Who Is The Antagonist In Soldier's Heart

“Some men came through combat unscathed. Most did not. These men were somehow different from other men. They were said to have soldier’s heart.” (page XV) In the book Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen, Charley, the protagonist, is a young boy from Minnesota who grows up hearing about the war approaching, and he knows he cannot miss it. To Charley, it seems so intriguing, so he decides to seek an adventure and joins the war. During the war, he questions why he wanted to join in the first place. Even after the war finishes, the war does not stop for Charley. He can not stop hearing the sounds and can not stop the constant pain.The beaten feeling inside is a new battle for Charley as he fights the urge to take his own life. Charley develops from a young boy growing up wanting to seek an adventure to a young man, damaged

All the excitement in the beginning of the war is so deceiving. Never did Charley know he is going to end up like this with “soldier’s heart”. He is a go getter in the beginning of the book with so much spirit. On the other hand, now Charley barely moves and never stops thinking about the war. The helpful, spirit filled Charley from the beginning of the book is gone. Charley does not try to find a wife and build a family because he knows he is near death even at such a young age. He can not stop hearing the things he has heard or stop seeing the things he’s seen. For example, Charley says “He thought it might not be so bad to go see them, to get away from this constant pain and the sounds he couldn’t stop hearing.” (page 98). That’s how the reader knows Charley has soldier’s heart. The war makes Charley exhausted and weak. He walks with cane and constantly thinks about ending it for himself. Charley just wants to end all the terrorising noises and imagines that kept flashing in his