Essay Example on Vivid Tones and Sacrifice in Helmet for My Pillow

The author has employed various tones and theme of sacrifice throughout the novel. Though, Leckie's tone throughout the book seems to be cynical, "lets feast and be merry for on the morrow we die," he employs humorous and vivid tones. The author sacrifice captures the sole purpose of men going to war as fighting for their countries. This essay seeks to examine the use of tone and theme of sacrifice in the novel Helmet for my Pillow.

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Most war books are characterized by a vivid tone as nothing fiction can be added compared to the realities faced. The tone lets the reader interpret the novel in the way Leckie perceived war as a marine. In the last scene when they near the open sea, the reader can feel the connection between Leckie and Runner when he says, "So long, boys." This is because throughout the book the author built up to this moment. The vivid tone from this quote can be seen from the may severe challenges they have faced.

The vivid tone has been used to capture the horror and terror he faced. For example, he says "I nearly stepped on someone's hand...it was an unattached arm. It lay there alone" (296). The tone helps in capturing the reality of war and how it dehumanizes people and lives in general. The author uses a humorous tone to overcome the reality of death. Moreover, he notes "one of the marines went methodically among the dead armed with pliers. He had observed the Japanese gold fillings in their teeth. He was looting their very mouths" (230). The use of humorous tone, in this case, has been used to show the greedy character of the soldier. In addition, the use of a humorous tone in a war book also delights the reader and gets them to read closely.

The theme of sacrifice has been used in the novel. Leckie had many of the people he had known died in the war sacrificing for their country in order to secure freedom for their people. Leckie also brings in some aspect of women sacrificing. The author notes that it is because of sacrifice "women weep when their men go to war. They do not weep for their victims, they weep for them as the victim." (304). The delves into the issue of sacrifice sympathizing with those that have lost lives noting, "it is blasphemy to say a bit of metal has destroyed life, just as it is presumptive to say that because life has disappeared, it has been destroyed" (233).

In the battle of Peleliu, Leckie gives an account of the heat and dehydration as well as the injury he got. The theme of sacrifice has been used to show the reward expected by the soldiers. It is clear that no monetary value will be gained by soldiers or any other price that can pay for them for putting their lives on the line. It thus follows that most soldiers from this realization hold that sacrifice for their country is the ultimate reward they can get or give. The author writes, "It is to sacrifice that men go to war. They do not go to kill; they go to be killed to risk their flesh" (304). The author captures the reality of sacrifice when asked by a woman what he got from war only to realizes he hot nothing and neither did he expect to profit from it.

Works Cited

Leckie, Robert. Helmet For My Pillow [Illustrated Edition]. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2015.