Preview

Passifistic Views of Two Authors

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
691 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Passifistic Views of Two Authors
Mike Dougherty

Phelps

English 12

12/4/12

Comparison essay

Pacifistic Views of Two Authors

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” (O’Brien 180) This is quoted by Tim O’Brien and it basically states the horrors of war and the emotional scar they leave on us. The two stories “How to Tell a True War Story” by O’Brien and “Soldiers Home” By Ernest Hemingway both share a similar point of view. Despite it being two entirely different wars, both authors make it obvious that their standpoint towards war, is pacifistic.

Hemingway showed signs of PTSD in “Soldier’s Home” when coming home from WWI. “In the evening he practiced on his clarinet, strolled down town, and went to bed.” (Hemingway 1) This unwillingness to break out of routine is a classic symptom of PTSD. He is unable to find happiness in simple things; even in things he found happiness in before the war. “Ernest Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" is a parallel to his own thoughts about WWI and his suffering of PTSD as a result. His entire worldview has been skewed by his traumatic experiences in the war, and the ability to genuinely love requires an emotional balance he lost during the war. This PTSD the author gets, comes to somewhat of resentment toward war.

O’Brien also showed signs of PTSD in “How to Tell A True War Story” Like from the (O’Brien 177) Even though Tim O'Brien might not sound too convincing about the credibility of his own memories and narrative, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder remains a certainty. The results of the trauma suffered in the war together with the emotional baggage: grief, terror, love, and longing, report of all of the veterans' post war turmoil.

Hemingway portrays much change from
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A Comparison Of John And Krebs In I Had Seen Castles
    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Comparison Of John And Krebs In I Had Seen Castles

    In a letter to his wife, Robert E. Lee said, “What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world” (Lee). This destruction can be seen in John Dante, the soldier from Cynthia Rylant’s I Had Seen Castles, and Harold Krebs, the veteran from Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Soldier’s Home.” Although John and Krebs face their suffering in different ways, these battle-scarred protagonists change in unique and similar ways. Upon returning from the war, John moves away from his home to find peace while Krebs stays home. Despite where the soldiers are geographically, both are in a new battle against their own thoughts; John and Krebs suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) forcing them to react…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Theme Of Metafiction In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Theme Of Metafiction In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    Although O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is considered fiction in many ways it is Metafiction. "Metafiction is a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality” (Waugh 2.) Once in an interview O’Brien admitted to his conscious blurring of fact and fiction by way of using Metafiction to generate stories that are “more real” (Sawyer 117-126.) O’Brien’s practice of using Metafiction indisputably makes the events and stories conceivable for the reader. The reality of O’Brien’s description of the intangible items each man carried has been noted to have long-term implications for those who have had to lug around the psychological affects of war. According to an article in BMC Psychiatry, “Combat exposure is the factor most consistently associated with mental disorders and symptomatology. Research with Vietnam veterans demonstrated substantial associations between combat exposure and PTSD” (Kewley 1). In another article findings that suggest, “...Vietnam veterans are much more likely to report problems associated with posttraumatic stress disorder including ‘‘nightmares, loss of control of behavior, emotional numbing, withdrawal from the external environment, hyper alertness, anxiety, and depression”(Card 7). The way in which Tim O’Brien represents each character with both the physical and emotional baggage that he carries lends itself to constructing characters that become personal. The characters by way of these items that they carry have become believable. It is because of this believability that the reader can visualize the weight of each character. O’Brien’s ability to blur the lines between fiction and fact with the items carried in war ensures…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Harold Krebs In A Soldier's Home By Ernest Hemingway
    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Harold Krebs In A Soldier's Home By Ernest Hemingway

    Ever wondered what the life of a soldier would be once they are home? Will the life of a soldier ever be the same? Through many generations of adolescents, they have gone from a peaceful environment to experiencing the war. Many have witnessed the catastrophes and devastations that occur during the war. The adjustment from two years on the field of World War I to the ordinary everyday life of a small Oklahoma town can be tough. Harold Krebs in Ernest Hemingway’s Soldier’s Home, has a tough time adjusting to his home life than most soldiers would when they return home. Krebs was expected to conform back into society’s expectations with not much time to adapt back into his life not being surrounded by war. Harold Krebs ignores his surrounding…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    Tim O’Brien constructs a meticulous narrative in order to portray a true representation of war through his writing. It is well known however that truth always becomes a casualty through war resulting in a challenging approach for O’Brien. Although deemed a work of fiction, many of the stories within The Things They Carried reflect an almost autobiographical outlook through the characters combined with metafiction. O’Brien does well to create a distinction between the truth of the narrative and that of the truth of the events taking place. Therefore it is this conciliation of truth that he uses to recreate his discourse of Vietnam using fictional form combined with a clear exhibition of facts and figures such as in “The Things They Carried” (O’Brien, 3-21). Nevertheless O’Brien still faces an infinite obstacle in regards to trauma. Herman states that ‘The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.’ (Herman, 2) In effect the survivors of such ordeals retell their stories in a heavily distorted account due to emotional stress often controverting…

    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Traumatic Stress Syndrome In Soldier's Home And Tim O Brien
    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Traumatic Stress Syndrome In Soldier's Home And Tim O Brien

