Kovic, Ron - Born on the Fourth of July - Ron Kovic`s autobiographical novel - a convincing example of an anti-war novel?

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
1. The subject of the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement in the United States
2. Ron Kovic´s novel “Born on the Fourth of July” as a major part of the termpaper
3. Reasons for choosing this subject

II. Main Part
1. Book review of the autobiographical novel
2. The novel seen in the context of the anti-war movement
3. Evaluation of the novel as a convincing example of an anti- war novel

III. Conclusion
1. Summary of the results
2. Evaluation of the results

IV. Appendix

I. Introduction:

1. The subject of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement in the United States

What comes to our minds, when we think of the Vietnam War? Is it the cruel massacres between the Americans and Vietnamese that caused thousands of wounded and dead people on both sides? Is it the American ideology of fighting Communism? Or is it even the controversy between proponents and opponents of the war on the American home front? No matter what we associate with it, these are all various facets of the Vietnam war era.

Beginning with President Eisenhower, who supported the French in the Indochina conflict by sending military and economic aid since 1950¹, the intervention of American troops in Vietnam increased permanently under the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson. To prevent the spread of Communism from North to South Vietnam, the American government saw it as their obligation to back up South Vietnam´s non-communist government. In order to do so, President Kennedy sent special forces and military advisors to South Vietnam, which increased the number of US forces from 2,000 men by the end of 1960 to 16, 300 men by the end of 1963². After Kennedy´s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson became new President of the United States. Throughout his terms of presidency the conflict escalated into a state of war. Because of an attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on two U.S. destroyers, the U.S. Congress handed over its war power to the President by the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which allowed the president to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force. So, Johnson increased the presence of US combat forces again. The war was fought by air force as well as by ground troops, which used the search-and-destroy tactics. In 1967, the US forces totalled 465,600³. Under president Nixon, who became Johnson´s successor in 1969, the process of “Vietnamization” was put into effect. This meant the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam and replacement with Vietnamese troops. In spite of repetitively failed peace negotiations, Nixon´s national security advisor H. Kissinger took up secret peace talks with North Vietnam in 1969. Finally, in 1973 a cease-fire agreement was signed in Paris, calling for a withdrawal of all American troops.

During the whole time of the American involvement in Vietnam, the American society eventually separated into two opposing groups: On the one hand, the supporters of the war, on the other hand, the antagonists of the war. Whereas the anti-war movement grew stronger over the time, the number of proponents of the war decreased steadily. This development was fostered by various reasons. Partly, it was effected by the media, because for the first time a war could be followed on television. The anti-war movement rooted in independent interests that were only unified by the common opposition against the Vietnam War⁴. Gaining popularity in 1965,when the U.S. began bombing North Vietnam, it found its climax in 1968 by the Tet offensive and remained powerful throughout the duration of the conflict. Its members in the first years were mainly college students but later all social classes were represented in the movement, students as well as members of government institutions. Nearly half the population of the United States had turned against the war after 1969⁵. The anti-war attitude became an ever-present factor of the American society in the 60s and 70s.

2. Ron Kovic´s novel “Born on the Fourth of July” as a major part of the term paper

Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who was paralysed from chest on down in the war, deals in his autobiographical novel “Born on the Fourth of July” with his tragedy and revival after fighting in Vietnam. He joins the anti-war movement after he returns from Vietnam and is out of the hospital. In his novel, he writes about his experiences in the war as well as his participation in the anti-war movement. Therefore, I will discuss if Ron Kovic´s novel “Born on the Fourth of July” is a convincing example of an anti-war novel.

3. Reasons for choosing this subject

I chose to write about Ron Kovic’s novel focusing on its aspects of an anti-war novel, because the Vietnam war and its consequences are one of the most debated subjects in history.

The anti-war movement is a societal phenomenon of its own ; it mirrors the spirit of that time in the United States. In my opinion, Ron Kovic contributes important aspects that help the reader to get an impression of the war and the anti-war movement. Even though the book describes the fate of a single person, it can be applied to others that have experienced similar situations. Considering this, it is a significant novel that is worth being discussed in the following.

II. Main Part:

1. Book review of the autobiographical novel

“Born on the Fourth of July“ by Ron Kovic

Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who was severely wounded in the war, describes in his autobiographical novel “Born on the Fourth of July” the aftermath of Vietnam, concentrating on his participation in the anti-war movement. Additionally, he gives a few glimpses of his childhood and experiences in the war. Instead of presenting these stages of his life in chronological order, they seem to be told arbitrarily.

Kovic starts out with the event that should change his whole life, the battle in Vietnam where he is wounded and paralysed from chest on down. He then reviews the time in the different hospitals, first in Vietnam and second back home. There, he has enough time to think about the wound and get used to the idea of having a catheter and sitting in the wheelchair for the rest of his life. Soon, he begins to realise that he will never be able to sleep with a woman or do things that have been natural to him. Next, the author takes a look back at his childhood in a respectable neighbourhood, being the child of a typical American working class family. He remembers the good times he had with the other kids from the block, playing ball games or running through the woods, no matter if it was summer or winter. The John Wayne and Audie Murphy movies belong to his growing-up as well as the Space Race between Russia and the United States. A meeting with the marine recruiters in high school lets his wish of joining the Marines become final. Accordingly, he leaves for boot camp in September 1964. Kovic points out that during his time in boot camp he and the other recruits have to work hard and they are constantly humiliated by their drill instructors. It turns out to be nothing like he thought it would be. After telling about his experiences in boot camp the author jumps ahead to the time when he is back at home and out of the hospital. That seems to be a difficult period of life for him. He gives an insight into his feelings about sitting in the wheelchair and being paralysed from chest down. Kovic has to deal with the war and its after-effects, which he tries to forget by drinking heavily. In the end, he goes to Mexico for a few months to gather his thoughts and reorganise his life. Coming back, Kovic takes his life in his hands, but he breaks his leg and has to spend six months in the hospital again. The author describes that during his stay there, the anger builds up in him and he changes.

After he is out of the hospital, he comes into contact with the anti-war movement for the first time. This is caused by the incident at Kent State University, where four students are shot in a demonstration against the invasion of Cambodia. He is so shocked by the incident that he joins a demonstration with other students on campus, which marks just the beginning of Kovic´s participation in the anti-war movement. The author states that he feels a togetherness with his fellow demonstrators that he has never felt in any situation of his life, neither in boot camp nor in Vietnam. Consequently, he takes part in other demonstrations and begins to speak out against the war himself. He joins the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and becomes an active member in many demonstrations. He holds speeches against the war on every occasion, which soon lets him be on television frequently. Speaking out against the war plays an important role now in Ron Kovic´s life because he feels it can help to stop the war. The author remembers the night of Nixon´s acceptance speech as the most important event of his participation in the anti-war movement. There, he shouted out his anger and frustration directly in the President´s face. Kovic called it “fighting a war against the real enemies.”(p. 171).

To close his autobiographical account, the veteran recalls some of the cruelties he experienced in Vietnam. Among them are the accidental killing of a corporal from Georgia whom Kovic mistakes for a member of the Vietcong, the brutal shooting of children who are also thought to be the enemy, a Communist attack on their battalion area where some of his comrades die, and the battle where he is shot and paralysed from chest down. So he ends his novel with the same event, he started with, the situation on the battlefield.

Concerning the stylistic elements of the novel, it should be especially focused on the style of language and the change of point of view throughout the story. The author uses colloquial language and slang words, which correspond to the subject of his account. It is the language spoken by the people he is surrounded with, his parents, his friends and the military. The choice of words is what gives the novel its credibility and touch of individuality. Furthermore, the simple style of language attracts a wide range of readers and lets them identify with the author and his experiences. The change of point of view is the other outstanding element used in the novel. Throughout the book, Kovic changes the point of view from a first person narrator into a third person, omniscient narrator. This creates contrasting perspectives, some experiences are reviewed from a subjective point of view, whereas others are seen from a more distant angle. Intending to show the loss of his identity the latter stylistic element is used for example, when the author describes the transition from his childhood to boot camp. While Kovic reviews his childhood as a first person narrator, the experiences in boot camp are told from the angle of a third person, omniscient narrator. Accordingly, the reader follows the author’s loss of identification as is indicated by the change of perspective.

