"The Ghost soldier" by Tim O'Brien

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Summary
“The Ghost Soldier” by Tim O’Brien is a story of a soldier at war who has been shot, and due to those circumstances is placed in easier, less battle section of the war; being removed from his squad, and placed in a new one. Eventually the old squad stumbles in to this section of the war where the soldier has been transferred to, running into him. The soldier then has resurfacing emotions towards a member of the squad, leading him to seek revenge for past events, events that haunt him, leading him seeking justice.
Analysis
“The Ghost Soldier” by Tim O’Brien is a story of the trauma a soldier goes through. The traumatic effect war has on a soldier even after the war is over. In this story a soldier is shot twice and due to that is transferred to a sector of the war that is not in constant battle (O'Brien 189-218).But this soldier can’t let go of that fact that war might be over for him, eventually seeking revenge on a fellow squad member for a botched bullet removal, sub-consciously bringing him pleasure in it, pleasure that only war gives him, and pleasure that war has traumatized in him.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Ghost Soldier” reminds us of the even darker side of war. The side that the soldiers take with him, in this case a soldier who was not ready to leave war, creating his own war, at the cost of his life, of his friends, and quad. Seeking revenge on his fellow soldier so he could feel he has a place in life that only war can give him, due to the trauma of war itself.

Citation Page
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston, New York: Mariner Books, 2009. 189-218. Print.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_O'Brien_(author)