Isolation In War
In the two novels, The Things They Carried, Catch 22, and the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, war is illustrated as being a chaotic battlefield, where people have no remorse for one another as men constantly die right in front of them. The idea of war being cruel is seen as a truth of war among these three works. In addition, the concept of isolation exists throughout these works, to show that being out in a war can truly change someone. These two truths of war are demonstrated ultimately to emphasize the conflicts that exist out in the war, and also to prove that a war can seriously take not only a physical toll, but a major mental toll on you. The cruelty of war is the first truth that is portrayed by these works. Besides the fact that the visual
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aid of Apocalypse Now showing all the gruesome and deadly scenes, this truth of war is also depicted through the dialogue and/or syntax of the three works. The violence in the war seemed to escalate as each work progressed in their plots. In reality, the people that exist in the war aren't there for any meaningful reason other than to take out all of the frustration built up in their lives. Ultimately, war is inevitable and that is what leads to these men fighting to the death at all costs. When you find all of these hotheads on the battlefield, and then you supply them with lethal weapons, you can almost guarantee a fairly reckless war.
In Catch 22, the characters were constantly in a state of fear and nervousness. People like Yossarian always wanted to leave the war because of the fear of dying. They were aware of the dangerous people that they were up against, and this is what produced the classification of the war being cruel to them. “There was no established procedure for evasive action. All you needed was fear, and Yossarian had plenty of that . . . Yossarian had not resigned himself to that idea, and he bolted for his life wildly on each mission the instant his bombs were away” (Heller 59). The cruelty of war is depicted here because the fear that Heller puts inside of Yossarian is easy to see. When Heller says that there was no procedure for evasive action, this hints at the idea that the entire war is just one big disorganized mess, and that people are really just running around like chickens with their heads cut off. This novel also shows cruelty in a way that emphasizes the death of people and the mass destruction of the world. “Behind him, men were dying. Strung out for miles in a stricken, tortuous, squirming line, the other flights of planes were making the same hazardous journey over the target … As Yossarian watched, the burning plane floated over on its side and began spiraling down slowly in wide, tremulous, narrowing circles, its huge flaming burden blazing orange and flaring out in back like a long, swirling cape of fire and smoke (Heller 160). As people continue to die, Heller is implying that the characters are gradually getting used to all of this mayhem that is occurring.
The cruelty of the war is also portrayed in the film Apocalypse Now. With this being a different medium, it was difficult at times to pick out the sense of violence and cruelty without simply looking at the screen. Thankfully, the dialogue and the syntax that exists in the script truly emphasizes these themes in a way that a novel would. Considering the fact that this film was full of violence, it was rare that the film would ever visualize the feelings of a character and express one’s point of view. In this case, it was Colonel Kurtz. Kurtz is a man who is dedicated to the war, and he is the main antagonist. It was rather interesting to see a different side of him in this part of the film: “I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile: a pile of little arms. And I remember I...I...I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out” (Apocalypse Now). With one of the reasons alone being that it was Colonel Kurtz that said this, I believe that this strongly depicts the cruelty of the war. Kurtz is usually not one to show a soft spot, or shed a tear, but this event put him over the edge. The fact that they were cutting off the arms of innocent little children is horrific. It shows that these men will stop at nothing when they are in the war, because all that matters in the end is that one victory, and every obstacle that emerges along the way is apparently expendable.
