Reading #11 Question 3

[Ben]

In the first few pages of lives of the dead, O’Brian talks about when
they came under sniper fire and napalmed a village. When they scout
the village the only confirmed kill is the old man by the pig pen. The
solders carry on friendly conversations with the corpse and shake its
hand. O’Brian however in his first few days of his deployment is
disgusted and will not go near the body. What influences the change
in the solders allowing them to become so comfortable with death?

[Zoe Kopin]

This is a great question Ben. I believe that because O'Brien is
new to the war, he is not yet conditioned to seeing death all around
him. Most people only experience death a few times in their lives.
This is not the case for the soldiers, as they are around death almost
constantly during the war. O'Brien had recently been deployed, and
was not used to treating death so casually. O'Brien "was brand new to
the war. It was [his] fourth day; [He] hadn't yet developed a sense
of humor" (O'Brien 226). The soldiers in the war were exposed to
death so often that they used humor as a method of coping. If they
made jokes about a casualty, then it would seem less serious. O'Brien
had not yet caught on to this method of coping in the war.

[carla downs]

This is a good question that can easily have multiple answers. I
somewhat disagree with Zoe. At first I agreed, thinking that O'Brien
was just new at war and he would eventually catch on to the sick
humor, but instead he "Felt a moist sickness rise up in [his]
throat" (O'Brien 226). O'Brien never thought of humor as a method of
coping, instead he uses his own coping strategy of storytelling. He
says "In a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes
smile and sit up and return to the world" (O'Brien 225).O'Brien deals
with death by remembering their qualities and he keeps them alive
through stories, almost honoring them. Deep down I don't believe the
soldiers became comfortable with death, but they instead find their
own ways of dealing with it, because they had to. Similarly, each
soldier carries something to help cope with war even though they are
not comfortable with participating in war.

[carla downs]

[Jarrett Talley]

This is a very intriguing question Ben, and both Carla and Zoe have
made very good points, but I have to disagree with both of you.
Soldiers see the destruction of war every day, and they see death on a
daily basis. They try to honor those who have been killed, but at the
same time not become upset by their death. The men don't directly
intend to use humor, "There was a formality to it, like a funeral
without sadness" (O'Brien 227). They are humorous in honoring the dead
so they do not drain their own spirits, the spirits that they need to
keep themselves alive.

[Andre]

Zoe and Carla make great points. The soldiers attempt to lessen the
seriousness of death by joking around, and in the case of the old man,
shaking hands and having conversation, " In Vietnam, too, we had ways
of making the dead seem not quite so dead" (O'Brien 238). It's easier
to cope with a "kicked bucket" than a corpse so the soldiers transform
the dead humans into inanimate objects. A napalmed mother and baby are
reduced to "crispie critter" and "crunchie munchie" (239). O'Brien
never really bought into that form of coping, instead he told his
stories where he imagined they were still alive. The different coping
methods developed by soldiers are a result of constantly being
surrounded by death. The soldiers must find ways to deal with it, ways
that seem strange or disturbing to those who haven't experienced,
first-hand, the death that is a result of war.

On Feb 26, 11:42 pm, carla downs <carladown...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Shelly]

Although I somewhat agree with all of you, I have to say that
Jarrett's idea
seems to be the most fitting. I think that the soldiers eventually
become so numb to the death that they see, that they have to find some
other way of showing their respect, because moping around and being
sad does nothing for those that have died and it does nothing for the
soldiers. I don't think thar the soldiers are comfortable with death,
but have become so used to seeing it that they just don't let it phase
them so much.

[Conley]

I have to agree with Jarrett. I believe the soldiers acting as if the
old man was alive was like them honoring his death without the sadness
of a funeral. Yes, it seems like they are mocking the poor man but
that is not how I see it. I do not think their intentions are to be
rude to them, but instead they are acknowledging him instead of just
walking by like nothing happened. The guys who had experienced the war
more than O'Brien used this method of talking to the dead to cope with
it instead of getting depressed about it. They had probably done it
before and probably did it agian. It was only O'Brien's "first look at
a real body" (O'Brien 227). He did not yet know how to cope with the
dead since he had only been there a few days and had not yet learned
how to cope with it like the other men in his platoon.

