Different Perspectives of War

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Throughout history, many wars have been fought all resulting in death and destruction, but two in particular are very important to American literature today. Ernest Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms, a fantastic account of World War I, in which he characterizes Lt. Henry, a young ambulance driver in love during the time of fighting, actually portraying himself during the time of war. His role in the war however gave him very little personal interaction with actual combat himself but a way to observe the soldiers' lives around him. Tim O'Brien, with his position as a solder in the Viet Nam Conflict, wrote The Things They Carried, an accurate and personal account of his experiences and difficulties throughout the time of battle. Through the general surveillance of Hemingway and the individual eyes of O'Brien, both are able to capture the essence of war with differing perspectives, yet both revealing its corruptive nature on a soldier.

Based on his perspective, Hemingway is able to generalize the mental, emotional, and physical effects of both life and death in war rather than focusing on the individual perspective of the events around them. This provides a broader outlook of the demoralization and corruption of the men during their time of fighting. Early in the novel, one man reaches the despairing realization, 'There is nothing as bad as war….When people realize how bad it is they cannot do anything to stop it because they go crazy' (Hemingway 50). As the men are experiencing the battle, they truly feel war is the worst thing imaginable, but by the time they comprehend the intensity, their minds have dissipated and are no longer rational. The mental state of insanity is evident by their animal-like desire to kill. Shortly after caring for the sick and wounded, Lt. Henry, along with several other men, is captured and interrogated about his supposed involvement as an enemy spy. As a result of the degradation of their mental state, the soldiers, without hesitation shot every one they had questioned (Hemingway 4). The soldiers, as a whole, began to lose track of the purpose of reaching peace and became killing machines, not much more human than the weapons they operated. Eventually, the decaying minds of the soldiers expands to encompass their emotions, resulting in a loss of optimism and desire to stay alive 'It is never hopeless. But sometimes I cannot hope. I try always to hope but sometimes I cannot' (Hemingway 71). The men's loss of hope to persevere and carry on leads to a doubting of all aspects of life, even the creator Himself. In the novel, the priest is speaking to Lt. Henry and simply states, 'You understand but you do not love God' (Hemingway 7). Henry's reply admits his lack of love for God and reveals that he is afraid of Him in the night sometimes (Hemingway 7). During the time of war and aggression, all the men know is fear and hate, losing the ability to even trust in God. After the horrifying things they have seen, they are unable to rely on anyone to help them in the darkness of the night. Death, a morbid reality of war, severely contributes to the gloom and darkness of the novel, something Hemingway encountered abundantly in his line of work. As Lt. Henry is lying on a stretcher after his injury, a dead man lies above him with drops [of blood falling] very slowly, as they fall from an icicle after the sun has gone (Hemingway 61). As Henry arrives at the hospital, he experiences a darkness of war unlike any other. At a perceived place of health and restoration, soldiers can look out the windows and see the new graves in the garden (Hemingway 75). With a general feeling of gloom and despair, the soldiers, in a delusional state of mind, can only focus on the present with no regard for life after war There is nothing worse than war (Hemingway 50). By using a broader prospective on the life of soldiers, Hemingway is able to objectively capture the mental, emotional, and physical consequences associated with war.

In contrast to Hemingway, O'Brien's individualistic perspective of the mental, emotional, and physical results of war offers the reader a personal account based on his daily experience with hand-to-hand combat. With his actual role as a soldier, his memories are still fresh in his mind and he writes mainly of individual men and their experiences. With the purpose of killing as many as possible, the men did not look at the faces of the enemy to prevent any kind of relationship, but twenty years later, [they are] left with faceless responsibility and faceless grief (O'Brien 180). The minds of the men began to create new realities to escape from the hell in which they are living, and admit to sometimes [slipping] away into daydreams inspiring a mental state entirely different from the one they possessed at the entrance of war. During the times the soldiers were ordered to crawl into and destroy the complex holes dug by the opposing side, O'Brien remembers …the waiting was worse than the tunnel itself. Imagination was a killer (O'Brien 11). Ironically he felt his own mind the source of his death, illustrating once again the destruction of rational thought and perception. Fighting brought out feelings and realizations O'Brien never knew he had …you're never more alive than when you're almost dead. You recognize what's valuable (O'Brien 81). Although this time forced the men to act in an inconceivable manner, sometimes they looked for the best and grasped the things in life that matter the most. Other times, the soldiers did not know what to feel and were torn by feeling both love and hate, unsure of whether to remember the loved ones they have and withstand the pain for them, or hate everyone for killing and fighting (O'Brien 17). This struggle of emotions caused many to fall to one extreme, leaving them incapable of feeling everything designed for humans. O'Brien not only personally describes his own experiences, but sees and assumes those of the men around him as well In the presence of his fathers and uncles, he pretended to look forward to doing his patriotic duty, which was also a privilege, but at night he prayed with his mother that the war might end soon (O'Brien 17) Going to war is characterized as such an honorable affair that a boy who is only going out of obligation, prays each night to stay at home with his mother and not have to participate in such a horrendous act. O'Brien recalls thinking of himself as just a kid at war, in love (O'Brien 1). Numerous men had so much going for them but, even at a young age, had to detach themselves from their lives and loved ones to fight for a cause they frequently could not even remember. With physical deaths looming around the men daily, they were unsure how to react when they felt something they weren't used to. O'Brien remembers a time when they stumbled across a baby water buffalo and, with no apparent regard for life, a soldier shot it over and over until it collapsed forever, then saw the soldier …crying. He tried to say something, but then cradled his rifle and went off by himself (O'Brien 7). With his personal experience of daily warfare, O'Brien's individual perspective presents an emotional and detailed description of the repercussions of war on a soldier and his life.

With Hemingway's influence and broad view of World War I, O'Brien himself wrote a novel basing it on his own personal wartime experiences, which some say is one of the best war stories in history. These men illustrate an accurate account of war and the effects it has on a soldier but, regardless of the perspective, one can reach the conclusion that war is still war, with consequences and life changing occurrences. Although these soldiers suffer countless attacks and dispiriting aggression, somewhere in the hate and hostility they find something astonishing and nothing else like it (O'Brien 81).

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York Simon and Schuster, 15.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York Broadway Books, 10.

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