The person you're meant to dislike isn't always the person you should be against, while in war you can find a friendship or build a bond between an enemy. This is perfectly shown in The Last Spin, a story by Evan Hunter. In this short story it shows how two young teenage boys are chosen from their gangs to settle a disagreement they were having. To settle it they're playing a game of Russian roulette in a empty basement. While playing the game they start a conversation and realize they have a lot in common. They aren’t enemies, just two boys in opposite gangs for the wrong reasons with similar stories. They keep taking turns shooting the gun until they decide that they'll tell their gang members that they kept shooting and nothing happened.
Murder is a reprobate action that is an inevitable part of war. It forces humans into immoral acts, which can manifest in the forms such as shooting or close combat. The life of a soldier is ultimately decided from the killer, whether or not he follows through with his actions. In the short stories The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty and Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, the killer must decide the fate of their victims under circumstantial constraints. The two story explore the difference between killing at a close proximity compared to killing at a distance, and how they affect the killer's final decision.
Has a Story ever made a reader want to hurt the character responsible for trouble that’s being caused? Of course; usually the antagonist is often the nuisance. Richard Connell creates these instigative characters with pleasure and diversity. In his story “The Most Dangerous Game”, He Creates General Zaroff so that he is easy to hold a grudge against. Likewise Edgar Allan Poe Creates a character that is easy to hate. In his short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe creates a mastermind killer. Connells antagonist, General Zaroff, and Poe’s antagonist, Montresor, give the reader an invitation to hate them. These two characters are similar yet different in their evil persona, wealth, and challenge.
During World War II and the Holocaust, there was not only mistrust for the government but there was also plenty of mistrust for prior friends and neighbors. In the graphic novel, “Maus (Volume I and II) Vladek Spiegelman makes it very clear to his son, Artie, that one cannot count on their friends. He makes the point that in time of hardship, friends will abandon you quite quickly. Vladek says, “Friends? Your friends…if you lock them together in a room with no food for a week…then you could see what it is, friends! (Maus, VI. 5-6). Throughout the novel, we see examples of this gloomy point proven repeatedly.
In short, "Enemies" is about two men, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen, who are battling not only in a war but with each other. They were viciously fighting about a missing jackknife. A question that the reader might ask themselves is, why were they fighting over a jackknife? Did it have some special sentimental meaning? These questions cannot be answered; they can only be left to wonder.
Every person feels rivalry or competition towards others at some point in their lives. This rivalry greatly affects our ability to understand others, and this eventually results in paranoia and hostility. It is a part of human nature, that people coldly drive ahead for their gain alone. Man's inhumanity towards man is a way for people to protect themselves from having pain inflicted on them by others, and achieving their goals and desires without the interference of others. This concept of man's inhumanity to man is developed in A Separate Peace as the primary conflict in the novel centres on the main character, Gene, and his inner-battles with feelings of jealousy, paranoia, and inability to understand his relationship with his best friend Phineas. Competition is further demonstrated by the occurrence of World War II. It is shown that, "There were few relationships among us (the students) at Devon not based on rivalry." (p. 37) It is this rivalry and competition between the boys at Devon that ripped their friendships apart.
In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, the main character, Louise Mallard, is a woman who appears to have everything life could offer her. She is a wealthy, intelligent, young lady who has a home and a husband that loves her. Similarly, the poem, “Richard Cory”, by author Edwin Arlington Robinson, also speaks of a character that appears to live a privileged life. Cory, like Mallard, is also very wealthy. He lives uptown, dresses exceptionally well and is envied by the people of his town. However, both writings present a theme that conveys the comparison of illusion versus reality. There are often times when people and situations in life appear to be a certain way, but in actuality that is not the way they really are.
... if they weren’t in war, on conflicting sides, they could have been good friends.
who were there but learn them in such a way that we are allowed to
Many people with the same hateful beliefs form groups to “take on” the specific people they hate. A typical gang is based on hating someone who isn’t like them.
All throughout time and history people have been at war with each other at one point or another. War can, truthfully, at times be inescapable and considered by some historians as a natural instinct, an instinct that every human being possess. Throughout history mighty empires and governments have collapsed due to the damages inflicted on by a war, yet in spite of this, some have managed to face the odds and make it through, staggering along as if nothing happened. War is a true test of an empire or government’s determination to move forward, adapting using the knowledge and intellect they have acquired to their own advantage. Nevertheless, not all wars lead to fighting by physical means but instead it can lead to fighting mentally by opposing sides. One such example would be the non-traditional Cold War fought between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War was a time that caused an immense fear in the lives of many, and inspired novels such as 1984 by George Orwell, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and essays such as “You and the Atomic Bomb” by George Orwell, which are just some of the voices from this terrible time.
In this story where there is bitter violent enmity lies in between them , where as the story progress with the each gun shot, they get to know each other very closely that they realize various personal information common like they both belongs to gangs, they both like guns,they don't want to dig the guys,they both call their mom as “an old-lady” they both have sense of humour by saying that they can loose weight with this kind game,they both have 'chicks',they both want to join army,they both want to screw the club. By the end in this story they became friend .This looks like they are talking mostly about there selves instead of their gang work .
... middle of paper ... ... They both find themselves motivated jealously and aim their revenge towards the object they despise the most. They use manipulation, lies, and trickery to get what they want, but in the end it will never be enough.
Competition between good friends is not the only instance in which negative feelings can occur. Surprisingly, the exact same feelings of resentment and hostility can happen between two perfect strangers. With no valid reason, children and adults alike can work up an enormous grudge against a person that they have never spoken to, or possibly never even seen. Take for instance a boy on a high school football team. Off the field he is a respectable student who is always considerate of others. Yet the second he steps on that field he transforms into a monster who is out to “get” the other team, to “show them who’s boss.” He has never met these people before and has no reason to feel such anger towards them other than the fact that they are standing in the way of his team winning the game.
Robert Baer’s “Sleeping With The Devil”, is a very interesting book. This book is actually a critique from Baer, who was Central Intelligence Officer (CIA). It describes the relationship that the Americans had with Saudia Arabia. Baer was concerned about how much the relationship between the two was very hypocritical to the American values and that it put the US economy in jeopardy. When it comes to the book’s main theme and points it includes; that America’s corruption on cheap oil and political stability in the Middle East was also a lucrative business relationship, America is vulnerable to economic disaster and risks of terrorism, and that America is blinded by low prices and are not seeing how culturally bribing Saudia Arabia is along with its Islamic beliefs.
Good and evil were going to war, fighting with all their might inside a person’s heart and soul. They had fought many battles before, and this was no exception. The war would be named later, with all the human’s friends repeating the story, figuring out what possessed them to do such a thing.