The novel that best illustrates the cruelty and violence within the war is The Things They Carried. In this story “The Man I Killed”, O’Brien tells of a man that he once killed with a grenade in My Khe. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole . . . the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him. He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young man” (O’Brien 118). The damages in which this young man faced from the grenade truly illustrates the impact that the war could have on you and the long term effects that will exist. O’Brien continues to think about the man that he killed, including his background, and where he was from. It was evident that the kill had gotten inside of his head, because he was upset at the fact that he cut this man’s life off short. In the war, it is possible that an innocent man’s life is taken, sometimes too early, and that is what defines the concept of the war. Ultimately, the war is a nasty place that will show no mercy for anyone that stands in its path. O’Brien came to this realization within this story. Isolation is the second truth of war that is shown within these three works. I believe that this term has a whole different meaning to it in terms of the war. In each of these three works, the audience can see that the characters are being deeply affected by the war. As a result of witnessing a terrible event/s, PTSD can lead to a change psychologically.It is so extreme that it changes them as a person as a result of this. One thing that can derive from these war experiences is PTSD, which comes from the witnessing of a terrible event or events, and people can’t seem to shake off what happened to them. In addition, war changes people in a more destructive way. Overall, isolation in these terms is describing how these characters are isolating themselves from the real world, and they are becoming men of the war. These people are constantly separated from their loved ones and the outside world. The thought of possibly never returning to them must be haunting, and this is what ultimately isolates them, because they are continuously now forced to be around people who are in the war as well, and their entire mindset morphs into a war point of view. In addition, it is possible that the people you become friends with could be hurt or killed, and when they’re gone, this leads to isolation as well. The idea of isolation is first portrayed in Catch 22.
An example of a character who was attempting to become a man of war is Major Major Major Major. He was a rather awkward commander, and he didn’t have much time with the other soldier, which led to him being lonely quite often. Major Major tried solving this problem, by attempting to change himself for the sake of the war and see if people would possibly think of him differently. “His paramount concern throughout the entire assault was to keep his dark glasses and false mustache in place so that he might continue pretending he was somebody else and be spared the dreaded necessity of having to confront them with his authority” (Heller 108). In this part, Major Major is changing himself physically, so perhaps he could gain more respect in the war. He didn’t like who he was before the war, and he was scared that people would think less of him, which is why he tries turning all tough and physically …show more content…
scarier. The war truth of isolation is also portrayed by Lieutenant Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. It is possible that Kilgore was a different man before the war. However, this war is evidently a scary environment. Some people are like little cubs, who are hesitant about what is to come, and they have a little bit of fear. Eventually as time passes, they grow into a large and strong bear, who have by now already molded to the environment around them, and they are prepared for any task ahead of them. This is Lieutenant Kilgore in my eyes. “You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like - victory” (Apocalypse Now). This quote shows how Kilgore is so used to the smell of napalm and the constant fire burning everything to the ground. When Kilgore talks like this, it shows how he has lived through this for so long, and he is no longer sensitive to the environment around him. When people get into the war, it is possible that they just stop caring around their surroundings, because people and land are always getting obliterated, so it’s like a habit for them. Overall, the war is changing them in a sense that they are being isolated from the sensitivities that they would normally have if they were not in the war. The third and final work that shows the idea of isolation is The Things They Carried.
As stated in the definition, isolation can change a person in a destructive way. O’Brien illustrates this concept in his novel. It is often seen that these people in the war are being turned into monsters because of the experiences they have had. “I’d turned mean inside. Even a little cruel at times. For all my education, all my fine liberal values, I now felt a deep coldness inside me, something dark and beyond reason. It’s a hard thing to admit, even to myself, but I was capable of evil” (O’Brien 191). This quote shows how O’Brien changed as a result of the war, and he is admitting that. The idea of isolation is present in the war whether people choose to notice it or not. Just like an addiction to something like drugs, the war can take over your entire body and mind, and soon enough you will be a part of the war and no longer a part of the outside
world. I believe that the two truths explained share a common style that allowed it to be portrayed within the work. The work that I thought did the best with this is The Things They Carried. The style that O’Brien used that best showed these two truths was the style of telling stories. This is a style that was evidently unique that neither of the other two works came close to. Considering the fact that this novel was based off of O’Brien’s experiences in the war, it felt to me as the reader that it was by far the most realistic, even though it was a fiction novel. For example, when he told the story of the man he killed, it showed the audience a side of the author that no one has seen, as well as representing the cruelty of the war which is my first truth. Not to mention the descriptions that he included in his stories were what made it seem so real. The stories that he told that were based from his own life emphasized the true meaning of war. Moreover, the fact that he admitted in his novel that he was “capable of evil” was surprising yet interesting. That quote that he included in the novel told the reader just how much the war can change you as a person, whether you like it or not.
