An Analysis Of Martha Gellhorn's Civilian Casualties In South Vietnam

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There have been many debates about individual responsibility versus collective responsibility concerning US involvement in the Vietnam war, and there also have been many famous writers who have wrote about the topic as well. Two of the most prominent writers were Martha Gellhorn and Noam Chomsky. The essay will be discussing the viewpoint of these two writers and it will also give a new perspective on the issue.
Martha Gellhorn’s “Civilian Casualties in South Vietnam” is describing the Vietnam war and its effect on South Vietnamese civilians. In the text, Gellhorn describes the psychological and physical effect of napalms and mines on civilians. She is also trying to create empathy among Americans by describing the side effect of napalm bombing …show more content…

Martha Gellhorn believes in collective responsibility, while Chomsky affirms his belief of individual responsibility. Gellhorn believes that Americans are responsible for allowing the war to continue. She demonstrates her view by using the word “we” in the essay (Gellhorn 378). Gellhorn creates the feeling of inclusiveness and she makes the text much more engaging to the audience when she uses the word “we”. Gellhorn also conveys her disapproval of the “day and night bombing of hamlet” to the readers by comparing the bombing to the destruction of the “home and family of a friend” (Gellhorn 381). Chomsky confirms his belief that intellectuals are responsible for the war by recounting Arthur Schlesinger’s lies and the author’s disappointment and surprise when he found out that the lies failed to generate a large amount of reaction from the intellectual community (Chomsky 2). He also believes that the lies about American war atrocities are so common that they have “lost” their ability to outrage anyone (Chomsky …show more content…

An individual is also responsible for the involvement of the US in the war because that person has the power of persuasion. That same human is also accountable for US entering the war because he/she has free will. Free will allows the individual to make his/her own decisions. The individual is also liable for the US entering the war because he/she can make important decisions. In addition to having the ability to make decisions, he/she also has common sense and rational thought. That same individual is also responsible for the US participating in the war because he/she has a moral compass and a conscience. An individual’s conscience causes a person to become responsible for the war by influencing their decision-making process. That individual is also culpable for the involvement of the US in the war because they have a critically thinking brain and keen observation. He/she is able to make choices that could affect the outcome of the war by using his/her head and observational skill. The same individual is responsible for the participation of the US in the war because he/she have knowledge and information about the war. An individual is responsible for America’s participation because he/she helps to spread lies about the war to society. The lies that the individual helps to spread include false information and government propaganda. The same individual is also responsible

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