2. The novel seen in the context of the anti-war movement

Ron Kovic points out in his novel that the incident at Kent State University in May 1970, where four students were killed by the National Guard in a demonstration against the invasion of Cambodia, caused him to join an anti-war demonstration for the first time. The happening drew many protesters into the streets and the anti-war movement gained even more support. First demonstrations against the war, however, had already arisen in 1965 in response to the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. One of the first anti-war organisations at that time was the SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, finding its supporters mainly on America’s campuses.⁶ Incidents like the Tet-offensive in 1968 or the My Lai massacre in 1970 let eventually turn almost half the population against the war. By the publishing of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, which revealed stories of drug trafficking, political assassination and indiscriminate bombings, many people believed that government had lost all accountability.⁷ Throughout the period between 1965 and 1973 anti-war activities characterised America´s campuses and streets. The movement organised sit-ins, marches, demonstrations and speeches in public to call for an end of the Vietnam war. Ron Kovic became one of the activists himself after participating in his first demonstration in 1970. He took part in protest marches and held speeches in public, talking about his experiences in the war and in hospital. The veteran describes two of the demonstrations he took part in, in detail. Firstly, he tells about the protest against Nixon´s campaign, which was violently ended by the police and where he and seventeen other veterans were arrested. Secondly, Kovic describes the climax of his participation in the anti-war movement, the night of Nixon´s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. There he got the chance to scream out his anger in the Presidents face, which was the greatest satisfaction he ever got. Ron Kovic stayed an active member of the anti-war movement until the official end of the war in 1973. After that, the movement disappeared as suddenly and quietly as it had emerged.

The novel “Born on the Fourth of July” was first published in 1976 along with hundreds of other publication on the war. A lot of eyewitness accounts, reports, lyrics, and protest songs etc. concerning the Vietnam War era were published over the years. Like many other veterans, Kovic presumably wrote this autobiographical account in order to digest the experiences and effects of the war. Next to the psychological idea, the author also intended to set an example for protesting against a war. If this novel is a convincing example of an antiwar novel will be discussed in the following.

3. Evaluation of the novel as a convincing example of an anti-war novel

In order to evaluate the novel “Born on the Fourth of July” as a convincing anti-war novel, the following aspects should be taken into consideration. First of all it is to say that the author is an eyewitness of the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement. Thus, the reader gets authentic information from someone who was directly involved in the war and the movement and was also physically and psychologically affected by those happenings. As an eyewitness, Kovic describes facts and experiences as well as personal thoughts and feelings about the subject. This provides a good platform for the reader to reflect on the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement and form an opinion about it. Furthermore, the novel gives an insight into both the author’s opinion on fighting a war before serving in Vietnam and afterwards. It becomes clear that in his childhood and throughout his youth, Kovic had a glorified picture of war, which was marked by patriotism, the belief of invulnerability and the determination of heroism. This was shaped partly by the movies with John Wayne and Audie Murphy, which showed war as an opportunity to support the mother country and the protagonists as admirable heroes. Equally important in shaping Kovic’s picture of war, were the toys like plastic soldiers, tanks, and weapons, which belittled war to a game. Next to those aspects, the shiny uniforms and the perfect step of the marine recruiters impressed him and added up to his positive opinion of the military and war. With this view in mind, the reader also learns about the experiences that let the author’s glorified picture of war eventually break down. Boot camp contributes to this because it did not come up to his expectations. He was disappointed by the harsh treatment and the disrespectful insults from the drill instructors towards the recruits. The time in Vietnam, where Kovic was confronted with the hard reality of war brought up even more reasons for giving up those falsified ideas. There he found out quite quickly that brutality and death are everyday happenings in a war. Not only the enemy is affected by it but also children, civilians, and he himself. Finally, the bad conditions in the hospital and government’s politics concerning Vietnam along with other unfavourable circumstances cause Kovic’s change of opinion.

