In If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien argued that the Vietnam War was unjust and unethical through his depictions of the inhumane fighting between American and Vietnamese soldiers, with examples of his opinions on how this war was pointless, by detailing the soldier's experiences of death and the mental and physical turmoil they endured during their time in war.
According to Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam war left so many soldiers mentally and physically damaged. They literally had to alter how the truly felt about death and fear. Tim O'Brien said, “To talk about death was bad luck, the ultimate self fulfilling prophecy. Death was Taboo. The word for getting killed was “wasted”. When you hit a Bouncing Betty and it blows you to bits, you get wasted” (O’Brien 136). In order to maintain a “normal” life, the soldiers had to mentally transform their thoughts on death
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This was the reasoning of the draft that sealed Tim O'Brien's fate. “I was persuaded then, and I remain persuaded now, that the war was wrong. And since it was wrong and since people were dying as a result of it, it was evil” (O’Brien 27). He had no desire to take any part of the war. This is when he began his plan to escape and flee the country. He says, “Having done all this, I went back to my corner in the library, and for the first time, persuaded myself that it was truly possible. No one would stop me at the Canadian border, not in a bus. A flight to Ireland would raise no suspicions. From Ireland it was only a day or two by boat to Sweden. There was no doubt it could be done” (O’Brien 59). He was willing to escape at all cost but ultimately it was the fear of disgracing his family, and the emotional toll it was taking on him that led him into the war. He stated, “I simply couldn’t bring myself to flee. Family, the home town, friends, history, tradition, fear, confusion, exile: I could not run.” (O’Brien