What does O'Brien conclude about war?

As I turned to the last page of this novel, I anticipated some kind of conclusion about war. Did O'Brien outright conclude something? Not really. But he did make a lot of points about war throughout the stories he folded together.

War is violent; war is emotional; no-one really wins in a war. When you fight in a war, things start blending together. It is hard to know what is real, and what the voices in your head repeat over and over again so stridently that you believe it to be true. Memories of war are constantly changing as time goes on.

War is suffering; war is death, but war is also life. War makes you value your purpose when you make it out alive despite having been shot twice- when you defeat the odds that are against you.

War makes you lose your identity. Sometimes, it makes you wish you were dead. Sometimes, you wish you were dead for long enough that you hang yourself in the middle of a YMCA locker room.

Happening Truth vs. Story Truth

“'Daddy, tell the truth, did you ever kill anybody?' And I can say, honestly, ‘Of course not.’ Or I can say, honestly, ‘Yes’” (172).

Multiple times throughout the novel O'Brien lead me to question which stories were real, and which ones were made up. Writing half truthful and half fictional stories would normally be frustrating to me, but in this context it is intriguing. Not only does it bring up a good point about war, but it also brings up a good point about life. Humans encounter a lot of experiences throughout their lifespan, but very few actually stick with us. So, who's to say what is real or not?

Are they really cleansed?

In the story "Church", Henry Dobbins and Kiowa discuss how they felt it was wrong to stay in the church, imposing on the monks' privacy. In a bigger sense, they felt it was wrong to be in Vietnam, fighting a war they didn't believe in. After the monks clean their guns, "Henry Dobbins made the washing motion with his hands. 'You're right,' he said. 'All you can do is be nice. Treat them decent, you know?" (117).

This washing motif was also replicated in the story "Speaking of Courage". It told of a man named Norman Bowker, who killed himself after the war when he failed to find his purpose. After he drives around his town in loops, he "walked down to the beach, and waded into the lake without undressing. The water felt warm against his skin. He put his head under. He opened his lips, very slightly, for the taste. then he stood up and folded his arms and watched the fireworks" (148).

A more literal version of this need to be cleansed was found in the story, "In the Field". It explains Kiowa's death, and how he drowned in a field of waste. The men went to look for him the next day so that they could salvage his body from the mud, and in turn salvage his spirit from the indelible guilt and violence that this war has caused. The men "were tired and miserable; all they wanted now was to get it finished. Kiowa was gone. He was under the mud and water, folded in with the war, and their only thought was to find him and dig him out and then move on to someplace dry and warm" (155).