Summary Of The Ambush By Tim O Brien

The Ambush by Tim O’Brien gives us a glimpse into the Vietnam War. We get a feel of the senseless killing that exists in all wars and the impact that war has on all those who have experienced it. From the character, Kathleen, to the Author and down through the young man walking on the trail, the reality of war is with us. “And it will always be that way.”
When the author’s nine-year-old daughter Kathleen asked him “have you ever killed anyone?" The author gives a glimpse of the long-reaching impact of war. A nine-year-old girl can theorize “you keep writing these war stories, so I guess you must’ve killed someone." It illustrates that the impact of war reaches far beyond the battlefield and the combatants, but impacts us all. How did we get

to this conclusion? The author tells his young daughter that “he has never killed anyone,” but in reality, he had killed someone. And yes, "that is why I keep writing war stories." He brings the reader into that reality as he remembers “the short, slender young man of about twenty,” he was afraid of him, fearful of something. And as the young man passed him on the trail, the author threw a grenade that exploded at his feet and killed him. Now, this couldn’t be the entire story.
As the author gives us more detail, we are transported to a trail outside of “My Khe” in South Vietnam.

“Shortly after midnight, we moved into the ambush site outside My Khe. The whole platoon was there, spread out in the dense brush along the trail." The details given makes it seems as though we too are on an ambush mission with the author and his platoon mates. The author goes on to describe, “for five hours nothing at all happened. We were working in two-man teams, one man on guard while the other slept, switching off every two hours." By giving the reader such great detail regarding the setting, the author brings me inside the mind of his platoon mates and himself. I can understand the fear and anxiety they would have felt in the middle of a jungle in a foreign country in the middle of the night on a mission that possibly would mean encountering the enemy

force.
As the night drags on, the author is awakened by his platoon mate to cover the last observation of the night. “I remember it was still dark when Kiowa shook me awake for the final watch. The night was foggy and hot. For the first few minutes, I felt lost, not sure about directions, groping for my helmet and weapon." As the author shared this detail, I could relate. I often felt disoriented when my mom would wake me early in the morning to get ready for school. The big difference is that I was waking up in a nice comfortable room, not in the middle of the jungle.
As the author continues with his end of the night watch, “then looking up and seeing the young man come out of the fog. He wore black clothing and rubber sandals and a gray ammunition belt. His shoulders were slightly stooped, his head cocked to the side as if listening for something. He seemed at ease. He carried his weapon muzzle down, moving without any hurry up the center of the trail." This young man was the enemy, with slightly stooped shoulders, dressed in black with sandals on. If he didn’t have on the ammunition belt and his weapon, he could have been anyone taking an early morning stroll on their local beach on walking trail. He was walking without any hurry; he seemed to be at ease. The author continues, “I had already pulled the pin on a grenade. I had come up to a crouch. It was entirely automatic. I did not hate the young man; I did not see him as the enemy; I did not ponder the issues of morality or politics or military duty.”
“There was no thought about killing. I had already thrown the grenade before telling myself to throw it. The grenade bounced once and rolled across the trail. The young man dropped his weapon and began to run, just two or three quick steps. The grenade made a popping noise, not soft but not loud either. It occurred to me then that he was about to die. It was not a matter of life or death. There was no real peril. Almost certainly the young man would have passed by.” “And it will always be that way.”
These passages of the short story are the most profound for me.

The author brings us face to face with the main characters, their feelings, the current circumstance and the reality of war. Through his vivid description of the young man on the trail, I wouldn’t have seen him as a threat either. As I read the passage, the same thought came to me, what would be the harm if I let him walk away? He was a young man walking down the path with ease and not in a hurry; not thinking this would be the day he would die. As the author described the sequence of throwing the grenade, not thinking about killing another human being, the automatic reflexes of throwing the grenade before actually thinking about it and finally realizing the plight of the young man as the shell landed at his feet and went off made me feel profound

sadness.
I felt sadness for the young man. A life cut short in the senselessness of warfare. I felt sadness for the author. He would have to live with this memory for the remainder of his life. I also felt sadness for his daughter and all those who have been directly and indirectly impacted by war through the ages. “And it will always be that way.” This particular quote from the story really stuck with me. Will we always have to put up with the violence and senselessness of war? Will a day come when young girls like Kathleen won't have to ask their father, "did you ever kill someone?” This tale brought these questions into my head. The author conveyed an intense and thought-provoking story.