Vietnam

Joshua P. White
Professor Palmer
American Studies
March 31, 2009
Essay 4

Thesis:
If I die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home is an autobiographical account of Tim O’Brien’s tour of duty in Vietnam. His account details his personal struggle as a drafted soldier who did not believe the Vietnam conflict was justified. O’Brien uses the theme of internal disunity to convey the message of privation in the Vietnam War.
Examples of internal conflict:
O’Brien begins by delineating the internal conflict he faced during his tour of duty. He first begins by narrating a typical day in the jungles of Vietnam. On this particular occasion, the shooting was light and no one had died or been wounded that day. O’Brien felt a certain enthusiasm; for the limited casualty rate. Nearing the end of the day, O’Brien began to feel drowsy. He states “optimism always made me sleepy” (O’Brien 6). This quote demonstrates the way in which the tiring hopelessness of the war could only be worsened by good news, as it seemed the only way out of duty was being wounded or killed. The depthless contradiction demonstrated by this quote illuminates the struggle O’Brien faced; as a soldier trying to escape, but not wanting to die.
O’Brien continues by stating his opinion about the Vietnam War. He affirms that he believes he is a liberal and is personally against war in general. Also, he asserts that he believes that the Vietnam War was fought for reasons that were “uncertain,” if not completely irrelevant in comparison to the cost of human lives lost in fighting. He attests; “I was persuaded then, and I remain persuaded now, that the war was wrong” (O’Brien 18). The statement of disagreement with the war written by a soldier forced to fight in it certainly demonstrates the internal struggle O’Brien was faced with in fighting. Continually he makes further comment on his beliefs by informing the reader that, if he had the chance, he would have not have fought at all. He claims; “the matter [was] of conscience and conviction, uncertain and surface-deep but pure nonetheless. I was a confirmed liberal… I would have cast my ballot to end the Vietnam war” (O’brien 22). The point to take part in an effort to end the conflict, if he had the chance, surly demonstrates his conviction against the war. A day-to-day struggle, combined with a lost sense reason inevitably puts the victim in an internal struggle. O’Brien’s situation of fighting a war he did not agree with surely emulates this struggle.
O’Brien continues on to illustrate the series of events that led him into fighting in the war. He details the boot camp, training, and transport process he went through. Furthermore, he details the thoughts of desertion he experienced before he was sent to Vietnam. In conclusion, O’Brien decides that there was no main reason he went to war, in which he states “it was no decision, no chain of ideas or reasons, that steered me into the war. It was an intellectual and physical standoff... I did not want to be a soldier, not even an observer to war” (O’brien 22). The conflict of feelings the author experienced before going to war demonstrates the internal struggle he dealt with. Going through the required motions into conscription as opposed to his morality against the war suggests the existence of this internal contradiction.
“the war in Vietnam drifted in and out of human lives, taking them or sparing them…without evident cause, a war fought for uncertain reasons” (O’Brien 138).
“losing [Captain Johansen] was like the Trojans losing Hector. He gave some amount of reason to fight. Certainly there were never any political reasons” (O’Brien 145).
“when the reports were finalized and guilt apportioned, solatium payments were made to the families of those killed and maimed-twenty dollars for each wounded villager; thirty-three dollars and ninety cents for each death. Certain blood for uncertain reasons” (O’Brien 168).

Examples of message (how the theme effects the reader i.e. if the author argues about hardship, use examples of hardship and relate them to how the reader might feel about them)
“It was like waking up in a cancer ward, no one ambitious to get on with the day, no one with obligations, no plans, nothing to hope for, no dreams for the daylight” (O’brien 9).
“In the next days it took little provocation for us to flick the flint of our Zippo lighters. Thatched roofs take the flame quickly, and on bad days the hamlets of Pinkville burned, taking our revenge in fire. It was good to walk from Pinkville and see the fire behind Alpha company. It was good, just as pure hate is good” (O’Brien 119).
“Scraps of our friends were dropped in plastic body bags. Jet fighters were called in. The hamlet was leveled, and napalm was used. I heard screams in the burning black rubble. I heard the enemy’s AK-47 rifles crack out like impotent pop guns against the jets. There were Viet Cong in that hamlet. And there were babies and children…in there too” (O’Brien 120).
“one of the lieutenants beat on the old men… whipping them…making long cuts into their ankles…none of them talked” (O’Brien132).
“One night last week I watched a spectacular fire fight-gunships sending down red sheets of metal…im only an observer… audience to a tragic Fourth of July celebration” (O’Brien 171).
how does the author’s argument engage one of this course’s themes: empire, inclusion, consumption, or government?

Empire:
“Erik informed [Commander Blyton] of his opposition to the Vietnam war. Erik explained that he believed the war was without just reason, that life ought not to be forfeited unless certain and fundamental principles are at stake, and not unless those principles stand in certain danger… Blyton laughed at him… and called him a coward” (O’brien 36).
“Mad Mark called in gunships. For an hour the helicopters strafed and rocketed Tri Binh 4. The sky and the trees and the hillsides were lighted up by spotlights and tracers and fires… We heard cattle and chickens and dogs dying… In the morning another patrol was sent into the village… We searched Tri Binh 4, then burned most of it down” (O’Brien 84). (overkill)
“I neither hated the man nor wanted him dead, but I feared him” (O’Brien 98). (demonizing the enemy).