The poem “The War Reporter Paul Watson and the Boy Who Dragged the Body’ offers an insightful look into the perspective of a war correspondent currently serving in a war zone. The poem brings to light the horrors that are witnessed by those who experience life on the battlefield; however it does from a unique perspective, the individual’s well-crafted thoughts and his deeper conscious. Yet, this perspective ties into the larger message of the entire poem; wherein the poem’s author, Dan O’ Brien, suggests that there a certain duality in war, in which there is beauty in even some of the most horrific scenes. The author’s juxtaposition of beauty and death in war emerges when analyzing the O’Brien’s word choice throughout the poem. The quote “Blessed with dust. Rose holes. Uniform shredding. Broken legs in a split.” is a seamless example of this technique at work. The first two segments of the embody language that could be considered romantic; whereas, the next two lines of the quote contain word choices that…show more content… However, this inner voice demonstrates the split views within himself of the war. “Wind your window down, Paul. They want you to take their picture. No thanks, I told the driver – drive home.” presents another juxtaposition of war being seen through the two lenses of the character’s mind. The inner voice sees the twisted beauty in front of him in the scene of the boy dragging the dead body, wanting to capture it in the picture forever. However, the character cannot bring himself to do it, obviously distraught at the horrific image unfolding in front of him, even though he understand the profound impact the picture would have, exclaiming, “Believe me, it would have won prizes!” Despite this, the character’s conflicting views of capturing war through a lens demonstrates how he understands the magnificence and destruction the war can