> > in the solders allowing them to become so comfortable with death?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Nojai]

I like this question as well, and I agree with everyone's opinion.
Although, I believe that O'Brien wasn't necessarily feeling a sickness
towards death but towards the fact that the men were greeting the man
as if he were still alive. "The plant specialized in pork products...
[my job was] removing blood clots from dead pigs, declotter," this
shows that he has been around death, even though it's animal death,
for a good amount of time (O'Brien 42). When O'Brien feels the "moist
sickness rise up in [his] throat," it was after he saw the soldiers
converse with the dead man (226). I believe that he was comfortable
with death but since he was new, seeing the soldiers interact with the
dead man made things different. I don't believe that all the soldiers
are comfortable with death, i just think that they developed the mind
that the war involved death. I believe, that they believed that in
order to go home they would have to kill and be okay with it. Ted
Lavender was only comfortable with death because he "popp[ed] four or
five tranqulizers every morning...[it was] his way of dealing with the
realities" (230).

On Feb 23, 10:03 pm, Ben <bstone2...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Katelin]

I agree with Jarett completely. I think the soldiers became so
comfortable with death because of the fact that it was always around
them. They try to lighten the mood by talking with the deceased and
give the person a mini funeral. The soldiers try not to become upset
with their death and replace their sadness with humor and at the same
time honor the deceased, "they proposed toasts. They lifted their
canteens and drank to the old man's family and ancestors, his many
grandchildren, his newfound life after death" (O'Brien 227). They
tried to honor the dead by toasting to the lives of the man's family
and even the man. They try to remain happy and humor was the main way
that they could stay on the happy side.

[Casey]

I agree with Jarrett and Carla. I think that these soldiers must use
humor to deal with the war. Although what they did was disrespectful,
it is a way to cope. My dad used to work in a hospital and he said
that many of the nurses have a good sense of humor in order to deal
with the tough situations they face. It is important for them to take
the situation as lightly as possible because otherwise they would
become very depressed. Carla also makes a great point that O'Brien
uses stories to deal with the death seen in Vietnam, stating they are
"way too real" (O'Brien 226). These men realize how difficult it is to
deal with death on such a regular basis and that consistency of seeing
death conditions them to witness such heinous scenes. Although stories
and humor help them cope with seeing death, the consistency of death
makes them more comfortable with it.

[John]

Everyone has made great points but i will have to agree with Carla in
which the soldiers are dealing with death. Jarrett's idea is also
great but I feel that is does not fit completely. Shaking a corpses
hand and talking to it as a guest is not honoring the corpse, the
soldiers may feel like they are honoring a corpse but they are just
dealing with death in their own way. When a person honors a corpse,
it helps them deal with the death by knowing that body has been taken
care of appropriately. O'Brien starts to join in with the handshaking
and talking to the corpse after he has been around multiple bodies,
making himself feel more comfortable with death. He and his fellow
solders "had ways of making the dead seem not quite so dead. Shaking
hands, that was one way. By slighting death, by acting, they pretended
it was not the terrible thing it was." (O'Brien 138). As inferred by
the quote, the soldiers are just trying to soften the effects that
death can impose onto them and protect their mental health.

[Nicole]

Being in a place where death is a daily thing, soldiers get more
comfortable with seen a dead person laying on the side of the road, or
in this case, by a pig pen. O'Brien was not used to it because he had
not been there as long as the others had. He felt disgusted because it
was a poor dead man and the others were joking around and talking to
him. Normally, they would not even go near a dead body, but beings it
is something they see every day they became more immune to the fact
that "hey there is a dead guy over there, Let's go play with it."

On Feb 23, 10:03 pm, Ben <bstone2...@gmail.com> wrote: