Question

Consider Tim O’Brien’s story "Ambush." What differences do you see between how O’Brien dealt with killing an enemy soldier in the moment of battle compared to looking back on the moment later in life? What might this contrast reveal about the effects of war?

Answer 1

In the moment, he acted without thoroughly contemplating his actions, although feeling guilt wash over him after he had done it. Even when others tried to comfort him, he refused to justify taking a life. Later in life, the guilt still wallows inside him.

Answer 2

"Ambush," O’Brien describes killing a man while serving in war. He had no intention of killing him—he reacted without thinking. O’Brien feels guilty about having killed another human being, even though his fellow soldier tries to soothe him with the logic that the man would have been killed eventually anyway. However, trying to justify having killed someone, O’Brien explains that his training as a soldier prompted him to act involuntarily when he lobbed the grenade upon spotting an enemy soldier. Twenty years later, long after the war has ended, O’Brien is unable to admit to his daughter, Kathleen, that he has killed another person. He feels guilt and denial about having killed a man, and experiences recurrent flashbacks and visions. Through his story, O’Brien conveys that a soldier is a changed person after he has witnessed such a war, and those who have not been in a war cannot begin to understand the emotional turmoil that soldiers go through.