If I Die In A Combat Zone Analysis

In If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home there are a lot of compelling arguments throughout the whole book. One chapter that really stood out to me in helping me answer this question was chapter 6. The two sides of the argument are trying to decide if he should stay and continue to fight in the Vietnam war or desert the war and flee to another country. The first side is staying and continuing to fight in the Vietnam war. The part in this side that I found compelling was when chaplain Edwards was talking to Tim O’Brien. Tim O’Brien is talking to chaplain Edwards about how he is stuck between “a desire to be good, and also, underneath, a desire to prove myself a hero” (O’Brien 62). Once O’Brien is done talking to chaplain Edwards about how he thinks “the war is wrong. …show more content…
Edwards argues with O’Brien about how this is a good country and he just needs “some faith, some discipline” (O’Brien 64). Chaplain Edwards goes on to argue about how the Romans and the Greeks were all built on armies, and tells O’Brien that he just needs to see how great America really is and when he does then he will be eager to fight for his country. Chaplain Edwards uses the fact that he has been to Russia and has seen it first hand, and have seen how people live there. Chaplain Edwards then goes on asking if O’Brien thinks “Ho Chi Minh is gonna bring heaven to South Vietnam?” (O’Brien 66). Edwards then proceeded to say to O’Brien, “you’re betraying your country when you say these things. I’ve met people who don’t like Vietnam, sure, but you’re icy about it. Where the hell do you fit guts and bravery into your scheme?” (O’Brien 66). I feel as though chaplain Edwards is not really taking O’Brien’s fears and concerned really into consideration and only seeing him as almost like this anti-war