Ahh, juxtapositions! O'Brien loves these juxtapositions and figurative language.
"I was ashamed of my conscience, ashamed to be doing the right thing." [page 49]
"I was a coward. I went to the war."[page 58]
Ooh. That last one gets me for some reason. If you think about it...every single person is a coward at some point in their lives. The biggest cowards generally are the people we respect the most and whose hands we put our lives into. I'm not denying that they aren't brave, because I sure as heck respect all the people protecting me and my country and giving me the opportunity for the safe life I live because I know I couldn't do it. But somehow, being the biggest coward can make you brave.
How's that for a contradiction for you? Hm...ponder that one.
One last thing. Sometimes you have to fake it until you believe it [whatever "it" is]. I feel like that's exactly what O'Brien felt like he had to do.
"I was ashamed of my conscience, ashamed to be doing the right thing." [page 49]
"I was a coward. I went to the war."[page 58]
Ooh. That last one gets me for some reason. If you think about it...every single person is a coward at some point in their lives. The biggest cowards generally are the people we respect the most and whose hands we put our lives into. I'm not denying that they aren't brave, because I sure as heck respect all the people protecting me and my country and giving me the opportunity for the safe life I live because I know I couldn't do it. But somehow, being the biggest coward can make you brave.
How's that for a contradiction for you? Hm...ponder that one.
One last thing. Sometimes you have to fake it until you believe it [whatever "it" is]. I feel like that's exactly what O'Brien felt like he had to do.
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