The war in Vietnam in the 1960’s was an extremely controversial topic among the American public. America’s role in the war was questionable, and thousands of young men were drafted into the army against their own personal beliefs. In If I Die in a Combat Zone, author Tim O’Brien argued that the Vietnam War was unjust through his depictions of violent events during the war, how the war affected both the soldiers and innocent civilians, and the inhumane duties required of the soldiers.
One of the most significant ways O’Brien is able to depict the war as immoral is by detailing many of the horrendous scenes he and other soldiers were forced to experience because of their enlistment. Shortly after O’Brien joins the Alpha Company, he is awakened in the night by enemy attacks. He is one of the only men to rush to prepare himself and as the assaults draw closer he notices that most of the other soldiers are drunk and mentally absent from the situation taking place (pg. 75).
The fear O’Brien experiences in this moment leaves him breathless and utterly unresponsive. This initial event seems to awaken an understanding of the harsh reality of war within the author, as he later expresses his concern by questioning another soldier (pg. 78). The ceaseless walks through the minefields weigh heavily upon O’Brien and the other soldiers minds and hearts as well. He speaks of numerous limbs and lives being lost to the violent explosions within a matter of days, leaving the friends of those are injured or killed to handle their bodies (pg. 26). The soldiers are constantly faced with the difficult task of not letting their fear of the deadly mines consume them entirely, as well as coming to terms with the deaths of their friends along the way.
Later, many of the soldiers are accidentally run over by American tracks after becoming stuck in the thick mud of the 1 OF 4 swamplike rice paddies. One man loses a foot, another’s leg is broken, and one soldier is completely crushed to death, all while being attacked by the enemy simultaneously (pg. 52). No soldier wants to be the man that finds their comrades crushed body, and the fact that American men were lost because of a mistake on their own side makes it that much more difficult to accept. While living in a camp near a lagoon, the Alpha Company experiences many more losses because of the minefield surrounding the area. O’Brien speaks of many times he was required to call in for men who had been fatally injured because of an unforeseen mine accident (pg. 166).
The soldiers are constantly surrounded by unavoidable death, events that will be forever branded into their minds as they watch their brothers perish next to them. Tim O’Brien is able to effectively exemplify the fact that the Vietnam War negatively affected both the American soldiers involved and the innocent civilians encountered throughout the novel by explaining their experiences. One night six American soldiers stumble upon a group of enemy fighters and immediately kill them, taking their money and cutting off one man’s ear to show off to the other Alpha Company soldiers back at the camp (pg. 2). This shows that the brutal essence of war has normalized barbaric acts such as murder and enemy mutilation and pillaging to many of the soldiers, further stripping the men of what empathy and humanity they may have arrived with. Those who survive the war have a greater likelihood of returning home with a depleted sense of compassion because of the horrendous actions they have been accustomed to in the war.
Although O’Brien repeatedly explains his complete disgust for the immorality the war requires its soldiers to engage in, he is eventually forced to commit the very act he so detests. Out of total fear and a moment of mindlessness, O’Brien fires at and kills an enemy soldier (pg. 98). An act of murder is completely out of character for the author and conflicts with all of the beliefs he so deeply supports; even though he seems disappointed with his actions fterwards, this proves that the war has changed O’Brien’s reflexive nature, as he is still capable of pulling the trigger due to the circumstantial necessities taught to him by the war. At the battle in Pinkville, the American soldiers encounter the young children, women, and elderly citizens who are not directly involved with the war but are still present for all of the gruesome violence.
They are inclined to remain loyal to their own family members fighting against the Americans and are therefore unwilling to warn them of any attacks that may be near (pg. 18). This would have undoubtedly taken a traumatic toll on these individuals, as they are forced to watch both their own people and the American soldiers kill and be killed before their very eyes. O’Brien also expounds upon the many inhumane acts the soldiers were required to engage in because of their involvement with the war. In the case of a dying female enemy soldier who was believed to be male when she was shot, t begins to settle in on the Americans who surround her.
The man who shot her begins to wish he could do something to make her more comfortable before she reaches her impending death and seems to express the idea that he would not have chosen to shoot her if he had known she was a woman (pg. 113). This proves that although many soldiers are likely extremely uncomfortable with the idea of murder, especially concerning women or children, they still understand what their obligations are to the war as a whole and continue on with it anyway.
In an instance where a weapon is found buried near a village, the soldiers are required to completely search and destroy everything nearby in order to discover whether or not there are enemies within the area; villagers homes are torn apart, items smashed, and the local well filled with sand (pg. 129). This is another example of how the soldiers were often required to engage in acts that were not morally correct for the sake of the war’s potential success. The American soldiers also decide to take three old men from the village as prisoners, beating them senseless at a feeble attempt to gain information n their enemy (pg. 131). The violent nature of this event reflects the violence war promotes, leading the soldiers to try and obtain details in a way that is as aggressive as the war itself. The participation of these men in the Vietnam War necessitates a predetermined harshness towards the natives that would not be socially acceptable outside of that particular setting, meaning the soldiers are expected to act a specific way because of the given circumstances.
In a later routine target practice exercise, gun elevation and deflection calculations are accidentally skewed, leading to the murder and wounding of almost fifty innocent villagers (pg. 168). Although this act was not inherently malicious, the very nature of this activity being necessary for war activities only makes the accident seem like that much less of a forgivable accident.
Author Tim O’Brien is effectively able to convey his thoughts on both his personal experience and a more broad interpretation of the Vietnam War in his novel If| Die in a Combat Zone. He thoroughly explains many of the appalling experiences faced by the soldiers, gives examples as to how all people both directly and indirectly involved with the war were affected by it, and describes the many immoral acts almost every man was required to participate in as an American soldier.
