Wednesday, April 16, 2008
What would you do if you were drafted?
The first reaction of Tim O'Brien was to cut town and run when he was drafted. The only thing that held him back was his conscience. Imagine millions of drafted men who delt with the same conscientous problem. How would this effect their proformance in the combat zone? Do you think that they would have the guts to cross the Canadian border unlike O'Brien? Or does Tim O'Brien represent the majority of army men, trying to leave the country but held back by too much pride?
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17 comments:
theres an a in dealt
This is similar to what I did my research paper on and most men will not flee to the Canadian border. However what you do get is men who are not all in. Much like O'Brien the men will be wondering why they are there.
I would enter the air force before drafted because i would choose what i wanted to do... bell just rang
I think O'Brian was representing the majority of the soldiers who were drafted. The last thing they wanted to do was go to the war. They had all had bright futures ahead of them. And the war was going to shatter all of their hopes and dreams. So a simple escape route was to cross the border. But when they finally got there they realized there was something they feared worse then war. They feared the shame that would be put upon them. All of their friends and family looking down on upon then being ashamed. they also feared the fact that once they ran away, they could never come back. Never come back to the place they grew up. the place they love
Most men that were opposed to the war at the time of their drafting were probably stricken with the same type of anxious fear that O'Brien was stricken with. O' Brien is the typical draftee that feels he has way too much going for himself to throw it away. O' Briens trip to the Canadian Border was probably an extreme that few of the draftees attempted, but they all wanted an escape. Once these men get to the combat zone, their regards to the war's sanctity leave them. They realize that right or not, this war is something they have to experience, and if they don't perform they die.
I do not know what i would do in that situation and hope that i will never have to make a choice like that, but i think that a person should not fight if they do not want to fight. They will not care as much becasue they dont want to be there and i do not think that they would have an attitude that other prople would want to be around.
I think all draftees have the same "run to Canada" feeling when they get drafted, but most men's conscious prevents them from putting their thoughts into action.
During the time of Vietnam, I do not think that many men wanted to go. A man's conscience does not have to affect your outcome in the proformance of combat, but most choose to let their conscience take over. I think men had no desire to go to Vietnam, and most men were like O'Brien character. However, in the end when it came down to their true thoughts most men did not want to run, because they would feel like they would be a coward. Plus they had lives, they had future plans, the concept of a war took ahold of these men and basically it ruined their life.
I think that the majority of the army men are not neccessarily trying to leave the country but are definatley not 100% focused on what they are doing such as lt. cross demonstrates. I do not think that anyone wants to fight in war but as said, they cant decline it because of their pride. They might be scared about what type of person people would portray him as if he did refuse to fight for his country. I think their pride does hold them back from alot of decisions they are doubtful to make.
I am sure that most men had thoughts about running away just because many men were scared and didnt want to be in the war. However, I think that the men knew what they had to do in the end and to be loyal to their country. I would think that it would have some impact on the performance in combat zone because they all were scared and didnt fully want to be there, but once they were already there they had a duty and they did what they had to do.
I think that Tim O'Brien represented a majority of the soldiers. They knew that they would eventually have to go fight in the war, but they didn't know what to do to get out of going. By not fighting in the war a man could disgrace his whole family, and no man intentionally wanted to do that. If I was put in this type of situation im not sure what I would do, because I would not want to go die in a war, but at the same time I would want to make my family and my country proud.
Pride is a huge issue for men. They will go and fight and be brave when all they want to do is crawl in a corner somewhere. With out this raction though there would be no such thing as bravery. Most brave men don'e feel brave at the time that they are actually brave. They are scared out of their minds. I'm sure plenty of men wanted to flee, but their pride held them back. O'Brien did the brave thing. You can not blame someone for doing the smarter thing,and running away.
Different people have different feelings towards war. When drafted, some will have an instinct to try to dodge their duty while others will consider it an honor. People also have different consciences. Some people would try to run away from a war without a second thought and would never feel much guilt about it, while others would be overwhelmed with guilt if they failed to serve their country. So yes, there are people who would have the guts to run away from war and risk being ridiculed, but how they feel after they do such a thing will vary.
To some of the men who are drafted it is honor to serve your country like O'Brien but to some it is a fearful thing that could effect their performance in combat because they have that constant thought of there is danger in there surroundings unlike someone who wants to be drafted usually does it because they are brave enough to enlist.
I do think that most men do get the same feeling O'Brien did when he was drafted. I mean think about it... You have to leave everything you know and love behind to go fight and kill people in a different country, and there is no guarantee that you will survive. Everything you are familiar with is just taken completely away from you and you are stripped of your identity. I think that most of them don't act on the ideas they have to dodge the war because they know they have a country to defend and their pride is too great to just dodge the draft.
I think that men who were drafted and did not wish to go would not have their performance in combat affected, as many men simply need to overcome their fears. Also, men like O'Brien who were initially scared enough to go to Canada obviously turned out all right.
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