The Forever War: A War Brutality Story Avery McCrory College

The Forever War, written by Joe Haldeman, is a modern classic shaped by the Vietnam War during the Golden Age of science fiction. This book shaped by the Vietnam War discusses human soldiers fighting a war against an alien civilization called the Taurans. William Mandella, the main character, tells the story of being a physics student being a part of a task force called the United Nations Exploratory Force and how life is going as a soldier in vigorous training.

With a serious lying undertone, The Forever War is unafraid to discuss the gruesome horrors of military life and the many losses that follow. Several of the recruits die during training due to extreme environments and usage of live weapons. William talks about how during tests, soldiers would die and be sent for burial.

The overall theme of the story discusses a similarity of what happened in the Vietnam War, in which soldiers came home believing they were heroes, but were murderers instead. During the beginning of the book, as they first arrive, it is discussed that they do not know if the creatures they shot were Taurans. It was later believed that they had killed innocent beings. Soldiers, especially Marygay, felt guilty about killing (“I killed one of them, the...