The Things They Carried

Summary:
In the chapter Enemies, O'Brien tells the story of Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. Jensen believed that Strunk stole his jackknife. As a result, they got into a fistfight and Jensen broke Strunk's nose. Strunk was taken away, two days later when he returned Jensen became very paranoid. Strunk never threatened Jensen. However, Jensen could not focus on the war, he couldn't even sleep. He was always on guard waiting for Strunk to attack him. One day, he finally lost it and began to fire his weapon in the air screaming Strunk's name. He finally stopped and just sat there for a couple of hours. Later that night, he broke his own nose with a pistol. He went over to Strunk and showed him what he had done, asking if they were even. Strunk agreed. In the morning, Strunk couldn't control his laughter, stating that Jensen was crazy, he stole Jensen's jackknife.

Response:
Just by reading the title of this chapter, I imagined that it would be about the Vietnamese, since they are supposed to be "the enemy." I think that this chapter is one that touches a topic that we can all relate to; betrayal. If we think about it, Jensen and Strunk should be able to trust each other. However, Strunk steals from Jensen. Strunk should have been looking out for Jensen instead of stealing from him. I'm sure Jensen thought that he could trust Strunk since they are both on the same side of the war, partners, maybe even friends. As I mentioned before, I believe that this is something that most people can relate to. I'm sure that everyone, at least once in their life, has been betrayed by someone that they trusted. Although this story was filled with many emotions, and had a moral to it, I like the irony with which it ended.