In war, what is courage? Does it mean that you are not afraid to kill a man? Not afraid to die? Or is going to war cowardice to begin with? In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien considered not going to the war at all. Instead, he wanted to run away from it all. However, sitting out in the boat in the river, he realized that he did not have the courage. The passage with all of the faces in the river calling to him was probably one of the most powerful for me. Here, we see characters we have yet to be introduced to and Tim’s internal struggle with himself. He was so unsure of what would be the courageous thing to do. To him, going to the war was an act of cowardice for not being strong enough to get away. It was also cowardice to run away from people the people whose lives you may change or save. Does it take more courage to run from war, or is it harder to fight?
A quote that really stuck out for me in this book was about fear. "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it" (O’Brien 20). In war, once you are there, it is all about being tough, and being able to withstand what you are faced with. If you are afraid, and another member of your platoon sees, you are no longer the strong "warrior" that everyone expects you to be. Also, if someone else sees your fear and admits to it too, slowly, one by one, your platoon weakens. To them, showing your fear weakens your strength and your hopes.
In the Vietnam War, most of the soldiers were only kids just fresh out of high school. They barely got a taste of the real world before they were shipped off, and more than likely, killed. They all wanted to act as courageous as possible, but to most it was just a lie. How can people so young truly believe that they are ready to die for a cause that many of them are unsure of? I believe that if they are afraid, they have every right and reason. Showing it however, is their own battle.
I recently talked with a U.S. Marine about how he felt about courage during a time of war. What he said really related to the scene in the book where Kiowa dies and all of the men involved feel responsible. The Marine said that in times of war, especially if the bond between soldiers is close, one man would put his life on the line without a second thought for another soldier. When Kiowa died, all of the men took responsibility for the death, especially Norman Bowker, who eventually committed suicide. Because of his bond with Kiowa, according to the Marine I spoke with, he could not live with himself for being to weak put his friend’s life before his own. Another thing that this Marine said to me was that "Fear lets you know your alive." I thought that this related a lot to the novel as well, because when those boys were out there fighting for their lives, I would think they would need some sort of reminder that they’re alive when people all around them are being killed.
Anyway. Back to my original question, what is courage in war. I think that killing a man is cowardly, because I also feel that a lot of wars are unnecessary . But that’s just me.
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4 comments:
I think you touched upon a key idea of courage, fear, embarrassment, etc. They were all afraid to show their fear. No one wanted to be looked upon as a coward if they did something wrong. Trying to get away from war is cowardly, but then again, so is going to war. You brought up good points for both sides of the argument. It's interesting too that you got to talk to a Marine and get his point of view on the matter. I think if everyone were exposed directly to war, they would realize how bad it really is and there would be a lot less fighting in the world.
The average age of an Army infantryman is 19 (http://www.therant.us/staff/fsalvato/09212007.htm). 19. Since the earliest age of enlistment is 18, that means that there are more men serving under the age of 20 than there are from any other age group. The cut-off age for enlistment is 42 (raised from previous age of 35 in 2005). The obvious reasons for the youth of the soldier is physical capability. But there are other reasons as well. Men who have families, men who have careers, men who have established their lives don't enlist nearly as often as men who are straight out of high-school. Teenagers are invincible, raw and undefined. In my opinion War's are started by the terrible and fought by the reckless.
Like you said, Tim's debate with whether or not to go to war is a key scene to me, too. Recently I watched the movie Across the Universe where one of the characters was, along with his frineds, thinking of ways to escape the war. The truth of the matter is that the United States were snatching these kids from school, before they even had the chance to live and thats all most of them wanted. I agree with one of your last comments "killing is cowardice". I know it was inevitable for these kids and hard to escape a war they were forced into but killing without a cause is cowardice to me. Taking another life, that much like you, probably does not want to be at a war for an issue they have no clue about, is unfair and cowardly. I believe taking the high road and avoiding war by all costs is more courageous because it is hard to look your country in the eye and say I do not believe in fighting this war for you.
How tragic that the fear of humiliation drives so many to do things they may not otherwise do. How do we (society) get to the point where it's ok to act based on your conscience, not out of fear?
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