How War Changes Identity and Emotional State of a Person - Essay Example

Order 330607 Topic: English Introduction: “Brutal force has not won anything durable,” said Adolph Hitler, one of the greatest war-mongers to descend on this Planet Earth. The man, who possessed an insatiable hunger for violence and brutal killings, the architect of the Nazi holocaust, the major payer in World War II, was a changed man, at the end of the war, when his utter rout became clear to him. That he did not survive the war, is a mater of his destiny. People came to know about his final utterances and the change of heart, when his body perhaps began to decompose below the weight of earth within the grave. In any war, the soldiers get paranoid; they are dispossessed of the sense of justice and morality, once they are part of the war. The solider will never be the same individual again.War is a terrible evil exercise for humanity. The victor is also a loser! Political leaders plan the war, but the soldiers fight it at the ground level. When one soldier is killed, the immediate family members suffer and the well-wishers go through an agonizing experience. The soldiers have no personal enmity and yet they are compelled to plan to eliminate each other. The only mantra for a soldier is, kill or get killed! Identify specifically how war alters a persons identity, emotional state and view of life while in battle. Each day is a tough survival option for the soldier and no one at home is able to understand their predicaments. Tim illustrates a story of a soldier who brings his girlfriend to Vietnam. When she arrives, she is fresh and exuberant about the country that she is going to visit. But soon, the jungle life fascinates her; she loses attachment to her old city life. She disappears into the jungle. Tim explains this incident thus: "Tone? I didnt know it was all that complicated. The girl joined the zoo. One more animal--end of story." (O’Brien, p.107)Tim recalls a moment, how he killed a soldier who was walking down a trial. Tim threw a hand grenade at him and his face exploded…. He also narrates about the image of a young girl dancing outside her destroyed village, as American soldiers take the dead family away. ---One cries when one is sad; one doesn’t, when mad! Many such stories circulate. But, "Its safe to say that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true." (O’Brien, p. 82) In Louise Erdrichs short story, "The Red Convertible," she communicates the emotional disturbances, war creates for a soldier and his relationships through symbolism of car between two brothers, Henry and Lyman. Their great attachment to the joint property, the symbol of their mutual affection during the pre-war days has vanished. Henry realizes that his relationship with Lyman is damaged, he confronts Lyman, “When I left, that car was running like a watch. Now I dont even know I can get it to start again, let alone get it anywhere near its old condition" (Erdrich 464). Identify how war alters a person in ways that affect who the person if he/she physically survives the war and comes home. There could be very few Generals and soldiers, when they survive the war and return home, say that they want the war again. Gong to the war at the call of duty is one aspect; but going to the war with a willing moral acceptance is altogether different issue. Tim summarizes his war experiences in Vietnam thus: "Im skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmys life with a story." (O’ Brien, p.246) This is the story of Norman Bowker, one of Tims friends and fellow soldier. When he returns from war, he carries a big, complicated psychological burden with him. People were not willing to listen to him, they did not take his life and adventures in Vietnam seriously, to them his explanations about the war, were like yet another newspaper report, and Bowker eventually kills himself. Tim explains the psychic condition of a soldier thus: "If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie."(O’Brien, p.68) In Louise Erdrichs "The Red Convertible," the two main characters begin well. Henry experiences great transformation due to his involvement in the Vietnam War. This transformation also alters Henrys brother, Lyman, but for different reasons; the brothers innocence is soon lost. Before the war, the Lamartine brothers, Henry and Lyman, are joyous individuals. They spend all of their time together. They even buy a car together. This red convertible is the most notable way that Erdrich represents the boys innocence in the story. "[B]efore we had thought it over at all, the car belonged to us and our pockets were empty" (Erdrich, 461). After the war, they are changed. How war-time relationships change devastatingly amongst the soldiers! What insights do the two authors give you though their characters that give you insight about the phenomena of war? What was the routine during the war? Tim writes, “By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost."(O’Brien, p.15) Fully trained, professional and experienced soldiers go to the war with thorough mental preparedness. The author observes that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ platoon of soldiers were a group of very young men, not ready for the tough Vietnam War. They were a confused lot. The load of heavy ration supplies was necessary for their existence; the pictures of their girlfriends were their luxuries. They wished to pose like tough soldiers, but the chicken-heart in them was showing out. The author says, "I survived, but its not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war."(O’Brien, p.61) The soldiers develop strange styles of expressing their emotions. Somehow their courage should not fail them. The invented entertainment helps them to maintain and recoup the lost cheer. But war is war! These are real-life scenes, not the ones created artificially in a stunt movie. Tim O’Brien, the narrator mentions how he watched a man get blown up by a mine. What remains in the spirit of a man, when one gets hardened by anger, grief and injustice, simultaneously? The pressure on the mind is too much to bear and it is difficult to maintain sanity. Facing such grim circumstances he writes, “My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame." (O’Brien, p. 52)In the Red Convertible, when Henry returns from Vietnam, he constantly wears “his field jacket and worn-in clothes hed come back in" (Erdrich, 464). This shows his permanent entanglement with the war. It is such a web, through which he is unable to wriggle out. Even the cause of Henry’s death by drowning is related to the horror of war. Erdrich puts it this way, “his boots filled with water on a windy night.” Henry’s smile has lost its original grace. Henry smiles for the fist time since returning from war and it “looked as like he might have hurt his face.”(Erdrich 465) Do you agree with these authors’ views and insights? Why or why not? Be specific. The author’s observations are derived from his hard-boiled experience of the Vietnam War. They are realistic and merit acceptance. The only objective of a solider during the war is to kill the enemy and this purpose drives the soldiers crazy. Their actions are beyond the perimeter of morality and immorality. War is the link between the past and the future. O’Brien’s observations are comparable to the report by an experienced press reporter who covers the war-front. Louise Erdrich is more of a psychologist; she reads the vicissitudes within the minds of the soldiers when fighting the war, and on their returning to civil life on completion of the war. Connect what you have said to how it is or are not relevant to today and the wars that rage throughout the world. Be specific. Are the problems similar or Different? Are the stories written now similar or different? Be sure to support your ideas. One thing common about the war is its immense capacity for destruction and the relentless reign of the evil forces. Individual efforts, the intervention of the UN has so far met with limited success to prevent the ongoing serious conflicts that threaten to escalate into major wars. All major powers of the world are aware what world war means today. The world was yet safe, when Winston Churchill made a statement at the time of II World War, “It is better to have the world united than the world divided; but it is better to have the world divided, than the world destroyed.” The saving grace contained between these options is no more available in the present times. Major war today means the war of push buttons and the world will be reduced to heaps of burning charcoal, within a mater of minutes and there won’t be O’Briens or Erdrich to report the stories of war! Conclusion: When the war within the mind of an individual ends, war-fronts will be converted into rose gardens. World peace is an attainable reality. Willingness of the people to change is the only permanent solution to war. Give up selfish aggrandizement and cling to peace at all times and at all costs! **************** Works Cited: Erdrich Louise: The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories, 1978-2000; Harper; 1 edition (January 6, 2009) O’Brien, Tim: The Things They Carried; Broadway; December 29, 1998 Read More