In If I Die in a Combat Zone,Tim O’Brien argued that the Vietnam war was instantiated with an unjust cause and was unnecessarily brutal through his depiction orders given my battalion leaders, how the soldiers treated children and adults in villages, and the soldier’s experience of being forced to fight in a war which they believed against while leaving everything they know back home. Commonly throughout the chapters where O’Brien is touring in Vietnam, a theme of orders given to (or knowledge not given to) O’Brien and his fellow soldiers can often be seen as a heartless and somewhat barbaric. This can mostly be depicted when Alpha Company is with the tracks going through the jungle in pursuit of the Viet Cong. Whilst trudging through the
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O’Brien describes how he and his friends would talk about how unjust the war was, because they saw no direct reason for the United States entry into the war (17-18). The draft was especially hard on the young males such as O’Brien at the time. Soldiers in training would seek out guidance and reasons for why they had to go to the war, such as O’Brien was recommended to do because of his extensive questions(62-63). When he was given the chance to ask the question to a high ranking official, the question O’Brien wasn’t answered, but rather dodged in every way possible(62-63). The worst part about this confrontation was the lack of chance for O’Brien to speak after the completely evaded question, thus adding to the suspicion for why the United States forced a draft for this increasingly empty cause in the eyes of O’Brien. Similarly to O’Brien, numerous soldiers in training most likely planned to desert the military in an attempt to escape their fears of death and never seeing their families again. The secret elaborate planning to desert by O’Brien demonstrates just how intense the feeling of fear was of being killed in the unsupported war. In fact the feeling was so intense and bundled up inside O’Brien that he lied to his own family to receive what he needed to successfully flee the military and country never to return (ch. 6). Overall the war caused an uproar and many questions
O’Brien describes how he and his friends would talk about how unjust the war was, because they saw no direct reason for the United States entry into the war (17-18). The draft was especially hard on the young males such as O’Brien at the time. Soldiers in training would seek out guidance and reasons for why they had to go to the war, such as O’Brien was recommended to do because of his extensive questions(62-63). When he was given the chance to ask the question to a high ranking official, the question O’Brien wasn’t answered, but rather dodged in every way possible(62-63). The worst part about this confrontation was the lack of chance for O’Brien to speak after the completely evaded question, thus adding to the suspicion for why the United States forced a draft for this increasingly empty cause in the eyes of O’Brien. Similarly to O’Brien, numerous soldiers in training most likely planned to desert the military in an attempt to escape their fears of death and never seeing their families again. The secret elaborate planning to desert by O’Brien demonstrates just how intense the feeling of fear was of being killed in the unsupported war. In fact the feeling was so intense and bundled up inside O’Brien that he lied to his own family to receive what he needed to successfully flee the military and country never to return (ch. 6). Overall the war caused an uproar and many questions