From War Books to Reality.

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien is an unbelievably written novel. I say this even though I am not a fan of war books. Evidently, The Things They Carried is a war book. So if even I, a person who does not read war books, actually likes this novel, it must be an interesting piece of work. The best reason I like this story is because it's real. It is written by someone who actually played a part in the story. Most war books I've heard of are usually just stories that only relate to war. But I've never come across one that actually tells the lives of real people, real fallen soldiers, real battles. That is why this book makes me worry about the real world, today.

War has been around for God knows how long. War is vicious, war is inhumane, war is merely a battle that no one can win. War usually starts between different groups of people. But then, without hesitation, those groups get larger, and larger, and larger until almost everyone is involved. It's almost like a game of chess: certain pieces are moved for certain strategies. But no matter what, the pawns always go first. Usually the pawns are looked at as less important pieces. This is because pawns can't do that much in comparison to the other pieces like the knights, the bishops, the king and the queen. But what if those pawns had lives? What if they had families? Are they more important now? Or are they still just pieces we as the players use as sacrifices for a better strategies?

Why am I comparing chess to war? Simple, because in my opinion, ever soldier out on the field in war is just a pawn that is being used so the king stays safe. I find it funny how the ones who start the war are usually observing in the back and waiting until the battle of the day is over. Oh sure, some of the pawns may not come back, but that's okay as long as they took out some of the other player's pawns. Another reason I'm comparing chess to war is how the pieces/soldiers have no say in where they go. Being drafted is just like being the pawn in the game of chess. Think about it, you're in the front line of the battle, you are most likely going to get killed/taken off the board by another piece, you have no control of where you are going because someone else is guiding you, and you have no choice but to move because you are in the front line of duty. This is just like when soldiers get drafted into war. The only difference between soldiers and chess pieces are that the chess pieces aren't alive and when the game is over they are capable of getting right back on the board. When soldiers get knocked out of the game, they stay out, and they can never come back.

Chess may be a game of fun and intellect, but war is only violent and nearsighted. When a player wins a game of chess, all the opposing side has to do is put their pieces back on the board. But in war, no matter if you win or lose, the pieces you lost can never come back. So please, don't make our men become our pawns. Because they will always get killed off first.