Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If I Die in a Combat Zone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Evils of the Vietnam War
Courage
Duty vs. Conscience
The Enemy
Racism at War
Summary
Analysis
O’Brien moves to “advanced infantry training.” On their first day, their new drill sergeant makes sure they understand that every person there is going to combat in Vietnam in eight weeks. Until then, they’ll learn to use claymore mines, machine guns, grenade launchers, and pistols. After their introductions and getting moved into new barracks, the new infantrymen are allowed to go on leave.
When O’Brien chose not to dodge the draft and run to Canada, he still had the possibility of being assigned a desk job in Vietnam, away from combat. However, his placement in advanced infantry training leaves no possibility open that he will not have to go to combat.
Themes
O’Brien goes to the library in Tacoma and starts researching army deserters, finding interviews and articles about them in old newspapers. He learns that Sweden harbors American deserters and allows them to live openly. Many also live in France, but under false identities. O’Brien calls a bus station and asks about fares into Canada, disguising his voice in case the army can somehow hear him. He calls the airport in Seattle and asks about fares for flights to various European cities, noting them down. O’Brien returns to his corner in the library and does the math on how much money he’ll need. He writes a letter to his parents asking for his passport and immunization records. His plan could work: bus to Canada, flight to Ireland, boat to Sweden. He’ll just need $500.
O’Brien’s renewed desire to escape stems from the confirmation that he will definitely be in combat in Vietnam. The fact that there is so much material available on American deserters, as well as the fact that many allied countries appear to harbor them, suggests that by 1969, international sentiment opposes America’s presence in Vietnam enough that desertion is becoming common. Countries like Sweden and Canada even harbor people who refuse to fight, suggesting that they view deserting America as a better alternative to helping it carry out its unethical war.
Themes
Fort Lewis is miserable in winter. O’Brien watches the days go by, feeling “alone and sad and scared and desperate.” O’Brien’s passport arrives and he arranges to speak with the battalion commander, though first he must go through the chaplain, who “weeds out the pussies from the men with real problems.” The chaplain is a man named Edwards, congenial and easy to like. O’Brien thinks he is perfectly suited to convincing kids to go to war. Edwards listens attentively as O’Brien lays out his moral objections to the war and asks the chaplain if one doesn’t prove himself a man by sticking to his convictions and “reasoned judgments.”
O’Brien’s decision to discuss his objections with his battalion commander before deserting suggests that he would rather refuse to participate through legal, official means if they are available. This further suggests that O’Brien does not want to turn his back on America—he simply does not want to participate in the Vietnam War. The chaplain’s perfect suitability to convincing soldiers to fight suggests that the military coerces soldiers to contradict their consciences.
Themes
Edwards responds that O’Brien simply has to have “faith” that the army is right. O’Brien presses him on this, and Edwards explodes with anger, accusing O’Brien of being “disturbed” and reading the wrong books. He states that America is a “good country” and any war it fights is therefore a good war, a war they must win; having faith is the good Christian way to live, the thing that motivated the crusaders to fight and die. They argue about history and ethics. Edwards implies that Vietnam is a righteous crusade, but he backtracks when O’Brien challenges him on it. O’Brien doesn’t believe that a communist Vietnam would be necessarily worse than what it is now.
Edward’s anger that O’Brien would challenge American virtues, along with his belief that any war America fights is naturally a moral war, suggest that he sees America as a superior country to all others. This implies that America’s vision for Vietnam is inherently better than North Vietnam’s vision for their own country. This belief in America’s superiority carries an undertone of racial prejudice, since Edwards believes that the U.S. (a predominantly white country) knows better than the Vietnamese people.
Themes
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Edwards accuses O’Brien of “betraying” America by saying such things. He says that despite O’Brien’s intellect, there’s no place for “guts and bravery” or “God and the unknown” in his view of the world. Edwards has been to Vietnam himself and he exclaims that “this is a fine, heroic moment for American soldiers.” O’Brien asks what happens to his soul if he defies his conscience and kills people for a cause he doesn’t believe him. Edwards ends the conversation and arranges O’Brien a meeting with the battalion commander. As they walk out of the office, Edwards apologizes and shakes O’Brien’s hand. He says he’s just tired of how many kids don’t want to fight these days. Edwards wishes O’Brien well and invites O’Brien to visit him when he gets back from Vietnam.
Edwards belief in “guts and bravery” and heroism suggests that he cares more about living out these ideals than about whether the Vietnam War is actually an ethically justifiable campaign. For Edwards, the actual cause matters less than soldiers acting bravely. The connection between being brave and having “guts” appears several times throughout the story, ultimately becoming a connection that O’Brien criticizes as foolish and antithetical to true courage.
Themes
The battalion commander tells O’Brien his thoughts about the Vietnam War, how it’s not so different from the Korean War besides the guerrilla warfare element. O’Brien tries to explain his ethical objections to fighting, but the commander speaks over him and says that he knows O’Brien’s afraid, but once he starts fighting he’ll find it so exciting that he won’t be scared anymore. The commander thanks O’Brien for coming in and dismisses him.
The commander completely dismisses O’Brien’s concerns, suggesting that within the military’s hierarchy, nobody cares about a low-ranking individual’s opinion on ethics. The commander’s assumption that O’Brien is merely afraid suggests that he does not recognize why someone would ethically oppose America’s actions.
Themes
O’Brien spends his off-hours planning his desertion and writing letters to family and friends, explaining his position. He finds them difficult to write. Two weeks before Christmas, he has enough money scraped together to make his journey. He gets himself a weekend pass and takes a bus into Seattle. Boarding the bus, O’Brien feels scared and ill. He sits next to a lieutenant who is about to go to Vietnam, and who says that he’s eager to prove that he’s “better than those dinks.” In the Seattle bus station, O’Brien goes into a bathroom and changes into civilian clothes. He finds a cheap hotel to wait for one night and think everything through a final time.
“Dinks” is an antiquated racial slur against Vietnamese people, often used during the Vietnam War. The lieutenant’s belief that he is better than the Vietnamese and his use of a racial slur suggests that he believes in his own racial superiority. “Dinks” is frequently used by most soldiers throughout the story, suggesting that racial prejudice against Vietnamese people is pervasive throughout the United States Army.
Themes
That evening, O’Brien goes out, buys some dinner by the docks, and tries to find a date at a nearby sorority house. O’Brien chats with a girl for a bit, but she claims she’s too busy to go out, so he leaves. He wanders through downtown Seattle and he returns to the hotel, feeling ill. O’Brien goes to his room, vomits, and sleeps fitfully for a few hours. Everything is ready to go, but he isn’t. He realizes he can’t run away from the life that he’s known. He burns the letters to family and friends and all his plans, and he spends the rest of the weekend feeling “restless and hopeless.” On Sunday, O’Brien returns to Fort Lewis.
As before, O’Brien feels unable to shake his sense of duty to friends, family, and community, suggesting that one’s sense of duty plays a powerful role in guiding their decisions. However, O’Brien’s willingness to fight in Vietnam is entirely based upon his desire not to shame his community, rather than any belief that the war is necessary or right. This suggests that one’s sense of duty can lead them to participate in something to which they are ethically opposed.
Themes
