In Wesley’s article she says, “the “truth” about Vietnam as a constant process of power through a violent landscape” (Wesley 5). The Vietnam war has a way of causing unexpected emotions to exit the soldiers. For example a feeling such as an obligation towards telling the truth to relieve themselves of some of the guilt that they have. In Horner’s article he talks about how O’Brien does not know whether he should go to the war that he does not believe in. “this ‘moral split’, he explains, caused him to experience “a kind of schizophrenia” even to the degree of hallucinating faces and voices of his [O’Brien] parents”(Horner 262). Having the authority to chose to be brave or to be a coward caused him to hallucinate.The hallucinations O’Brien
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For most soldiers their goal was not to be the uncommon hero, it was to just be a hero. “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards” (O’Brien 21). To be courageous was not good enough for majority of the soldiers, their goal was to not look like cowards and move on. They did not feel the need to force themselves into being abnormal heroes. The men at war in the novel feared not being brave due to the consequence of being labeled as a coward.“Men killed and died because they were too embarrassed not to” (20). Since being a coward was such a shameful thing to be, soldiers had to become killers and/or people that they did not want to be. Also, this meant that soldiers had reasonable guilt towards the things they did and their effect it had on other soldiers. O’Brien hated the war, he felt as though he was too young and he did not even know what he was fighting for. “I was ashamed of my conscience ashamed to be doing the right thing” (49). Even though O’Brien hates the war, he would rather look like a coward to himself than look like a coward to his country, the people who look up to him and the people he look up to. Curt Lemon is afraid of the dentist, so when he goes to the dentist he faints, he is excruciatingly
For most soldiers their goal was not to be the uncommon hero, it was to just be a hero. “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards” (O’Brien 21). To be courageous was not good enough for majority of the soldiers, their goal was to not look like cowards and move on. They did not feel the need to force themselves into being abnormal heroes. The men at war in the novel feared not being brave due to the consequence of being labeled as a coward.“Men killed and died because they were too embarrassed not to” (20). Since being a coward was such a shameful thing to be, soldiers had to become killers and/or people that they did not want to be. Also, this meant that soldiers had reasonable guilt towards the things they did and their effect it had on other soldiers. O’Brien hated the war, he felt as though he was too young and he did not even know what he was fighting for. “I was ashamed of my conscience ashamed to be doing the right thing” (49). Even though O’Brien hates the war, he would rather look like a coward to himself than look like a coward to his country, the people who look up to him and the people he look up to. Curt Lemon is afraid of the dentist, so when he goes to the dentist he faints, he is excruciatingly