    War is a terrible thing. It has confounding effects on everyone involved. Some people take it well, while others have such horrible experiences that it scares them for life and affects them even after the war when they return home. Ernest Hemingway's Soldier's Home and Tim O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story are two great examples of literature that express' what any particular soldier can go through upon returning home. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is a very common sickness that soldiers come down with after returning from war. There are a few differences and similarities between the two stories; the way each soldier handles himself after the war and the way people look at each of the soldiers when they return home.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    When one thinks of war, the general thought is that it inspires acts of patriotism and heroism. No one really looks deeper into the topic to find that along with patriotism and heroism there are often feelings of shame and loneliness. In The Things They Carried it is clear that most of the soldiers in the war do not come back with a sense of pride or honor. Most come back wishing they had never gone at all. Tim O'Brien reveals that because Vietnam precipitated such traumatic experiences, his storytelling is a great way to cope with his shame and loneliness, emphasizing that the war experience is not one of patriotism and heroism, but one of loneliness and guilt.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    True war stories are not about war. So tells us Tim O’Brien, a master in the art of war stories. What they are about is life, love, family, loss, grief, and…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    If I Die In A Combat Zone
    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages

    If I Die In A Combat Zone

    O’Brien demonstrates both the physical and mental effects the Vietnam war had on its soldiers through…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Traumatic Stress Disorder In Soldier's Home By Ernest Hemingway
    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Traumatic Stress Disorder In Soldier's Home By Ernest Hemingway

    Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex anxiety disorder that may develop when individuals experience or witness an event perceived as a threat or experience fear, terror, or helplessness (McNulty). Many men and women who return from a war suffer from this including characters from Ernest Hemingway's stories like Harold Krebs from "Soldier's Home." The story revolves around the character named Harold Krebs who has just returned from war as a distant and unapproachable man with PTSD (Hemingway). When Ernest Hemingway returned from World War I, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Lohano and El-mallakh state that PTSD has a certain relationship with bipolar disorder because both mania and depression may be perceived as traumatic or because events in the course of the illness may increase the risk of severe traumatic events.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How to Tell a True War Story vs. Soldier's Home
    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How to Tell a True War Story vs. Soldier's Home

    Many authors have written war stories and about the effects of war on a person. Two of these writers are Tim O'Brian and Ernest Hemingway. O'Brian wrote "How to Tell a True War Story"; and Hemingway wrote a short story called "Soldier's Home". Both of these stories illustrate to the reader just what war can do to an average person and what, during war, made the person change. The stories are alike in many respects due to the fact that both authors served time in the army; O'Brian in the Vietnam War and Hemingway in WWI. However, the stories do have differences due to the slightly different themes and also the different writing techniques of the authors.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Internal Conflict In Soldier's Home
    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Internal Conflict In Soldier's Home

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” is a tremendous story about a young soldier’s battle to find himself after returning from the war. In this story, Hemingway’s character Krebs leaves for the war as a young upscale college student and returns a couple of years later out of touch with society and lost within himself. The main conflict in the story is the struggle in which Krebs faces as he tries to rediscover where he belongs not only in the world, but also inside himself.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    How to Tell a True War Story
    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages

    How to Tell a True War Story

    O’Brien tells his story when he was in the Vietnam War though books that he has written. For example in “The Things They Carried” there is a character named Tim. One of the interviews from Library of Congress Tim O’Brien states that “he goes back and forth about Vietnam and also about his first girlfriend.” He was in 4th grade when he was in love and that using his girlfriend as an example that Vietnam was not that easy like losing his girlfriend at nine years old. In the story Bob Kiley was known as Rat. O’ Brien points out that Rat that had a good friend with him in the Vietnam War. They both were good soldiers and when Lemon would volunteer Rat would volunteer as well. He lets people know that his friend and he were goofing around like always. Lemon showed Rat that the war can be fun but also very serious. There will be times to goof around and there will be times to be services during the war. He tells people that when they were goofing around they felt like kids again. Lemon and Rat “were giggling and calling each other motherfucker”. They would go a nature hike in the woods and started messing around. They heard a noise and next thing a bomb killed his friend. Rat had taken his friend back with the other soldiers. Hs friend named was Curt Lemon. He told Sander and the other soldiers what happen to Lemon.…

    • 2535 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Conflict In Soldier's Home
    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Conflict In Soldier's Home

    “Conflicts” among characters in Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” helps the reader to understand the main character’s feelings and physical conditions - depression. The story starts with two different pictures showing Krebs before and after joining the army. The author stages the story of Krebs’s inner conflict to the relationship with his family. Indeed, the author leaves a lot of doubts that make the reader believe Krebs had pain of heart broken while in the war. The author does not directly describe the cruelty of war that Krebs experienced; however, through the conflicts among the characters in the story, readers can assume how the post young soldiers had suffered in the war and understand their trauma by the aftermath.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Marxist Literary Analysis
    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Marxist Literary Analysis

    Through writing about his experiences in Vietnam, O 'Brien 's character is able to find a medium in which he can sort through his emotions, since "by telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths" (158). He does not look upon his stories as therapy--he recounts his stories since they are a part of his past, and who he is now is the direct result of them:…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hemingway's Sickness
    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page

    Hemingway's Sickness

    Because of the War to End All Wars, which occurred previously to the events in the book, Hemingway alludes to how every character is suffering under a sickness. Despite the fact that not every character had direct contact with the war, they all incurred the resulting sickness of living when one is surrounded by death. This sickness occurs when one has stared into the face of death and survived, only to find the world you once knew to be completely decimated. Now, they are all suffering under the onerous sickness. However, the characters are not alone in this suffering: real-world war veterans often come home with PTSD, which is undoubtedly similar. Furthermore, even I can relate on a smaller scale. When I was younger, I was present in California…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics