Like To Go To War Analysis

Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Homer’s The Iliad, Karl Marlantes’s What it is Like to Go to War provide a more personal, intimate perspective in the lives and mentality of soldiers - in these three works, the soldiers are not necessarily portrayed as the stereotypical invincible and fearless warriors, but more as humans as the authors expose their mistakes, weaknesses, and emotions. However, one of the key factors that helps enhance the readers’ emotional connection to the soldiers in these works is spirituality. Although combat and spirituality may appear to be contrasting concepts (and as Marlantes explains, “many will argue that there is nothing remotely spiritual in combat”), O’Brien, Homer, and Marlantes all incorporate a reliance …show more content…
Marlantes describes many of the problems he faced during the war, but mainly his lack of understanding with how to deal with violence and death, since “The Marine Corps taught [him] how to kill but didn’t each [him] how to deal with killing” (3). Karl Marlantes also remarks how he “was struggling with a situation approaching the sacred in its terror and contact with the infinite” and “needed help with the existential terror of [his] own death and responsibility for the death of others, enemies, and friends…needed a spiritual guide” (7). Through personal experience, Marlantes proposed that the remedy for this consequence was to develop meaning and purpose to this “chaotic experience” through spirituality. This would not only help young soldiers find humanity and purpose when consumed in an hostile and violent environment, but also help cope with thoughts of guilt and grief and adjust to civilian life after their service was over. Through his combination of personal recollections and opinions on the development of young soldiers, Marlantes stresses that the utilization of psychological and spiritual preparation will help young soldiers obtain the sense of moral, purpose, and faith needed to endure the challenges of