"No safe ground: enemies everywhere. No front or rear. At night he had trouble sleeping - a skittish feeling - always on guard, hearing strange noises in the dark, imagining a grenade rolling into his foxhole or the tickle of a knife against his ear. The distinction between good guys and bad guys disappeared for him."(p. 60)
I've found so far that nearly all of these could be applied easily to my life. I hope that I'm mostly normal in the sense that they could be applied to everyone's life if you look at it objectively. I mean, obviously none of us (the class of 2011) have fought in any wars, but I've got a feeling that almost everyone can relate to a messed up relationship. or a feeling that there's no one to turn to. that's what O'Brien's really focused on here. when you've lost a friend or you've got someone "out to get you", the whole world changes. not literally of course, the world doesn't revolve around you, but that little bit of paranoia can really warp things. especially in a situation where you're completely co-dependent, like in a war, if there's one person that you feel isn't completely with you, there's that fear and doubt that there could be others. the chapter "Enemies" really highlights the devastating mental effects paranoia can have in this sort of situation. the subsequent chapter, "Friends", shows just how foolish that paranoia is sometimes. such is war. such is life.
word.
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