War changes everyone involved in one way or another. For some it physical changes them because they get physical deformed, but for most people, war changes their mental state. War changes people’s mental state because of the duties that they have to perform and the experiences that they have to see. Tim O’Brien shows how the characters mental states changed throughout the book, because of the war.
In the story “How to Tell a True War Story” Bob “Rat” Kiley loses his best friend, Curt Lemon, right in front of him because of a landmine. Rat Kiley is very sad because he lost his best friend, “And then the letter gets very sad and serious. Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They
In the story When Mary Anne first gets to Vietnam she is your typical American girl at the time. She was innocent, pure and full of energy, “At times she gave off a kind of come-get-me energy, coy and flirtatious, but apparently it never bothered Mark Fossie”(O’Brien, 95). Mary was this way because she didn’t know anything about the war so she didn’t think that the war was that bad. After awhile she wanted to learn more about the war and the land because she thought it was fascinating, “The war intrigued her. The land, too, and the mystery”(O’Brien, 96). She wanted to learn more because it peaked her interests. Further into her stay at the hospital she started to help when casualties came in, “At the end of the second week, when four casualties came in, Mary Anne wasn’t afraid to get her hands bloody. At times, in fact, she seemed fascinated by it”(O’Brien, 97-98). She was fascinated by it because she liked to have hands on experience. Towards the end of the story Mary has gone full soldier. She goes out with the Green Berets on their patrols and their ambushes, “Ambush. All night long, man, Mary Anne’s out on fucking’ ambush”(O’Brien, 102). She goes with the Green Berets on their patrols and ambushes because she feels the need to see what the war was like and not just have stories of what it is like. By the end of the
Norman makes up these scenarios about what he would say to someone regarding how he almost got the silver star. He makes one up for his father, and Sally Kramer, who was an old friend. He makes up the scenarios because it is how he copes with the war and the time where he could of gotten the silver star. The thing that changed the mental state of Norman Bowker and that made him drive in circles around the lake was the death of one of his friends and fellow soldier, Kiowa, “He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too”(O’Brien, 149). This death changed him more than the rest because he thought that he could save him, but he couldn 't. Norman felt responsible for Kiowa’s death because Norman couldn 't pull Kiowa out of the
In the story, “Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong”, the reader acknowledges the similarities between average soldier and Mary Anne. In the beginning of the chapter, Rat Kiely decides to tell a story to the team about how a soldier decided to bring his girlfriend to vietnam. When Mary Anne first arrives, Rat Kiely describes her with a bubbly personality and very outgoing. But soon Mary Anne knew the truth about the war and that she had to fight in order to keep her life. Rat Kiely mentions, “ ‘...I mean, when we first got here- all of us- we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick. And so did Mary Anne’” (page 93). This quote shows the atrocious reality of war. It can be assumed that Mary Anne symbolizes
The other soldiers in the medical detachment were shocked and amazed at the arrival of Mary Anne, Mark Fossie's girlfriend. She arrived in a typical Americana glory, with her "strawberry ice cream complexion," and in a somewhat lost and tired daze. Her journey was a myriad of plane connections and layovers. Even in her arrival a metaphor is seen as to how a soldier would arrive in Vietnam. The exact arrival of soldiers into the war is somewhat a confusing and shocking fact of debate. Mary Anne was only seventeen when she arrived in Vietnam, but the soldiers over fighting were not much older than her, many the exact same age. After the initial shock of landing in Vietnam wore off, Mary Anne became curious of her surroundings and what was going on in the war. This also is what a young soldier would experience during his first days of service, and he was trying to u...
War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
When Norman Bowker returned home, he did not feel that he could talk about his experiences. He felt that it would be to hard to tell different people about what he went through. Instead of talking about, he decided to have O’Brien write a story about it instead. It is unknown if the story caused Bowker to kill himself, but it appears to
When Mary Anne begins interacting with the land and the material culture of war we are introduced to her curious nature. She would “listen carefully” (91) and was intrigued by the land and its mystery. Vietnam was like Elroy Berdahl to her in the beginning in that it did not speak, it did not judge, it was simply there. Vietnam saved Mary Anne’s life. Like Elroy, “[Vietnam] was the t...
It is apparent that during war time emotions are checked at the door and ones whole psyche is altered. It is very difficult to say what the root causes of this are due to the many variables that take play in war, from death of civilians to the death of friends. However, in "Enemies" and "Friends" we see a great development among characters that would not be seen anywhere else. Although relying on each other to survive, manipulation, and physical and emotional struggle are used by characters to fight there own inter psychological wars. Thus, the ultimate response to these factors is the loss and gain of maturity among Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk.
Setting up base camp in the church is included in O’Brien’s memoir to serve as a reminder of the calm and human kindness that is found during war. Staying in the peaceful church provided the platoon an opportunity to see a unique and personal side of Vietnam, one where the people “...brought us buckets of water. (O’Brien, 119)” and “... were very kind to all of us... (O’Brien, 120)”. This story brings out some of the less definitive qualities ...
