Theme Of Ambush Short Story

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“I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy...That was my job on that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women and children” (William Calley 1970). Lieutenant William Calley was explaining to his audience as he testified at Court-Martial in defense of his actions during the war. Calley explains that its not an easy duty, and that they must do what was ordered each day without questioning why they were going to go destroy the enemy. In the short story, Ambush, by Tim O’Brien, the lieutenant has to make a huge decision on weather or not he should throw a grenade and take a life or allow the enemy to kill him and his war buddy. When trying to not overthink the situation and proceeding through …show more content…

Although people have several different relationships, one of the most important is when lieutenant Cross says, “It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, “ Of course not” (O’Brien 811). This demonstrates one of the hardships faced with his relationship between him and his daughter. During this hard time he had to lie to his daughter and tell her that no he didn’t kill anyone even though he wanted her to know the truth. One of the hardest things to face as a person fighting at war is when they take a life, they don’t get to walk away from it, they will always be linked. According to Navon, “For without deterministic cause-and-effect relationships in the world one could not plan to affect one’s own will”(Navon 2010). No matter what it is the bottom line is they have a say in their actions its called free will. Everyone uses free will it's just the way people use it weather they think they have free will but in the end your making the …show more content…

He displays this when he says, “I tried to swallow whatever was rising from my stomach, which tasted like lemonade, something fruity and sour”(O’Brien 812). O’Brien uses these specific details showing us how much stress was building up in Cross’s stomach as he’s about to change his life. Cross is realizing that he has to throw the grenade because he knows if he doesn't that him and his buddy will not make it back home to there families. The situations that build this much stress happen all the time on the battlefield while some people think its nothing at all. According to Wilks, “Research designed to investigate the concepts of free will and determinism in relation to the etiology of human behavior continues to be an important line of inquiry” (Bavel, FeldmanHall, & Mende-Siedlecki, 2015). This shows the it is important and that there is a relationship between human behavior and weather or not someone is going to do something. We as humans do things voluntary and dont always think about what we're really doing but when it comes down to we decide right or wrong

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