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This bond that the soldiers formed helped them to survive, and helped the men of Alpha Company to cope with the war after they returned to the United States. "The bond that men form with each other in the heat of battle is incomprehensible to those who have not experienced warfare for themselves...You make close friends. You become part of a tribe and you share the same blood - you give it together, you take it together." (O'Brien, 192) This bond of friendship helps the men of Alpha Company survive on a day to day basis. The men have the same experiences, fears and hopes. They rely on each other for support to face the new day. The men show this support as they talk about home, their sweethearts and their dead friends. The men come together to joke about death, making light of a situation that surrounds them at all
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He leaves Alpha Company but meets up with the men at Base Camp. The Narrator feels like he is not part of the group anymore. "In a way, I envied him - all of them. Their deep bush tans, the sores and blisters, the stories, the in-it-togetherness. I felt close to them, yes, but I also felt a new sense of separation" (O'Brien, 194). The men of Alpha Company still recognized the Narrator as a friend, but since he was not out in the "bush" risking his neck everyday, the friendship was different. "That's how I felt - like a civilian - and it made me sad. These guys had been my brothers. We'd loved one another. (O'Brien, 194) The Narrator not only feels like he is not part of this special bond of soldiers in the field, but finds out that he is replaced by another. The men feel that the Narrator is like a civilian in a way. He wasn't out in the field when they where getting shot at, he did not live in constant fear of a bullet. It goes back to earlier in the book when the Narrator himself states that no one can understand the bond between the men unless they where there to experience situation first hand. From this point in the novel the Narrator finishes his tour feeling he does not belong after losing this bond with his comrades. If this happened while he was in the battlefield, the Narrator might not have survived the
He leaves Alpha Company but meets up with the men at Base Camp. The Narrator feels like he is not part of the group anymore. "In a way, I envied him - all of them. Their deep bush tans, the sores and blisters, the stories, the in-it-togetherness. I felt close to them, yes, but I also felt a new sense of separation" (O'Brien, 194). The men of Alpha Company still recognized the Narrator as a friend, but since he was not out in the "bush" risking his neck everyday, the friendship was different. "That's how I felt - like a civilian - and it made me sad. These guys had been my brothers. We'd loved one another. (O'Brien, 194) The Narrator not only feels like he is not part of this special bond of soldiers in the field, but finds out that he is replaced by another. The men feel that the Narrator is like a civilian in a way. He wasn't out in the field when they where getting shot at, he did not live in constant fear of a bullet. It goes back to earlier in the book when the Narrator himself states that no one can understand the bond between the men unless they where there to experience situation first hand. From this point in the novel the Narrator finishes his tour feeling he does not belong after losing this bond with his comrades. If this happened while he was in the battlefield, the Narrator might not have survived the