Flashback

It's clear that the entire novel is full of flashback after flashback after flashback. O'Brien relies on the flashbacks to tell the stories of war. I decided during the first chapter that I would pick one to blog about that stood out to me. For some reason, the flashback in the chapter Enemies stood out to me. It might be because the entire chapter consists of one memory. It might be because the argument was "...about something stupid.' It might be because of the line "In any other circumstance in might've ended there. But this was Vietnam..." Most likely it was a mix of the a variety of reasons. This flashback shows the tension and edge that all the soldiers in Vietnam experienced. The pure terror positively led to fights and arguments among the men who were supposed to be fighting together, not against each other. Even little arguments could turn into fights that disrupted the peace and togetherness the platoons needed. This specific flashback easily proves the negative effects of war on the minds of the men fighting.