Reviewing the motives for joining the war as well as for turning against it, makes the novel a convincing anti-war novel. The reader learns that a war has the power to change or even annihilate people’s lives and lets them turn against the principles they once believed in. In addition, the author also shows the different effects the war and the anti-war movement have on him. Whereas the war destroyed his life, crippled his body, and influenced his psyche, the anti-war movement helped him to recover mentally and gave his life a new meaning. These contrasting aspects, which evidently characterise the war as negative and the anti-war movement as positive, also mark the novel as a convincing anti-war novel. Not only the contents but also the style of writing are important for evaluating this novel as a convincing anti-war novel. The veteran depicts his story very graphically, so that the reader can imagine his feelings. As a matter of fact, with his choice of words Kovic awakens the readers and makes them realise what he had to go through. At first glance, the language seems unrefined and may also shock the reader, but this is what emphasises the author’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The war and its after-effects influenced the author deeply, and he manages to transfer his attitude towards it to the reader by using this kind of language. Altogether, the novel is a convincing anti-war novel because of its well-structured contents concerning the Vietnam war era and its realistic style of writing. It is a deeply moving account that will spread its message over many generations.

III. Conclusion

1. Overview of the results

Generally speaking, the novel “Born on the Fourth of July” written by Ron Kovic is a convincing example of an anti-war novel. As it was pointed out in the evaluation, the author witnessed the Vietnam war era and presents his experiences in a powerful and gripping manner. He achieves to enthral and touch the reader intellectually and emotionally by his straightforward and realistic style of writing. Therefore, the novel is a significant contribution to the anti-war literature. In order to come to this conclusion, it was necessary to take certain steps. At first, the Vietnam war and the anti-war movement were introduced in general to provide some important background information on the subject. Next, the platform for the evaluation was prepared by reviewing the contents of the autobiographical novel and setting it in context with the anti-war movement. At last, the evaluation of the novel followed, which ended in the previously mentioned result.

2. Evaluation of the results

Taking everything into account, it is important to add that the novel will certainly never lose its topicality. Kovic deals with his experiences of the Vietnam war, but this can easily be applied to any other war because the cruelties on the battlefield and the psychological consequences hardly differ. War and its after-effects have always concerned people in the past and as sad as it is the issues will also remain relevant in the future because wars are an ever- present global problem. Therefore, the novel attracts readers not only in America but world- wide and interests his as well as many following generations. In other words, “Born on the Fourth of July” reaches a wide-spread audience. Nevertheless, the novel covers only a tiny part, although very important, of the Vietnam war era. During my research for this term paper, I discovered other important aspects on this subjects. Whereas, my reflections concentrated on the aspects of an anti-war novel, the role of government would be another interesting topic to work on. No doubt, propaganda methods and politics concerning the war as well as the aspect of how the veterans are supported by the government would take a term paper on its own. However, I also found some additional pictures and information concerning the anti-war movement that I think complete my term paper and so they are included in the appendix.

Bibliography

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2. Frey, Marc. Geschichte des Vietnamkriegs, München: Beck C.H., 2000

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5. Kovic, Ron, Born on the Fourth of July, New York: Pocket Books, 1976

6. Nixon, Richard M. Richard Nixon Memoiren, Köln: Ellenberg Verlag, 1978

7. Radical Times: The Antiwar Movement of the 1960s, URL:

http://www.mvhs.srvusd.k12.ca.us/~antiwar/effects.htm, 12.03.01

8. Raeithel, Gert et. al., Vietnamkrieg und Literatur, München: Fink Verlag , 1972

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¹ C.f. From Occupation to War - A Chronology of Events (Info box)

² C.f. Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, Mannheim 2000, p. 477

³ C.f. From...

⁴ Barringer, Mark. Antiwar Movement, United States. online

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ C.f. USA: Geschichte, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft, Bonn. September 2000.

⁷ C.f. Barringer, Mark. Antiwar...