How Does the Effect of War Shown in Literature
In history, war is often considered just a course of study seen mostly as the information contained diaries, letters, military reports and memories of people. If we research on the psychology of the people who were living at the times of the World War I, World War II, Vietnam War or Pearl Harbor, we can see that soldiers and society were deeply affected by the war. War, however, plays a much more active role throughout literature because of its affectivity. The major part of O’Brien’s story, “Ambush”, Joan Didion’s essay, “Letter from Paradise” and John Steinbeck’s essay, “Why Soldiers Won’t Talk”, show lasting impact of war on all members of society, not just immediate or only soldiers.
O’Brien’s short story “Ambush” is a tale about a soldier who fought in the Vietnam War. The story begins when the man’s daughter wants to know if he had killed anyone. He lies to her, later telling us he had killed an enemy soldier. We learned throughout the story the narrator wished he had acted differently. During Vietnam war, last Friday a young Vietnamese man came out of the fog, carrying his weapon in one hand; muzzle down and moving calmly into the center of the trail. He saw a short, slender young man of about twenty. “I did not hate the young man; I did not ponder issues of morality or military or duty” (O’Brien). O’Brien expresses in this quote that had not felt anger to that soldier; he wanted to warn soldier as much as he wanted the soldier to go away but not kill him. The narrator was afraid of the soldier or afraid of something else; as the soldier passed him, he threw a grenade that exploded at the man's feet and killed him. The narrator says: “Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t” (O’Brien). In this quote the narrator shows his regret and shame and these feelings made him hide the truth from his daughter. He was affected by the battle and later he understood that there is no reason to kill a person. To show his regret about war and to express his sadness he started to write stories.
Didion’s essay, “Letter from Paradise”, is about what Didion sees when she visits Pearl Harbor and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In her essay she shows how a person can be affected by war’s aftermath. She used the behaviors of passengers before they see the sunken boat to emphasize the affect of war on these people. At the beginning of the tour, Didion says that “The passengers comparing complaints about their tour directors and their accommodations” (Didion). In this quote Didion shows even though people were unaffected by de war at the beginning of the tour. She later describes everybody became quiet at Arizona, because they have seen the sunken ship and they were petrified when they have seen the aftermath of war. She also describes the aftermath of the war doesn’t affect every generation. “The children pout that they would rather be at the beach” (Didion). Actually not everybody was affected, because the younger generations who didn’t experience the war weren’t affected by it. Didion was focused on the effects of war o the people. When she went the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific she sees a woman who lost her son 25 years ago. She describes the woman’s behaviors. “The leis were already wilting by the time the woman finally placed them on the grave, because for a long time she only stood there and twisted them in her hands”(Didion). She shows that even though 25 years has passed after a war, people still feel the pain of losing a relative during the war. They can forget the events happen during the war, but they cannot forget the victims of the war.
Steinbeck’s essay, “Why Soldiers Won’t Talk”, is about how the soldiers forget the memories and senses they had at the battle. He expresses the war is mentally traumatic for the soldiers, so the brain erases everything automatically. “The system provides the shields and then removes the memory” (Steinbeck). This quote shows us the soldiers’ brains block out all the memories and senses to preserve soldiers’ psychology, because if the soldiers remember everything, they wouldn’t fight again and they could regret. However, the soldiers don’t forget everything; they remember the pain they had. The soldiers don’t forget everything suddenly or they’re forgetting day by day. They felt a strong pain during the war and it is hard to forget everything. “Under the blast your eyeballs are so beaten … ears hurt, but then they become dull and all your other senses become dull, too” (Steinbeck). Steinbeck explains that the nerve ends beaten, ears shudder and unexpected sleep comes because all the senses become dull and all the nerves get injured. Steinbeck shows us even though the war hurts all the nerves of soldiers, they are fighting again and again because their brain erases everything during the sleep and that makes them available to fight again.
Consequently, the war somehow affects soldiers and civilians who are relatives of victims of the war. It affects their emotions; it becomes a wound on their heart which has been bleeding since they lost someone they loved. The soldiers can forget the people they killed. “Men in prolonged they seem to be reticent –perhaps they don’t remember very well” (Steinbeck). O’Brien shows the damage of war and to kill a man as the feeling of regret. The feeling of regret made the soldiers quiet as much as the war damages their memory and their psychology with making them quiet. All the soldiers and their relatives remember the war times, but the time passes fast and society’s memory fades. “The earth is raw and trampled in that part of the crater, but the grass grows fast, up there in the rain cloud” (Didion). The memories would be forgotten day by day and the wars become forgotten too.
