Answer:
"Ambush" by Tim O'Brien was about the Vietnam War and "Symptoms" by John Steinbeck was about World War II. "Ambush" was a story while "Symptoms" was an easy. Both texts presented the effects of war on soldiers. I think "Ambush" is more effective since it lets the reader realize the effects of war through imagination.
Explanation:
Answer:
Both Tim O’Brien’s “Ambush” and John Steinbeck’s "Symptoms" have the same theme of war, but they convey contrasting messages. While O’Brien’s story indicates that soldiers never forgets their actions and experiences at war and can often be riddled with a lifetime of guilt and regret, Steinbeck claims that soldiers block out wartime experiences because they are traumatic.
In "Symptoms," Steinbeck describes war experiences in a matter-of-fact and scientific manner. He uses a sympathetic tone to portray the harsh realities of war, employing the analogy of childbirth to make the reluctance of remembering trauma more relatable to readers, most of whom have not been directly involved in war, but who may have experience with childbirth. On the other hand, “Ambush” conveys the writer’s personal memory of what happened at war. He killed an enemy soldier, but one who possibly would not have harmed him and was just passing by. This act of killing haunts the writer throughout his life. He thinks about the soldier he has killed—about his background, his personal life, his hopes and dreams—and thinks about how his grenade destroyed all that. He wants readers to think about the killed enemy soldier as a human being, not just a soldier who is at war to kill or be killed. He makes war personal. O’Brien lies to his daughter because he is unable to come to terms with his guilt over killing another human being. His personal touch makes his writing about war more convincing and effective in conveying its central meaning to readers.
Explanation:
Straight from Plato baby!