Mary Anne is initially introduced to the audience, narrated by Rat Kiley, as an innocent and naïve young woman present in Vietnam solely to visit her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. She arrives in “white culottes” and a “sexy pink sweater” (86), and is deemed by the other soldiers as no more than a happy distraction for her man. As Mary Anne settles in though, her abundant curiosity of Vietnam and the war heighten, and she soon enough possesses as much interest in the war as many of the men. Forward, Mary Anne’s transformation into a soldier begins as she leaves her sweet femininity behind. No longer caring for her vanity, she falls “into the habits of the bush. No cosmetics, no fingernail filing. She stopped wearing jewelry, [and] cut her hair short” (94). Mary Anne’s lost femininity is also evident when she handles powerful rifles like the M-16. Not only does the weapon literally scream out masculi...
What is war really like all together? What makes war so horrifying? The horror of war is throughout All Quiet on the Western Front. For example Albert says the war has ruined them as young people and Paul agrees. “Albert expresses it: "The war has ruined us for everything." He is right. We are not youth any longer. We don't want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war.” (Remarque, Chapter 5). The way the war has affected each soldier has changed them forever. The boys who were once school boys will never be the same.
The reality of war changed many soldiers' lives because of nightmares from firefights and small skirmishes to bombings and atrocities. Many places from Saigon to Khe Sanh are filled with stories from many veterans. A letter from a marine fighting in Khe Sanh said to his Parents "Since we began, we have lost 14 KIA and 44 men WIA. Our company is cut down to half strength, and I think we will be going to Okinawa to regroup. I hope so anyway because I have seen enough of war and its destruction." From the death of close friends any person's emotions would crumble. A normal everyday business person in the shoes of this soldier wouldn't last a day. The experience a soldier goes through will change his view on life forever. This is just showing how it affects people. Seeing death and killing on a daily basis. The random occurrence of death would truly disturb any person. Seeing the death of friends and mangled bodies of South Vietnamese villagers left by Vietcong guerillas, the soldiers were left with the vivid visions of the bodies.
.... The long term effect has followed them to their regular life. Fear, anger, and pride have caused them tragedy in real life, the loss of love and issues with friends. Gatsby fails to acknowledge the crucial truth that Daisy is no longer in his life and all of his effort has laid to waste. However, Lieutenant Cross quickly discover the truth and accept it. He is no longer needs to live in his own fantasy world and can breathe a sigh of relief. Furthermore, Tim O’Brien has conquered his weakness, the fear of war. Tim’s mind has grown stronger though the event of war. Although people tend to elucidates war as the worst thing that can happen in human history, in fact, there is a lot of great thing that happen because of war. People can grow stronger, become united, and realize the value of life. Ultimately, war has a huge impact on people both physically and mentally.
In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War in hopes of trying to find who he is. Being named a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Timothy Findley shows the effects wars have on individuals in his novel The Wars. Findley suggests that war can change a persons behaviour in many different ways, however it is seen to be negatively more often then not. Robert Ross, the main character of The Wars, shows symptoms of what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in today’s society.
Kiley is telling the story to illustrate how all GI's changed in their Vietnam experience. The fact that the main character is a woman drives his point even farther home. She is the very portrait of mainstream, wholesome America; the only thing she lacks is an apple pie. Kiley describes her as "This cute blonde - just a kid, just barely out of high school - she shows up with a suitcase and one of those plastic cosmetic bags." (O'Brien 90) This girl is the antithesis of what one would expect to find in Vietnam. She is pure and innocent. Throughout her time in Vietnam she changes from this image to something very different, she spends less time with her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. Mary Anne hangs around with the Green Berets, who are very different from the other soldiers. Eventually she becomes one of them, marking a total transformation, "There was no emotion in her stare, no sense of the person behind it. But the grotesque part, he said, was her jewelry. At the girl's throat was a necklace of human tongues. Elongated and narrow, like pieces of blackened leather, the tongues were threaded along a length of copper wire, one overlapping the next, the tips curled upward as if caught in a final shrill syllable." (O'Brien 110) Vietnam changed Mary Anne; it forced her to become something as foreign to America as the war itself.
War has been a consistent piece of mankind 's history. It has significantly influenced the lives of individuals around the globe. The impacts are amazingly adverse. In the novel, “The Wars,” by Timothy Findley, Soldiers must shoulder compelling weight on the warzone. Such weight is both family and the country weight. Many individuals look at soldiers for hop and therefore, adding load to them. Those that cannot rationally beat these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley
War has been around for centuries. From the time modern civilizations began, war has played an integral part in human history. It shaped the world into the modern world we live in. War has been said to be a great motivator, for example, the Great Wall of China was built to fend off the attackers from the north. However, the negative aspects of war far outweighs any positive effects it might have. The destruction of civilizations, cities and countries, mass killings of men, woman and children alike, the disastrous effect it has on economy and the after effects of war can last for centuries.