The Man I Killed Analysis

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The “Man I Killed” takes us into the Vietnam War and tell us about a soldiers first time of killing another individual. The author describes a Viet Cong soldier that he has killed, using vivid, physical detail with clear descriptions of the dead mans’ fatal wounds. O'Brien envisions the biography of this man and envisions the individual history of the dead Vietnamese soldier starting with his birthplace moving through his life, and finished with him enrolling in the Vietnamese Army. O'Brien also describes some of the dead soldiers’ hopes and dreams. The author uses this history in an attempt to make the dead man more realistic to the reader
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As a pacifist, I disagree with all wars in theory. I am realistic enough to comprehend that conflict is sometimes unavoidable because, of specific circumstances, understanding and accepting are two very isolated ideas. I hold on to the optimistic perspective that situations can be resolved peacefully as long as all parties are willing to contribute to a peaceful outcome. On a more personal level, my resistance towards war also stems from family members and friends who are and have …show more content…

I found this story not only good but, it was also a little disturbing because, the connection between the text and my own personal life is I remember when my father came home after the war was over suffering from Post-Traumatic Disorder. He did not return the same man that had left to go off to war. We lived in the backwoods of a small town and he would always be staring at the tree line waiting for Charlie to make his presence known. I thought that this story would go along nicely with the movie Full Metal Jacket because, that movie was the most realistic war movie ever made about how they trained the people that was being sent to

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