came. The comforting words of his superior were that he need not worry about the ordeal, and that his superiors would handle it. The superiors would then go ahead and commend the officers for what they called 'a job well done'. Ultimately, the trend found its way into the United States after the war was over (Bacevich 2005). Those soldiers that make it back home often get medals of Honor, albeit with a condition; that they maintain silence as regards the pathos, realities, as well as the bizarre ills of war. To the war veterans, obstinate ignorance of the members of the public becomes a basis for pain. Through his short story titled Soldier's Home, Ernest Hemingway sheds light on how reluctant the civilians were to attend to the intuitive requirements of the troops who were returning back to the United States upon the end of the First World War. This book by Hemingway was published in 1925, and it therefore coincides with the end of the war. The story talks about Kerbs, a young soldier from Oklahoma. Upon return, he is not keen to disclose war issues. With time however, the urge to address war matter builds up. He thus desires to share these issues with his family, friends, as well as neighbors. However, Hemingway observes that "Nobody wanted to hear about it" (Rockwell 2008). Apparently, the young man's town had no wish to learn about war atrocities. Krebs finally discovered that if the town people were to listen to his stories, then he hand no choice but to lie about the war. Apparently the capability of this young man to absorb into the way of life of the civilians hinged upon how keen he has to put together war stories. Even today, soldiers have no choice but to fabricate stories about war, so that they may stand a chance to get assimilated to the society (Tyrell n. d.). In as much as Hemingway was a fiction writer, nevertheless his story about the war bears a correlation with the reality. Shay observes that a tension often exists between on the one hand, the need by a given soldier to commununalise grief and shame. On the other hand, the civilians may be quite unwilling to lend an ear to the soldiers, and it is still the civilians that dispatched these soldiers to the war. Shay (1994) talks of a Vietnam War veteran who had his family prepare a dinner in his honor. When he was coaxed to talk about the war, and he told them the reality, all people in the room save for him and his wife had left. From that point onwards, the war veteran had no desire to talk about his experiences in Vietnam, let alone tell anybody that he was actually there. In a similar manner, Tim O'Brien, through his publication titled, "The things they carried" has attempted to break the shell of silence that appears to surround the lives of war veterans, once they come back home, and they have to tell lie just so that they may connect with the community, as opposed to telling the truth about war (O'Brien 1990). What this seems to suggest is that Americans do not wish to know the truth about the war. In other words, what happens on the battleground is not of much concern to them. It is as if the war veterans are expected home to receive their medals, then remains silent forever. Perhaps this is what prompted O'Brien, who is himself a war veteran, to write the story, "Good From". Here, O'Brien attends to distinguish between on the one hand, "happening truth" and on the other hand, "story truth". According to O'Brien, his decision to come up with a story which though false from a technical point of view, is still a depiction of the happenings at the battleground is the way to go when narrating on the war. This, O'Brien feels, is better than issuing of facts, without as much as eliciting emotions from the reader. O'Brien also feels that writing has enabled him to remain with a clear conscience, along with thousands of other soldiers like him, and whom the society has condemned to total silence. This is a distinction that critics usually like to cite, at a time when they are exploring the artistic objectives of O'Brien, while he was writing his collection of stories. Further, critics hold a claim that the feeling by O'Brien regarding the Vietnam War could only be evaluated better in the form of fiction, as opposed to giving the reader facts (O'Brien 1990). Even as the war veterans have been taught to remain silent about their experiences at war by their superiors, the number of U. S. Marines and soldiers are today risking both their reputations and careers, so that they may at least publicly talk about the atrocities that have been committed in Iraq (Rockwell 2008). For example, in March 2008, Iraqi veterans that had attended a Winter Soldier enquiry found the perfect podium to speak about the truth regarding the war, and which they had not been able to share with anybody for a long time. One of the Iraqi war veterans narrated how he killed a young boy from Iraq as his father watched. Following his "achievement", his commanding officer to this soldier commended him for doing a good job. This soldier would later on proceed to produce a photo bearing the skull of the boy. He then apologized for destruction and hate that he helped perpetrate, in the process leading to the loss of lives of innocent Iraqis. The Americans who were watching him were speechless, as it is almost a tradition that war veterans should almost never talk about the experiences of the war, much less the atrocities that they committed. This is a further testimony to the fact that in as much as we are aware of the atrocities that the Iraqi people are facing at the hands of our very own soldiers, we just sit back and assume that nothing is going on (Rockwell 2008). When our own troops who witnessed such experiences try to reach us so that may share their sad tales, we give them a deaf ear. At best, this may be seen as a ploy to have the key war witnesses remain silent. Aidan Delgado, through his memoir on war, has narrated on how his troop commander tried to contain the truth as regards Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. To start with, the commander opined that the army was in no way connected with the said prison, and that this was no more that a mere rumor. However, the commander would later on insinuate that in as much as Abu Ghraib may be in existence, the army, he notes has no desire to "air their dirty linen in public" (Tyrell n. d. ). The commander goes on to caution his soldiers that they should destroy photos that they could be in possessions of, and which should not be possessing, in the first place. In addition, the captain cautions the army to remain silent on their Iraq experience, because as he puts it, "the truth is seditious" (Rockwell 2008). Conclusion For a long time, American war veterans have learnt to handle their troublesome war experiences in silence, seeing that the society likes to remain in a state of denial in matters war. Lately however, war veterans in both Vietnam and Iraq are finding the courage to talk about this, at the risk of ruining both their careers and reputation (Rockwell 2008). At the battleground, the troop commanders have been noted to convince the army that such bizarre incidences such as say, a mass murder of civilians, did not take place. In addition, the soldiers are cautioned on remaining silent about these happenings. The American community does not also wish to listen to the war stories of these war veterans. Indeed, we are a society in denial. Work cited Bacevich, Andrew. The new American militarism: how Americans are seduced by war. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. (1st Ed). Boston Mass: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Rockwell, Paul. (2008). Iraq Veterans Silenced About Their Experiences. June 28. Retrieved May 03, 2009, from http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF00E176D30008009906BD/User/Blog/ BlogPostDetail.aspx Shay, Jonathan. Achilles in Vietnam New York: Atheneum, 1994 Tyrrell, Ian (n.d.). Empire of Denial: American Empire, Past Present andFuture. Retrieved May 03, 2009, from http://iantyrrell.wordpress.com/empire-of-denial-american-empire-past-present-and-future/ Read More