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Tim O’Brien’s If I Die in a Combat Zone gave an insight on the Vietnam War through the eyes of a soldier who reluctantly served in a war that he solely did not believe in. In the book, O’Brien discusses his controversy with the Vietnam War and his personal beliefs. He also goes on to confess to the reader how he had planned to run away to Sweden and become a deserter to avoid fighting a war that was unjust in his eyes. In the end, O’Brien was forced to succumb to the command of the United States’ government and its army. Tim O’Brien shows that sometimes a person is forced to go against his or her own personal beliefs and submit to actions against your will in order to maintain pride and honor within your family, community, and most importantly yourself.

Tim O’Brien begins the war with total disagreement with the United State’s decision to go to war in Vietnam. He discusses his plan to run away and become a deserter. O’Brien learned of an escape route from Seattle that lead to Canada and eventually ended in Sweden. Tim actually went to Canada and stayed overnight. However when the morning came, he could bring himself to board the plane to Sweden. He thought of how him running away from his obligation of serving in the army would affect his family and how it would reflect upon himself and his courage or lack thereof. In the end, Tim headed back to his boot camp and continued his journey to becoming a soldier in Vietnam.

Tim never believed it was right or fair that he had to put his life on hold and serve in a war he didn’t believe in. However, he knew he had no choice. In the beginning, Tim went against the army’s views and actually held conversations and arguments with the officers. He made it clear that he was not for the war and was not happy to be serving in it. He wasn’t interested in making friends because he wasn’t planning on making this journey a personal one. He was planning to serve his time and get out of there as soon as he could. Yet in the end, he ended up meeting a nice guy named Erik who he become friends with and pen pals throughout his term he served in the war.

Tim O’Brien gives us an insight on the war and how it affected the Vietnamese people. He discusses actions of the soldiers and the treatment they showed the native people in Vietnam. He talks about certain actions by the soldiers that were despicable and showed the American soldiers in a negative light. He also talked about the Vietnamese people. He talked about how the children in Vietnam would clean the rifles for the soldiers and do little things here and there for them. He also gave us a story about when a blind old Vietnamese man helped give the soldiers baths, however was returned the favor my something thrown at his head by a soldier, but he just smiled and kept on helping. This showed that the Vietnamese people were kind people.
Tim O’Brien also discusses the negative outlook on women from the men serving in the Vietnam War. Their chants they said while marching portrayed women as somewhat evil and good for nothing. They mention women in sexual situations and talk about them as if they are the enemy. I was very shocked by the things said about women, but understand the anger felt by the men who were forced to serve in a war against their will.

Eventually, Tim O’Brien stops going against the war and the fact that he must serve in it. Instead he goes with the flow and just accepts his circumstances and that he must fulfill his obligation to the army. He still keeps his views that the war shouldn’t take place, but he just stops arguing about it and displaying his emotions and views about the whole situation. He eventually sits back and does what he has to do and just looks forward to the end.

Tim O’Brien’s experience shows that no matter how strong you feel for or against something, there sometimes can be a higher power that prevents you from acting upon your beliefs and instead against it.