The Power of Shame
As the old saying goes, “war is hell.” It is a horrifically life-changing experience that inflicts irreparable trauma, both physiological and psychological. Of those who emerge intact from the battlefield, few are able to ever fully adjust back to civilian life and to reconcile the violence and bloodshed of war with the security and tranquility of life at home. In addition, these soldiers lack the emotional support they require, as fellow veterans are the only ones who can effectively understand the enormous struggles they face daily and the mental burdens that they have to carry for the rest of their lives. So one might ask: Why would anyone, in his or her right mind, voluntarily submit himself or herself to such terror, …show more content…
Continuing the pattern that appears earlier in the chapter, O’Brien describes the pressure the soldiers feel to not show signs of weakness and to remain as tough as nails in terms of a physical weight that needs to be lugged around: “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing…was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 20). It is notable that the “greatest fear” is not in fact that of dying or being injured or witnessing the death of a comrade; it is the “fear of blushing,” underscoring just much regard the soldiers held for their reputations and how important it was to them that their perceived image, both to their friends in the United States and to their buddies on the battlefield, not be tarnished by a lapse in confidence or a moment of hesitation. This conviction is emphasized in O’Brien’s clearly ironic statement about the stimulus that encourages the soldiers to continue fighting: “It was not courage exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards” (O’Brien 21). Through this line, O’Brien highlights the obvious contradiction in this situation: the soldiers are afraid of being labeled as afraid and so refuse to show any indication of fear lest they be somehow humiliated or discredited. They exude a rock-hard and impenetrable air of strength and invincibility, ensuring not to let their terror and dread be apparent to those around them. And so, they endure the horrors of war, sustained by their fear of
As the old saying goes, “war is hell.” It is a horrifically life-changing experience that inflicts irreparable trauma, both physiological and psychological. Of those who emerge intact from the battlefield, few are able to ever fully adjust back to civilian life and to reconcile the violence and bloodshed of war with the security and tranquility of life at home. In addition, these soldiers lack the emotional support they require, as fellow veterans are the only ones who can effectively understand the enormous struggles they face daily and the mental burdens that they have to carry for the rest of their lives. So one might ask: Why would anyone, in his or her right mind, voluntarily submit himself or herself to such terror, …show more content…
Continuing the pattern that appears earlier in the chapter, O’Brien describes the pressure the soldiers feel to not show signs of weakness and to remain as tough as nails in terms of a physical weight that needs to be lugged around: “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing…was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 20). It is notable that the “greatest fear” is not in fact that of dying or being injured or witnessing the death of a comrade; it is the “fear of blushing,” underscoring just much regard the soldiers held for their reputations and how important it was to them that their perceived image, both to their friends in the United States and to their buddies on the battlefield, not be tarnished by a lapse in confidence or a moment of hesitation. This conviction is emphasized in O’Brien’s clearly ironic statement about the stimulus that encourages the soldiers to continue fighting: “It was not courage exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards” (O’Brien 21). Through this line, O’Brien highlights the obvious contradiction in this situation: the soldiers are afraid of being labeled as afraid and so refuse to show any indication of fear lest they be somehow humiliated or discredited. They exude a rock-hard and impenetrable air of strength and invincibility, ensuring not to let their terror and dread be apparent to those around them. And so, they endure the horrors of war, sustained by their fear of