In Tim O'Brien's story "Spin," he breaks off into another story regarding peace. I found this small paragraph story to be one of the most powerful stories read in the book so far. In this story O'Brien tells of a man who is sent to Danang to recover from going AWOL from war related issues. During his time there he and the nurse are romantic and he finds peace in the comfort she provides for him. Then one day he is back in the war, anxious to be back in the fight. He is then asked by soldiers in his unit why he was so excited to be back in action. He responds, "All that peace man, it felt so good it hurt. I want to hurt it back."
Although O'Brien admits that most of this story is a fabrication, the moral of that story that lies within is powerful. It is a catastrophically devastating psychological repercussion of the war, that emulates some soldiers feeling of killer over soldier, transforming them into something they feared. I believe O'Brien slips this message in only one paragraph because he doesn't want you to think to deep into the issue. He wants you to believe that peace at war is only a figment of imagination, or short lived. The peace that he describes is hallow, and just like Rat's M&M's, something to provide soldiers with a false idea of an illusion of safety.
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