O'Brien recalls a day when he and Mitchell Sanders were assigned to pick up twenty-seven bloated enemy bodies. In that moment, death hits home and Mitchell Sanders tells O'Brien: “death sucks,”(243) by saying this he sums up the emotions one feels whenever death is present and describes it as “sucking.” The author uses this ironic device to help readers understand how important it is to maintain a positive attitude during war. He uses a casual and nonchalant word like “sucks” to describe the grave thing the soldiers are there for and some, even afraid of: Death. If soldiers have nothing to live for then there is no point in war and protecting their nation. By maintaining a positive attitude, soldiers have something to live for, it encourages them to protect themselves from the enemy and return safely home to their love ones. Another example of irony is that Lavender used drugs to calm himself. He was a careful soldier. While his mates were waiting on his dead body to be transported, they found marijuana on him. Instead of disposing of this drug, they end up smoking it. It is ironic because Ted Lavender was a brave soldier who seemed at peace but in reality he was
O'Brien recalls a day when he and Mitchell Sanders were assigned to pick up twenty-seven bloated enemy bodies. In that moment, death hits home and Mitchell Sanders tells O'Brien: “death sucks,”(243) by saying this he sums up the emotions one feels whenever death is present and describes it as “sucking.” The author uses this ironic device to help readers understand how important it is to maintain a positive attitude during war. He uses a casual and nonchalant word like “sucks” to describe the grave thing the soldiers are there for and some, even afraid of: Death. If soldiers have nothing to live for then there is no point in war and protecting their nation. By maintaining a positive attitude, soldiers have something to live for, it encourages them to protect themselves from the enemy and return safely home to their love ones. Another example of irony is that Lavender used drugs to calm himself. He was a careful soldier. While his mates were waiting on his dead body to be transported, they found marijuana on him. Instead of disposing of this drug, they end up smoking it. It is ironic because Ted Lavender was a brave soldier who seemed at peace but in reality he was