While violence plays a large role in war, some may seem senseless but when taken into account, being in war makes violence unavoidable. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien, Tim writes about his whole platoon and the violence they face. Things may come off as senseless, but being in war makes it so that violence can not really be avoided. War itself means to be in armed conflict within two nations or states. When in armed conflict, all violence is inevitable because violence is in human nature, and when violence is put to the test in war, it is inescapable.
Violence throughout the story is unavoidable considering they are fighting a battle in Vietnam. O’brien describes some of the things he hears. O’brien says “Well, you'd think, this isn't so bad. And right then you'd hear gunfire behind you and your nuts would fly up into your throat and you'd be squealing pig squeals”(O'brien 34). He describes the sound of violence and the way it affects a person. He portrays the fear he felt when thinking of the gunfires. He speaks of the how real …show more content…
Some of it was senseless. For example Azar killing a puppy that Ted Lavender adopted. O’brien says, “or Ted Lavender adopting an orphan puppy---feeding it from a plastic spoon and carrying it in his rucksack until the day Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the trigger”(O’brien 36). Azar strapped Ted’s puppy to a claymore and blew it up. This violence was completely senseless because it could have been avoided. O’brien again describes another cases of senseless violence. He says, “Rat went automatic. He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt. Then he reloaded, squatted down, and shot it in the left front knee”(O’brien 79). This is in fact senseless because Rat decided to harass the water buffalo. He violently, and unnecessarily attacked the helpless buffalo. While violence may seem unavoidable, a good majority of it is
Violence throughout the story is unavoidable considering they are fighting a battle in Vietnam. O’brien describes some of the things he hears. O’brien says “Well, you'd think, this isn't so bad. And right then you'd hear gunfire behind you and your nuts would fly up into your throat and you'd be squealing pig squeals”(O'brien 34). He describes the sound of violence and the way it affects a person. He portrays the fear he felt when thinking of the gunfires. He speaks of the how real …show more content…
Some of it was senseless. For example Azar killing a puppy that Ted Lavender adopted. O’brien says, “or Ted Lavender adopting an orphan puppy---feeding it from a plastic spoon and carrying it in his rucksack until the day Azar strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the trigger”(O’brien 36). Azar strapped Ted’s puppy to a claymore and blew it up. This violence was completely senseless because it could have been avoided. O’brien again describes another cases of senseless violence. He says, “Rat went automatic. He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt. Then he reloaded, squatted down, and shot it in the left front knee”(O’brien 79). This is in fact senseless because Rat decided to harass the water buffalo. He violently, and unnecessarily attacked the helpless buffalo. While violence may seem unavoidable, a good majority of it is