Through the three works, Catch 22, Apocalypse Now, and The Things They Carried, war is seen as being both isolating and cruel. All three works display both truths and the realities of war. This leads to the soldiers facing extreme PTSD from the overwhelming horrors they experience. War is inevitable thus resulting in psychological damages that soldiers must face. Soldiers must also face the physical harm that they may encounter along the way, because the war is such a deadly zone, and violence is present wherever you go.
aid of Apocalypse Now showing all the gruesome and deadly scenes, this truth of war is also depicted through the dialogue and/or syntax of the three works. The violence in the war seemed to escalate as each work progressed in their plots. In reality, the people that exist in the war aren't there for any meaningful reason other than to take out all of the frustration built up in their lives. Ultimately, war is inevitable and that is what leads to these men fighting to the death at all costs. When you find all of these hotheads on the battlefield, and then you supply them with lethal weapons, you can almost guarantee a fairly reckless war.
In Catch 22, the characters were constantly in a state of fear and nervousness. People like Yossarian always wanted to leave the war because of the fear of dying. They were aware of the dangerous people that they were up against, and this is what produced the classification of the war being cruel to them. “There was no established procedure for evasive action. All you needed was fear, and Yossarian had plenty of that . . . Yossarian had not resigned himself to that idea, and he bolted for his life wildly on each mission the instant his bombs were away” (Heller 59). The cruelty of war is depicted here because the fear that Heller puts inside of Yossarian is easy to see. When Heller says that there was no procedure for evasive action, this hints at the idea that the entire war is just one big disorganized mess, and that people are really just running around like chickens with their heads cut off. This novel also shows cruelty in a way that emphasizes the death of people and the mass destruction of the world. “Behind him, men were dying. Strung out for miles in a stricken, tortuous, squirming line, the other flights of planes were making the same hazardous journey over the target … As Yossarian watched, the burning plane floated over on its side and began spiraling down slowly in wide, tremulous, narrowing circles, its huge flaming burden blazing orange and flaring out in back like a long, swirling cape of fire and smoke (Heller 160). As people continue to die, Heller is implying that the characters are gradually getting used to all of this mayhem that is occurring.
The cruelty of the war is also portrayed in the film Apocalypse Now. With this being a different medium, it was difficult at times to pick out the sense of violence and cruelty without simply looking at the screen. Thankfully, the dialogue and the syntax that exists in the script truly emphasizes these themes in a way that a novel would. Considering the fact that this film was full of violence, it was rare that the film would ever visualize the feelings of a character and express one’s point of view. In this case, it was Colonel Kurtz. Kurtz is a man who is dedicated to the war, and he is the main antagonist. It was rather interesting to see a different side of him in this part of the film: “I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile: a pile of little arms. And I remember I...I...I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out” (Apocalypse Now). With one of the reasons alone being that it was Colonel Kurtz that said this, I believe that this strongly depicts the cruelty of the war. Kurtz is usually not one to show a soft spot, or shed a tear, but this event put him over the edge. The fact that they were cutting off the arms of innocent little children is horrific. It shows that these men will stop at nothing when they are in the war, because all that matters in the end is that one victory, and every obstacle that emerges along the way is apparently expendable.
The novel that best illustrates the cruelty and violence within the war is The Things They Carried. In this story “The Man I Killed”, O’Brien tells of a man that he once killed with a grenade in My Khe. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole . . . the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him. He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young man” (O’Brien 118). The damages in which this young man faced from the grenade truly illustrates the impact that the war could have on you and the long term effects that will exist. O’Brien continues to think about the man that he killed, including his background, and where he was from. It was evident that the kill had gotten inside of his head, because he was upset at the fact that he cut this man’s life off short. In the war, it is possible that an innocent man’s life is taken, sometimes too early, and that is what defines the concept of the war. Ultimately, the war is a nasty place that will show no mercy for anyone that stands in its path. O’Brien came to this realization within this story. Isolation is the second truth of war that is shown within these three works. I believe that this term has a whole different meaning to it in terms of the war. In each of these three works, the audience can see that the characters are being deeply affected by the war. As a result of witnessing a terrible event/s, PTSD can lead to a change psychologically.It is so extreme that it changes them as a person as a result of this. One thing that can derive from these war experiences is PTSD, which comes from the witnessing of a terrible event or events, and people can’t seem to shake off what happened to them. In addition, war changes people in a more destructive way. Overall, isolation in these terms is describing how these characters are isolating themselves from the real world, and they are becoming men of the war. These people are constantly separated from their loved ones and the outside world. The thought of possibly never returning to them must be haunting, and this is what ultimately isolates them, because they are continuously now forced to be around people who are in the war as well, and their entire mindset morphs into a war point of view. In addition, it is possible that the people you become friends with could be hurt or killed, and when they’re gone, this leads to isolation as well. The idea of isolation is first portrayed in Catch 22.
