Reflection and Connection

Part 1: O’Brien has an atypical emotional battle when he finally decides to join the war effort. He was drafted by the military and at first was very scared. Consequently, he decided to flee to Canada leaving his family a very vague note. Eventually, his conscience overpowered his desire to hide. He became very uncomfortable thinking about what his friends and family would think of his hiding. He felt as if they would be ashamed of him for doing so. Suddenly, O’Brien decided to return back home but felt cowardly instead of brave. This is because he gave into his emotions and was afraid to follow his true desires. I, however, think O’Brien was actually brave by deciding to go to war and cowardly for fleeing his home. Joining the army is obviously very dangerous and a life risking-feat. By ignoring these factors to please others, O’Brien has become completely selfless which in itself is a brave thing to do. If I was drafted in the Iraq war, I would probably have similar feelings to O’Brien’s but I would not leave the country. Instead, I would try and find loopholes in the system and attempt to manipulate my way out of being in the army.
Part 2: The Iraq war is sometimes referred to as the “new Vietnam” war, but how will we ever know the truth? The media constantly slants war stories in the favor of the country by supporting the truths. Also, many battles and deaths are either discussed in a gentle manner or completely ignored. On the other hands, many forms of media also exaggerate the war to make it seem worse than it is, causing an anti-war effort to erupt. Although I do think it is a little bit extreme to compare the Iraq War to the Vietnam war, they are both very similar. Both wars have had virtually no purpose, dragged on, and caused an unnecessary amount of deaths. However, the Vietnam War was more extreme in all three of those categories. I do not believe that we could find ourselves in another Vietnam, at least not currently. After the Iraq war ends, we would lose many strong relationships if we embark on another Vietnam-like war.