Analysis Essay 'Where Have You Last A Few Seconds'

Similar to the racism and prejudice in the world, war will always exist. Wars are not limited to only physical combat between nations; war can be any obstacle an individual has to fight against, such as a disagreement or frail emotion. From the letter, “Dear Folks” by Kenneth W. Bagby, a short story “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien, and a poem, “The Friendship Only Lasted a Few Seconds” by Lily Lee Adams, the main key of all three texts convey that war influences relationships immensely. War impacts many relationships such as family, friendship, society, and the self. Although Tim O’Brien and Kenneth W. Bagby use the literary device of imagery to convey the idea that war impacts relationships, Lily Lee Adams uses mood and repetition to influence

the reader’s emotions; nevertheless, all three authors highlight the significance of how war affects oneself the most.
In the short story, “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien, the author utilizes imagery to portray how war can affect oneself. For example, “ He was comfortable. He did not want to move. But he was afraid, for it was his first night at the war, so he hurried to catch up, stumbling once, scraping his knee, groping as though blind; his boots sank into the thick paddy water and he smelled it all around him” (O’Brien 1). Based on the descriptive passage, a clear visualization of Paul Berlin was formed. From the imagery that Tim O’Brien
has asserted, the reader is able to visualize Paul Berlin’s struggles to catch up to the other soldiers because of the terror that made his body stiff. Correspondingly, the reader can infer that Paul is trembling in despair due to his exposed clumsy actions; stumbling and scraping his knee while he was making his way to the thick paddy water. The narrator manifested that Paul did not want to move and was extremely afraid due to his lack of war experiences. War had weakened Paul’s mental state which had driven him to develop a mental war against himself. Although scared, Paul forced himself to move because there was no turning back now that he is in the war. Stating the obvious, the war that Paul experienced first-handed had subjected him to strive forward and ignore his fear. Likewise, the imagery from O’Brien sustains that war affects the self the most by adding more characteristics and traits to the individual. Moreover, the short story affirmed, “He was still shivering. He would do better once he reached the sea, he thought, still smiling a little. A funny war story that he would tell to his father, how Billy Boy Watkins was scared to death. A good joke. But even when he smelled salt and heard the sea, he could not stop being afraid” (O’Brien 6). During the war, Paul encounters another soldier who reminds Paul about Billy Boy’s shameful death from a heart attack. Once again, the author utilizes imagery that allows the reader to picture Paul Berlin’s actions which expresses his fear from war. From the narrator’s outlook, an assumption can be concluded that Paul has been triggered by the mentioning of Billy Boy’s shameful death, because he was laughing uncontrollably. War had cost many soldiers’ lives but Billy Boy’s death stood out the most to Paul because he was able to relate to Billy’s terror. To hide Paul’s vulnerability, he was in denial towards his weakness from war and laugh uncontrollably to hide the horror that haunts him. As a result, war has the greatest impact on oneself.
Aligning with Tim O’Brien, Kenneth W. Bagby also uses imagery to convey the idea that war impacts oneself the most out of all relationships. From the letter, “Dear Folks” by Kenneth W. Bagby, a text included, “My squad which consists of nine men, three came out, myself, Sergeant Scott, and a boy named Stidell. Folks, by all rights I should be dead. The good Lord evidently saw fit to spare me, for some reason. I prayed, and prayed and prayed some more, the three days we were in battle” (Bagby 1). Evidently, the author utilizes imagery that allows the readers to imagine the numbers of men escaping and to visualize Kenneth’s internal prayer. Subsequently, the reader can assume that Kenneth is feeling trapped because he is surrounded by threat and danger during the war. Furthermore, Kenneth appears to be disencouraging and mournful because he believes that God spared his life. War has malformed Kenneth’s mental stability into making him feel guilty for surviving, while others died. Another example of imagery is, “The many men that died, I will never forget. The odor of blood and decayed bodies, I will never forget. I am all right. I will never be the same though, never, never, never. If I have to go into battle again, if I am not killed, I will come out insane” (Bagby 1). From this excerpt, the reader is able to picture the bloody corpses all around and feel Kenneth’s agony. Significantly, Kenneth admit the fact that war had changed him and he will always remember the horrendous experiences he faced during war. Ultimately, war mostly impacted the self, Kenneth, because the experiences of horror will be embedded in the individual’s memory forever.
Unlike Tim O’Brien and Kenneth W.

Bagby, Lily Lee Adams uses mood and repetition to influence the reader’s emotions about war’s destruction. In the poem, “The Friendship Only Lasted a Few Seconds” by Lily Lee Adams, a nurse is hopelessly witnessing a soldier’s death during a war. The poem presented , “I wished she could/Be there for him./I felt I was in /Second place,/But I did the/Best I could /And the friendship/Only lasted a few seconds” (Adams 12-19). Based on the moods that are being established in the passage, the reader is able to understand the nurse's discomfort and hopelessness. Clearly, the nurse is upset because she feels useless while watching the soldier to die painfully. War has crushed the nurse’s mental stability and costed many soldiers’ lives. Additionally, the poem clarified, “the friendship/Only lasted a few seconds” (Adams 9-10). Usually, when an individual repeats a phrase nonstop, anger and hatred is expressed. Therefore, the reader understands the nurse’s anger and hatred from Lily Lee Adams’s use of repetition. Overall, Lily Lee Adams uses mood and repetition to influence the reader’s emotions and highlight the nurse’s point of view towards war’s

effect.
While Lily Lee Adams miscellaneously uses mood and repetition, Tim O’Brien and Kenneth W. Bagby utilize imagery to illustrate the significance of war’s impact on relationships. Although the authors utilize different literary devices, they all agree that war affects oneself the most. As stated in the letter, short story, and poem, the topic has come to a conclusion that war mutilates people’s mental stability. Whether a person is experiencing war first-handed or witnessing war from a distance, the individual will feel unbearable and melancholy. In the end, war damages an individual’s mental stability and leave embedding scars. If war were to affect oneself beneficially, the world would have stayed pure and innocent as if misdeed never existed like racism and prejudice in the world today.