The quote coming from Tim O’Brien’s
chapter Spin in The Things They Carried
comes from a peace story about a man who went AWOL. “A guy goes AWOL.
Shacks up in Danang with a Red Cross nurse. It’s a great time- the nurse loves
him to death- the guy gets whatever he wants whenever he wants it. The war’s
over he thinks. Just nookie and new angles. But then, one day he rejoins his
unit in the bush.” Peculiarly enough, after having spent his time with the Red
Cross nurse he comes back and seems eager for combat, which leads to
questioning from his fellow companions. When asked, he answers “All that peace,
man, it felt so good it hurts. I want to hurt it back.”
I don’t think peace is accepted in war, not by the government
or by the soldiers themselves. War is not the symbol for peace, obviously not,
which is quite ironic since war is supposed to bring peace. This does not
change the fact, however, that The Vietnam War just like any other is filled
with haunting images and brutality that slowly fills the soldier’s minds and
becomes their day to day life. These images and that feeling of raw war is what
becomes normal to them and to an extent, what feels right.
I think the reason for this mans enthusiasm towards war and
combat originates from this, that slowly a soldier is blinded from what they
used to be and become this inhuman, disrespectful to the social code type of
people, who believe that in war peace is not to be seen, and shouldn’t be. To
be in war has turned this soldier into a savage that prefers to feel the agony
of it and its entire trauma instead of the tranquility and peacefulness of what
he was feeling when he was with the nurse. To be in war should not mean a
sentiment of relief.
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