When one hears the word “hero,” one imagines a superhero swooping in to save a damsel in distress. Even though those heroes do not exist, thousands of heroic men and women risk their lives every day while protecting their country. Soldiers are loyal and dedicate themselves to their nation, but they bear the deepest scars of war. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried both give their readers a renewed perspective on the Great War and Vietnam War through their battle-worn war heroes. While the characters of Frederic Henry and narrator Tim O’Brien differ, both soldiers have a similar wartime mentality and behavior. Although the authors describe the lives of matured war heroes, Hemingway’s tone illustrates
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According to Hemingway, a hero faces the experiences of life and comes out a changed man in the end. Farewell shows Henry’s metamorphosis as he changes from a mellow Italian ambulance driver to an army deserter. He finally shatters when both Catherine and their baby die. Henry pleas, “Oh God, please don't let her die. I'll do anything for you if you won't let her die. Please, please, please, dear God, don't let her die. Dear God please make her not die. I'll do anything you say if you don't let her die” (Hemingway 330). Hemingway’s frantic and distraught tone demonstrates that Henry is disillusioned after Catherine’s hemorrhage, uncharacteristically praying to God for her to survive. By the end of the novel, Henry is a changed man, isolated with grief and pain and with no place left for him to go. Likewise, O’Brien shows that a hero is someone who undergoes immense psychological growth through the lives of Vietnam soldiers like Tim. As a young boy, Tim had to learn to accept death as a part of life, which undoubtedly shaped him into the man he becomes. When he first joins the troops, Tim is a naive student who would rather be at college. Then, the reality of the war hits him hard when he kills a man for the first time. In “Ambush”
According to Hemingway, a hero faces the experiences of life and comes out a changed man in the end. Farewell shows Henry’s metamorphosis as he changes from a mellow Italian ambulance driver to an army deserter. He finally shatters when both Catherine and their baby die. Henry pleas, “Oh God, please don't let her die. I'll do anything for you if you won't let her die. Please, please, please, dear God, don't let her die. Dear God please make her not die. I'll do anything you say if you don't let her die” (Hemingway 330). Hemingway’s frantic and distraught tone demonstrates that Henry is disillusioned after Catherine’s hemorrhage, uncharacteristically praying to God for her to survive. By the end of the novel, Henry is a changed man, isolated with grief and pain and with no place left for him to go. Likewise, O’Brien shows that a hero is someone who undergoes immense psychological growth through the lives of Vietnam soldiers like Tim. As a young boy, Tim had to learn to accept death as a part of life, which undoubtedly shaped him into the man he becomes. When he first joins the troops, Tim is a naive student who would rather be at college. Then, the reality of the war hits him hard when he kills a man for the first time. In “Ambush”