Text Analysis: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman - Essay Example

On Killing Introduction The book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman surveys the psychological act of killing citizens and the attempt by both the military and other law enforcement agencies to comprehend and handle instances and consequences of the killing. The book provides a revelation that whenever there is war and soldiers are deployed in the conflict, most do not fire from their weapons due to the innate resistance to end the life of a fellow human being or to terminate their lives. Grossman argues that animals including human beings undergo a lot of posturing and when one especially the posturer fails to dissuade the opponent, they often fight but do not fight to a point of death. The argument by the author for this phenomenon is that there are immense psychosomatic implications that impact very much on the military officer or the law enforcement agent if it terminates the life of a fellow human being. This can be shown through the mental anguish that the military officer or the law enforcement agent suffers if they did so without the support of their superiors or peers, or if they are incapable of justifying their act of killing. In explaining his book, Grossman asks why there is little evidence of soldiers discussing of having killed a prisoner or combatants in war. In Grossman’s analysis of battleground fears, there is a revelation that even more than the fear of injury or death, the military personnel has a fear of being seen to have failed in their military obligations of combat. If the military officer kills in times of war, he will be burdened with guilt while if he fails to kill he is ashamed of his failures. The use of the term “Bulletproof mind” as an imagery explores what the mind and soul of the soldiers presented in the book is during and after the combat or the war showing the dilemma facing such soldiers with regards to killing. The stresses of the deadly wars that would require the “Bulletproof” mind include negative impacts on the nervous system, breathing system, memory and visible and auditory functioning that soldiers must find ways of controlling in order to survive. The imagery Bulletproof is therefore simply an analysis of the entire physiological processes that is involved with the killing of a human being (Grossman, 43). The argument that is being brought out by the imagery of The Bulletproof mind is that majority of the people usually have that phobic level of response when it comes to the issue of violence. Therefore, there is need for soldiers to be trained on how to kill in order to have that mind set of performing the duties without fear. There are a lot of physical effects that are brought about by violence. These effects stresses on the humans such as changes in the sonic perception, tunnel vision and the post-traumatic stress disorder (Grossman, 56). The relevance of such information about the physiological aspect of the human body is to be able to bring out a clear picture of the stressful training that may end up affecting and bringing out a deadly threat to the human environment. Another aspect that is brought out in chapter three of the book is that of the mental attitude which is required by any warrior in order to fight. There is that perception of the level of stress inoculation that is required as well the importance of the training required. The argument that can be brought out in this section is that of the will of a person to do a certain job without having to be subjected to use lethal force. The determination that is aimed at performing the ultimate required act to the intended recipient to whom the force is addressed may in itself deter the set actions. If a person is able to adapt the look of being steel eyed then just by the sight of the eyes the enemy may not attempt to test your wrath. In this case you become the weapon and everything else around you becomes a tool. The work of Grossman is an attempt to give a connection between the increasing violence in the American society and the battle deaths as he draws a similarity between the processes the military used in killing during the Vietnam War and their application to the civilian population. This means that through movies and films including video games, the society is trying to instill a culture where killing is fancied that leads to the diffusion of individual responsibilities and loosening of values. Therefore, to avoid the possibility of social collapse and civil conflict like it has bedeviled countries like Lebanon, Yugoslavia, Mongol and the atrocities under the Third Reich, the citizens and the country as a whole must act in self-defense. This is notwithstanding the fact that most citizens have always used the protections such as free market economies, rights in the constitution or the amendments in the constitution to justify killing. Grossman extensively uses the metaphor of wolves, sheepdogs and sheep to show that there are three kinds of people in the world with the sheep forming the majority of the population who are not violent and are kind incapable of hurting people. According to Grossman most of the people in the society are like sheep (Grossman, 64). That means that they are kind, productive and gentle creatures who may be able to hurt someone only by accident but not by will. This is true with regards to the analysis done on Americans where a majority of the population is not capable of hurting each other. Therefore, with regards to the metaphor of a sheep there is a paradox and thus both ends of the situation should be grasped. Even though we may be in the most violent times in history, the nature of violence is remarkably rare. Reason for this is that most citizens are decent and kind people and may only act violently as a result of provocation or accidentally. They are sheep. The wolves are the predators and focus on preying on others capable of evil deeds. The wolves are capable of feeding on sheep without mercy. They are simply evil. One thing that is true is that there is existence of evil men in this world who are capable of performing evil deeds. The moment one forget this or pretends such people do not exist you end up becoming a sheep. There is definitely no safety that is guaranteed with denial (Grossman, 66). Finally, there is the metaphor of the sheepdog. Here Grossman states that he is a sheepdog in that he lives to protect the sheep and confront the wolf. In short what Grossman implies is that as a sheepdog you mainly live to intimidate those who intimidate others. The sheepdogs have fully committed to the defense of fellow human beings (Grossman, 68). Depending on the type of person a person chooses to be, it will dictate his desires to engage in violent conduct or not effectively showing the differences between members of the society people live in. Conclusion The book is a valuable contribution that helps in the understanding of the subject of killing through the observation and the insights presented in the work as it shows the increased rise in the rates of murder in the military. The training that is suggested for the military is that of acquiring three simple things so as to be able to survive any war or a lethal encounter. What is required is the right weapon, that skill of using the weapon as well as the mental decision of being able to usethe weapon even if it may mean taking the life of another. Grossman is trying to elaborate on the fact that it ma y reach a time when one may encounter violence and thus that may not be the time when you start wondering if you’re supposed to respond with force. The systematic observation and examination of the behavior of individual soldiers results to a series of important explanations for different actions in the battlefield showing that soldiers can also be caring and compassionate. The book also illuminates on how soldiers learn to kill and how they cope with the experience of having killed with an impassioned plea to the media fraternity to regulate violence through pressure and social censure. An important aspect of the book is that it examines the reasons for increased killings in the modern society as depicted by films and movies. Works Cited Grossman, Dave. On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. New York: E-Reads, 2009. Internet resource. Read More