An example of a character who was attempting to become a man of war is Major Major Major Major. He was a rather awkward commander, and he didn’t have much time with the other soldier, which led to him being lonely quite often. Major Major tried solving this problem, by attempting to change himself for the sake of the war and see if people would possibly think of him differently. “His paramount concern throughout the entire assault was to keep his dark glasses and false mustache in place so that he might continue pretending he was somebody else and be spared the dreaded necessity of having to confront them with his authority” (Heller 108). In this part, Major Major is changing himself physically, so perhaps he could gain more respect in the war. He didn’t like who he was before the war, and he was scared that people would think less of him, which is why he tries turning all tough and physically …show more content…
scarier. The war truth of isolation is also portrayed by Lieutenant Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. It is possible that Kilgore was a different man before the war. However, this war is evidently a scary environment. Some people are like little cubs, who are hesitant about what is to come, and they have a little bit of fear. Eventually as time passes, they grow into a large and strong bear, who have by now already molded to the environment around them, and they are prepared for any task ahead of them. This is Lieutenant Kilgore in my eyes. “You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like - victory” (Apocalypse Now). This quote shows how Kilgore is so used to the smell of napalm and the constant fire burning everything to the ground. When Kilgore talks like this, it shows how he has lived through this for so long, and he is no longer sensitive to the environment around him. When people get into the war, it is possible that they just stop caring around their surroundings, because people and land are always getting obliterated, so it’s like a habit for them. Overall, the war is changing them in a sense that they are being isolated from the sensitivities that they would normally have if they were not in the war. The third and final work that shows the idea of isolation is The Things They Carried.
As stated in the definition, isolation can change a person in a destructive way. O’Brien illustrates this concept in his novel. It is often seen that these people in the war are being turned into monsters because of the experiences they have had. “I’d turned mean inside. Even a little cruel at times. For all my education, all my fine liberal values, I now felt a deep coldness inside me, something dark and beyond reason. It’s a hard thing to admit, even to myself, but I was capable of evil” (O’Brien 191). This quote shows how O’Brien changed as a result of the war, and he is admitting that. The idea of isolation is present in the war whether people choose to notice it or not. Just like an addiction to something like drugs, the war can take over your entire body and mind, and soon enough you will be a part of the war and no longer a part of the outside
world. I believe that the two truths explained share a common style that allowed it to be portrayed within the work. The work that I thought did the best with this is The Things They Carried. The style that O’Brien used that best showed these two truths was the style of telling stories. This is a style that was evidently unique that neither of the other two works came close to. Considering the fact that this novel was based off of O’Brien’s experiences in the war, it felt to me as the reader that it was by far the most realistic, even though it was a fiction novel. For example, when he told the story of the man he killed, it showed the audience a side of the author that no one has seen, as well as representing the cruelty of the war which is my first truth. Not to mention the descriptions that he included in his stories were what made it seem so real. The stories that he told that were based from his own life emphasized the true meaning of war. Moreover, the fact that he admitted in his novel that he was “capable of evil” was surprising yet interesting. That quote that he included in the novel told the reader just how much the war can change you as a person, whether you like it or not.
Through the three works, Catch 22, Apocalypse Now, and The Things They Carried, war is seen as being both isolating and cruel. All three works display both truths and the realities of war. This leads to the soldiers facing extreme PTSD from the overwhelming horrors they experience. War is inevitable thus resulting in psychological damages that soldiers must face. Soldiers must also face the physical harm that they may encounter along the way, because the war is such a deadly zone, and violence is present wherever you go.