A Brief Encounter With The Enemy Analysis

Saïd Sayrafiezadeh’s “A Brief Encounter with the Enemy,” is a about a man named Luke who is joins the Army looking forward to “a life altering experience.” (1203) Today, Luke was reflecting on the details of the things he experienced while on deployment. Luke recounts the first time he “went up the path” (1198), the day he and his troop “started up the hill” and the fear he felt about the unknown. (1204) He mentions that prior to his deployment his primary concern was “I wouldn’t make it over in time to see any action.” (1199) A year ago, Luke’s life was different, he worked at an office in a cubicle filling in “little empty blocks on a spreadsheet”. (1203) Luke soon realizes that he “joined for the wrong reasons.” (1204) He thinks about his friend Becky and the things they emailed about and eventually she made him feel foolish. He also reflects on the memory of the first time his father taught him to shoot a gun. It not until the evening before flying home when Luke’s dream of “confronting the enemy” came true. (1205) Sayrafiezadeh’s story, reveals that change may not always materialize the way you expect.

A person may begin to reevaluate life and sometimes material things cross one’s path that aid in the decision making. The expectations of change can be intoxicating and frightening at the same time. However, when these changes that are hoped for do not materialize as expected and one could be left feeling even more frustrated. This is the case with Luke, who in the beginning “was sure that something miraculous was going to happen to make me into someone new,” (1203) instead realizes that at the end of his tour that “was going to get out of the Army and be exactly the same person I was before.”