The purpose of the essay is to analyze the book “Redeployment” by Phil Klay and look at the horrific experiences that soldiers go through during war time and the problems that they face when they try to fit into the society when they come back home after the war. The essay will discuss several themes found in the book. In this book, ‘Redeployment’ Phil Klay takes the readers to the front lines of battle in Afghanistan and Iraq, letting the readers understand what took place there, and how the soldiers who returned back home were affected. Intermingled with several themes of faith, guilt, fear, brutality and helplessness; the characters in the book struggle to show the results out of the chaos that is war. Written with realism and a strong emotional depth, the book puts forward Phil Klay as one of the most outstanding and talented authors of his generation.
The theme of gender is well illustrated in the book. The battle scenes signals the reader that this is a war book that depicts men participating in the war to test their masculinity. Klay states that war periods were “times that try men’s soul” which implies that the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq comprised primarily of men (Docs 12). In fact, throughput the book, the author makes no mention of the participation of women in the war, indicating that, the war was only fought men. The literal meaning according to Klay is that, when it comes to war, the men are tasked with the duty of fighting and at the same time protecting their women and children. However, Phil Klay writes about the unusual honesty and perception that accompanies the soldier’s relationships with their girlfriends, wives and even other unconventional female companions such as lap dancers and the Iraqi girls they often see. Here, the soldiers who at the battlefront are separated from their wives, girlfriends seek comfort from the whores, prostitutes as well as strippers who they pay for sex (Docs 10). The reader gets a real picture of the things the soldiers go through during the time of war. Phil shows the reader this dark account of the soldier’s promiscuous lives by mentioning two marines who paid for sex in a strip club. The soldiers considered women as sex tools to satisfy their sex ego. Consequently, they do not even mind sharing the same woman as long as their sexual desires are fulfilled.
Kay also intentionally uses the dialogue between the civilians, military and other people not fighting in the war to expose the experience of the war. A wounded veteran conducts an interview with an actress who is working on a documentary and in the “psychological operations” a veteran, who has a lot of hostility faces a college student activist. Racism and religion factors are also seen to take center stage during the time of war. A soldier who is now a student discusses his experience with a fellow student and the story veers to topics of religion, race and immigration. He says “I laughed. ‘I pray,' I said, 'But not to Allah” (Kay 78). This is for instance a clear indication that soldiers and veterans in the war do not like the Muslim religion at all. In addition, the soldier student shows how much he hates Muslims by going as far as confessing to a fellow student that; “ I can kill Muslims as much as I like” (Kay 101). To enhance the theme of religion, the author uses a chaplain’s conversation with a line soldier who is disturbed by the debauched and the violent culture of his unit. The chaplain refer the soldier to past saints like Aquinas, Augustine as well as his life experience and beliefs with the aim of explaining the behavior the soldier is seeing in his unit.
Returning home after the redeployment comes out as one of the worst experiences of a war veteran. At home, war veterans struggle to adjust to normal life because the war has totally changed them (Docs 12). Klay illustrates the dilemma with the words of a veteran who states that, “I didn't know where to rest my handsI put them in my pockets, then I took them out and crossed my arms, and then I just let them hangAnd glad as I was to be in the States I started feeling like I wanted to go back”(137). Such huge is dilemma faced by soldiers who return home and who try to adjust to life after war (Docs 12).
The American government together with its troops believed that they went to Iraqi and Afghanistan to fight and make a difference in the lives of the local people. On the other hand however, the Iraqi people believed that the Americans had not come to liberate them, but rather, to expose them to their enemies. For instance, an Iraqi is quoted saying that “You have baked Iraq like a cakeand given it to Iran to eat” (Kay 89). The contrary opinions about the war showed that the participating parties of the war were not pursuing a common interest (Docs 12).
Conclusion
The book “Redeployment” focuses on the American soldier’s experiences in the Middle East wars and in the book, the author Phil Klay shows how great division exists between military life and civilian life. He tries to bridge the gap by taking the reader from the war and back home, then back to war and back home again, reminding the reader the effects of war on the whole nation.
Work cited
Klay, Phil. Redeployment. Canongate Books, 2014: 1-300
Edward, Docs. Redeployment -'Incendiary stories of war. The Guardian, March 2014: 10-12
