Guests Of The Nation Duty

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

The topic of war is hard to imagine from the perspective of one who hasn't experienced it. Literature makes it accessible for the reader to explore the themes of war. Owen and Remarque both dipcik what war was like for one who has never gone through it. Men in both All Quiet on the Western Front and “Dulce Et Decorum” experience betrayal of youth, horrors of war and feelings of camaraderie.

Shame is a constant theme in The Things They Carried. Soldiers felt like they had to go to war, but fear of embarrassing themselves, their families, and their towns if they ran. This embarrassment was helped by the guilt of not being "masculine" enough or not being brave, heroic, and patriotic enough. the author reflects how he thought he had a secret reserve of bravery and heroism stored away, waiting for the moment when he would be called into war—if that day ever came—in chapter 4, and how in reality no such reserve existed.

Imagine you’re lying on the muddy, damp Earth and all around you can hear the screams of people you know dying. Shells explode, bullets race through the air, and poisonous gas seeps around you, all with the intent to harm you in some way. Yet, you willingly put yourself in that position day after day, year after year. The question surrounding this situation is, why? Who would be masochistic enough to choose to put their lives in danger and live in the most perilous environment possible? Two very different books give us insight into the thoughts of the soldiers who continuously put themselves in these environments. Your Death Would Be Mine by Martha Hanna and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque lets us into the minds of Paul Pireaud and Paul Baumer as they try to survive life as a soldier in the Great War. I argue that Pireaud and Baumer had very different reasons for continuing to fight despite having suffered beyond belief. In this paper I will analyze how the varying degrees of patriotism, brotherhood, family life at home, and age affected how these two men endured the treacherous life on the front of World War I.

The text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

“Personal honor is the one thing valued more than life itself by the majority of men” (McPherson 77). The reoccurring theme of brotherhood in the story plays a major role as to why a soldier has come to war and why he performs on the battlefield. Brotherhood would be the best explanation for a soldier’s fight to protect one’s self and his comrades.

Not every man who 's fought in a war planned on doing so. In fact, not all of them even want to. It 's rare to find enough people voluntarily willing to lay down their lives for their country, so more often than not militaries used what we would call “citizen soldiers.” Citizen soldiers are exactly what they sound like, regular citizens taken from society and turned into people capable of serving in the military. Although it may seem obvious when plainly written out, citizen soldiers had vastly different experiences compared to career soldiers, and Stephen Ambrose attempted to pin down that specific experience in his book Citizen Soldier. Ambrose uses oral interviews from World War II veterans and other materials to explain the experiences of the common American soldier who served in WWII between D-Day and the eventual surrender of the German forces. However, when examining his book, it 's important to ask how successful Ambrose was in painting an accurate picture of this kind of soldier 's life during his service. Is the information he uses specific to the men who served in Europe, or can it also be linked back to the soldiers in the Pacific? This paper will evaluate his work by comparing it to oral interviews from WWII veterans both from the same areas that Ambrose 's veterans serve in and in locations not included in his work.

Though readers could look to any chapter to find the themes of life through the eyes of war and all of its lenses, O’Brien pulls haunting strings in the chapter, “Friends.” Tackling a story of love amongst friends in the face of tragedy like a New Caster who was live at the scene. The scripted and dispassionate feel towards the demasking of the pure ugliness of war, forces the hairs on the back of one's neck stand. In this chapter, O’Brien tells a story that includes: Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. After being enemies and then becoming friends through Dave Jensen's paranoid act of breaking his own nose. The two eventually grow to trust each other so much, that they write down a pact of honor. Should one be injured to the point of needing a wheelchair

During a violent war scene, Paul Baumer, describes what war has done to the men fighting in it. He explains that they “have become wild beasts”, only focused on doing whatever they had to, to hang onto life a little longer (Remarque, 113). Remarque utilizes a metaphor to make apparent that war has turned these men into animals, who worry only

Everyday, soldiers had to experience the major horrors of war in Vietnam. These soldiers had nothing but each other which resulted in the creation of many close bonds. One of the main themes of The Things They Carried is friendship. If friendship was utterly left out of the book, there would be virtually nothing to read about. Some paramount examples of friendship would be found in the chapters “The Man I Killed”, “Friends” and “In the Field”. Overall, O’Brien uses this theme to effectively convey the importance of friendships in times of war. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien which describes the horrors of war in Vietnam, uses cavernous syntax, relatable symbolism and effulgent imagery to impose the exact feelings of the soldiers that experience guilt, fear and madness together during the war.

Since the beginning of time, humans have sought after power and control. It is human instinct to desire to be the undisputed champion, but when does it become a problem? Warfare has been practiced throughout civilization as a way to justify power. Though the orders come directly from one man, thousands of men and women pay the ultimate sacrifice. In Randall Jerrell’s “The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner”, Jarrell is commenting on the brutality of warfare. Not only does Jarrell address the tragedies of war, he also blames politics, war leaders, and the soldier’s acknowledgement of his duties. (Hill 6) With only five lines of text, his poems allows the reader to understand what a soldier can go through. With the use of Jerrell’s poem, The Vietnam War, and Brian Turner’s “Ameriki Jundee”, the truth of combat will be revealed.

The Vietnam War was a psychological and physical battle for all the young men who were drafted or volunteered. Caputo's own reasons for volunteering illustrate the mentality for some of the men entering into this journey. Those who are inducted into Vietnam face disturbing moral dilemmas that can be expected in an "ethical wilderness." The draft introduced a myriad of young men to the once forgotten moral ambiguity of war. Average American citizens must balance right from wrong in a world without morals or meaning. Caputo himself struggles with the idea that killing in combat is morally justified.

Among the death and repulsion of war, there exists a single refuge for the warrior--his brethren.  The success of combat is directly related to the morale of the soldiers, as it is the relationship with the neighboring soldier that demonstrates the motive for fighting.  This association between men creates an abundance of

Being a ‘War Hero’ isn’t always a title that is filled with honor. A loss is painful regardless of how it occurs, however, a loss where the chance to say goodbye is never given, is far worse. In an attempt to retaliate against Baghdad Iranian F.14 fighter planes were sent out, many lives were lost. Marjane attempts to give her grieving friend Pardisse her condolences for the loss of her father stating that, her father was a hero. Nevertheless, Marjane’s efforts failed as Paradisse reacted by saying, “I wish he were alive in jail than dead and a hero.” (86) The family of the deceased feels no honor, only sorrow.

“Guests of the Nation,” by Frank O’Connor, is a story about two Irish soldiers guarding two English prisoners of war. The soldiers, Noble and Bonaparte, grew close to the prisoners, Hawking and Belcher, over the card games and theological debates they had over the months of incarceration. One day Bonaparte is told that the prisoners are to be shot out of retribution. The story ends with Bonaparte reeling from seeing two men he considered friends killed. O’Connor highlights the seemingly absurd nature of war and how it irreparably damages the human spirit.