Analysis Of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War

Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War tells the story of William Mandella a former Vietnam Veteran that was drafted into the “Forever War”. Him and Millions of other soldiers were taught to kill these aliens called Taurans because they supposively killed humans and did many other horrible things to them for no reason and of course wanted to take over earth. With Mandella learning this and more about the enemy before he goes to base camp on an ice planet. When in training, he begins to learn that the battle gear they use is very dangerous if you don’t know how to use it. Many die from the use of the suit in training and thousands more die in the actual war. After hundreds of collapsar jumps and over500 years of war Mandella finds out that the war

was for nothing more than a boost for their Economy. Everything about the Taurans was a lie. Truly they were a peaceful group of aliens that actually meant no harm. This brings me to my Question: Was the war against the Taurans for an Economic boost Ethical? The sources I have selected will allow me to research what other experts label as an ethical war. In this way we will be able to use the research here to provide an answer for this question.

Bertrand Russell Author of “The Ethics of War” can really help with this question. To start off, he tells us that, “By concentrating attention upon the supposed advantages of the victory of our own side, we become more or less blind to the evils inseparable from war and equally certain, whichever side may ultimately prove victorious.” The government of earth in The Forever War thought it was mandatory that Human kind stays Economically stable even if it means wiping out an innocent alien. Russell Goes into detail categorizing 4 types of war: Wars of Colonization, Wars of Principle, and the Wars of Self-defense. The last one does not deal in any way with the Forever war so I didn’t think it would help us answer “The Forever War” question: Was the war against the Taurans for an Economic boost Ethical?

Wars of Colonization have to do with someone taking over the enemy's land and taking the supplies of the enemy and claiming it as their own. For example in the book this happened when Mandella was on one of his first missions where they had to intercept one of theTaurans base and destroy a radio dish like communication device. Mandella and the rest of his team intercepted the base and captured the base and a Tauran for questioning. Wars of Principle have to do with what we normal recall war as a way to defend and help others that are getting hurt or killed because of what someone looks like. This is what Mandella and many others thought they were doing. They thought that they were preventing Humans from being killed by the Taurans When in fact, they actually were at war to boost the Economy. War of Self defense has to do with Defending yourselves and protecting others. Mandella and the other Soldiers thought by killing the Taurans they were going to save the earth and keep their kind safe. They were doing that, but not for the reason they thought ,but for the reason we already know. Finally but not least is a War on Prestige.

“The Forever War” in ways showed the reader how Vietnam soldiers felt on their way back from the war.

Mandella in Forever War had the chance to escape the war for a small amount of time and when he came back to earth it was nothing like anything anyone has seen. You couldn’t go anywhere without anyone or a gun. Money was replaced with calories and everywhere you go cities and land are trashed. This relates to the Psychological Effects of the Vietnam War written by Josh Hochgesang. this relates to the part of his article recalling the Vietnam Veterans post war. When Vietnam Veterans returned home, they were not welcomed back and the same happened in the book. There was no welcome home party or parade for the people in the book or the real life Vietnam veterans. The Veterans felt like no one understood the horror that they went through Veterans at the time developed PTSD and started doing drugs. “The drugs and alcohol usually seemed to be consumed for one of two reasons always. The soldiers were either using them casually in their leisure time for pleasure, or are more actively employing them to drown their sorrows and stresses from the war (Hochgesang P#37). This falls into Russell’s Article where he talks about when choices in war a thought about think about how it would affect your military as much as you would think about it affecting the enemy. For example Vietnam Veterans were still growing when they were called to fight. not of them were 18 when they joined and they saw some things extremely graphic.and deadly. many of them were still horrified by war and had no one else to talk to about it because no one understood them. These are things that the Government should have taken into consideration before sending as many 18 year olds as they could get to Vietnam. cause the loss of 58,000 American

troops.

After Vietnam Veterans returned home and saw what they did over seas, they started questioning if they did the right things during the war. This brings us to our final source. Coming Home: Vietnam Veterans in American Society tells us this, “But some other veterans developed grave doubts about the war and their own actions as soldiers. They questioned the reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and they felt deep regret about the death and destruction the war had caused the Vietnamese people. Such doubts were very hard on veterans, because they made it seem as if their sacrifices in Vietnam had been meaningless. (encyclopedia.com P#23). This is how Mandella and the other soldiers felt like in The Forever War, when they realized the Taurans meant no harm. They thought they were doing good, but it turns out that the war was to Boost the Economy even if it meant destroying many other lives.

From what we have learned The Forever War can’t be Ethical because during the war Mandella and several others were given ethical reasons that relate to the types of war We discussed in Bertrand Russell’s Article that made the war seem ethical like, the killing the Taurans did and what they did to other humans.