The Ghost Soldiers
"I wanted to hurt him the way he'd hurt me. For weeks it has been a vow- I'll get him, I'll get him - it was down inside me like a rock. Granted, I didn't hate him anymore and I'd lost some of the outrage and passion, but the need for revenge kept eating at me" (O'Brien 200).
This story affected me because of O'Brien's outrage toward Jorgenson. I felt a connection to this situation. I think we all have that one person in our lives who have hurt us in someway and we will never forget. No matter how hard you try to let it go, it will always be there. O'Brien makes it clear in the above quote that what Jorgenson had done to him he still had a need for revenge even though he no longer held on to the hate. Another spot in the chapter that really affected me was when Jorgenson apologized to O'Brien for his actions. At the time of the apology, O'Brien becomes more angry because he now has no reason to hate Jorgenson anymore. Although O'Brien knows the thought of revenge is wrong he still finds himself craving it. Lastly, I liked this chapter because of the ending. I enjoyed how the two characters who had so much hate for each other could come together and help one another. It shows the bigger person in both of them but especially O'Brien for being able to let go of his hate for Jorgenson. They become closer at the end and can even make jokes and laugh about hurting Azar.
I really liked the character of O'Brien in this novel. I felt like he was the most realistic and the most relatable character. While reading through the novel I often found myself being able to relate something that had happened in my life to a point of the story that he was explaining.
I think that Azar relates closely to Nick from Rebirth. Both characters had no sympathy or love towards the enemy. In Rebirth, Nick mentioned several times how much hate he had for Bin Laden and Al Queda. Through out the novel we saw how Azar was similar. He was a crazy man who lived for trouble and revenge. He had no problem when it came to hurting the enemies of Vietnam. He was different from Nick in this respect that he was a person who wanted revenge and was violent in return.
I also enjoyed that chapter. I found that it revealed Tim as being more human. throughout the book, you dont really pick up on mistakes that he has made of major character flaw, however here you see a large one. i also gained a lot of respect for bobby because even after apologizing once and after the prank, he was the first to suggest putting it behind them.
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