Juxtapostion- "I survived, but its not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war" (page 58).
Before addressing this quote, I'd like to point out that this book is told by a first person point of view. At the beginning, it seemed unclear as to whom exactly was telling the story, but as the story progressed, it was made clear that O'Brien was one of the soldiers, retelling the story many years later. By hearing first hand accounts of the war, it brings it to life in front of the readers eyes.
Okay now onto the quote. This caught my attention because you would think that if a person survives it would be a happy ending. This is not so for O'Brien. He is disappointed with himself because he believes that he is a coward for going to the war. To me, both of these statements are completely contradictory. I believe that by going to the war, he was brave. No person who goes into the unkown, knowing that at any minute they could be killed, is definetly NOT a coward! While he may have been a coward when it came to running away from his fears, he is one person i greatly respect and believe to be extremly brave.
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