preview

Analysis Of Enemies And Friends By OBrien

Good Essays
The pact was that if one of them got injured badly the other one would end the injured person’s life. 2. What was Lee afraid of when he saw Jensen, and what did he make him promise? Lee was afraid that after he lost his leg that Jensen would honor the pact and kill him. 3. The phrase that inspires these two chapters is normally characterized as “friends and enemies.” Why does O’Brien (the author) reverse this traditional order when sequencing these chapters? O’Brien reverses the traditional order because Lee Strunk and David Jensen were enemies but then became friends. 4. Using both chapters “Enemies” and “Friends,” explain how war distorts the normal social codes. War distorts the normal social codes because in “Enemies” after Lee Strunk breaks Dave Jensen’s nose in a fist fight over the stolen knife, Strunk takes a pistol and breaks his own. A person who would break their nose to even out the score in everyday life would be seen as crazy, but in a warzone an action like that would seem just. In everyday life rules and laws apply but at war it’s all about surviving and doing what needs to be done. In the chapter “Friends” Strunk and Jensen make a pact that if one of them were to seriously get hurt the other one would end the other’s life. Killing someone is wrong no matter if that someone is sick and in pain. To us murder is a crime but to soldiers at war that have friends who are suffering, it’s seen more as a mercy or a favor than a crime. Being in a warzone changes the
Get Access