The Friendship Only Lasted A Few Seconds Analysis

Confronting war is an immense crisis man can face. War is an armed conflict between nations or groups, with the need to have men engage. Encountering war can cause a drift between people and their relationships. Conflict mostly impacts relationships with oneself because there is a bigger force than one’s value that draft men into the army. The negativity of war on an individual is specified in the poem, “The Friendship Only Lasted a Few Seconds,” by Lily Lee Adams, about a nurse treating a dying soldier who is calling out to his loved ones. Also, mentioned in the letter, “Dear Folks,” Kenneth W. Bagby wrote to his parents from the Vietnam War, and the short story, “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien, which is about a new
Before acknowledging the strange death, Paul is traipsing through the field, envisioning his father with him, “‘I wasn’t afraid,’ he was screaming or dreaming, facing his father’s stern eyes. ‘I wasn’t afraid,’” (O’Brien 3). Within that situation, his father is with him, however, he is speaking more to himself. His father is a clear aspect of him, Paul, and the way he is speaking to him, his tone is displayed that he is frightened and hesitant to proceed in combat. However, he implies that he is determined to engage because noticing his father’s eyes makes him believe that he can also be tough. Despite encouraging himself to be calm and firm, the conversation between Paul and the soldier about Billy Boy’s death triggers an emotion, causing Paul to giggle. After many endeavors to have Paul silent, he does and is suddenly warned about a death similar to Billy Boy’s in which is noticed, “‘I know. I know that’” (O’Brien 5). From his response, a new tone is introduced by Paul. The difference of his tone presents impressions of him that he is now feeling calm, unlike before with fear that he will die. Yet, there is still anxiousness in his voice that he wants to leave immediately due to his brief awareness of his immaturity, alike Billy Boy’s, will be the cause of his fatality. Along with his public display of childish behavior, it is to be known that part of himself is shown through the incident with war and the death of a soldier. Concluding with a confession from Paul Berlin, O’Brien uses his memory of Billy Boy to speak of distinctive tones to demonstrate the burden war has on a new draftee or any