Chapter/Story #5-Enemies & #6: Friends

I think it was a great idea for Tim O' Brien to relate the two stories Enemies and Friends. I think they show another conflict that could possibly occur during the war. In the story Enemies, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen get into a fist fight over a missing jackknife. That's absurd. In a military unit, everyone might not trust each other and it's hard to develop trust so you're faced with having to watch your back and focus on the war. That is what happened after the fist fight with Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. It has to be hard to manage both of those tasks. That just goes on to show you the difficulties of war. The fact that paranoia drove Dave Jensen so crazy to the point where he began firing his weapon in the air and yelling Lee Strunk's name and caused Jensen to break his nose to make things even with Strunk is crazy. I wouldn't dare break my own nose, but maybe that's how intense the pressure was. Another thing I found crazy is that Jensen and Strunk made a pack to end the others' life if they got severely injured. That makes their relationship seem weird. I actually thought Jensen was going to kill Strunk after he lost a leg but he didn't. It's good to see that they eventually got over the fight though. O' Brien continues to emphasize the difficulties of war in these stories and I'm sure he will continue throughout the book. I find it interesting and it gives readers insight. I think these stories also show how friendships could go in a war and also in real life.