War Is Not a Game free essay sample

War Is Not a Game Etgar Keret’s â€Å"Not Human Beings† is the story of Schmulik Stein, a soldier who is young and jaded by the realities of death and violence. As an officer during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he is forced to recognize the serious nature of conflict he is involved in when he is recruited to go with Israeli border patrol officers. He is then put to the greatest test of all, to dehumanize, stand his ground and witness things he may never be able to forget. At the end of the story Stein realizes that this is no longer a game but life and death. Keret suggests that while some people are exposed to the atrocities of war become demonized by it; others remain intact with their humanity but can ultimately become lost individuals due to the trauma. While the Israeli border patrol officers refer to certain races as not human beings shows their lack of respect toward the human race, it is fair to say they have been demonized. We will write a custom essay sample on War Is Not a Game or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Stein, however, deplores the depreciating value of human life and is beaten by fellow officers for objecting to the cruel treatment of an old Arab man. Violence unfolds before his eyes, watching as a man is destroyed as if he were not a man at all. Rather than admitting what is happening in front of him, Stein pictures things from a different perspective. Taking what one of the officers stated and using it, he views the Arab man as an object instead of a human being. This is what ultimately helps him cope mentally, with the situation in his own way. In the beginning of the story is a young man who is merely more concerned with his backgammon game than the war that is at hand. He is in the beginning portrayed as an ignorant and impatient man, naive to the fact that he is in fact in the middle of war. As he so simply states to his comrade â€Å"If you don’t shoot the dice, I’ll go to the personnel officer right now and ask him to send me. Maybe with those guys. I’ll at least be able to finish a game. † (755) When driving into the city with the four patrol officers, he watches as one of the officers (the mute) hits an Arab bystander walking down the street, the other officers laughing and not concerned for the man at all. â€Å"You ran him over on purpose, you psycho, you ran over a human being on purpose† (757) He asked furiously. While this victim lies on the floor the officers bring another Arab and begin beating him. Enough† (757) Stein protested. As others continued their beatings and Stein being prevented from helping either of the men, they try to justify their reasons â€Å"they might look like us on the outside, but they’re not. † (757) They stand one of the Arabs men up to show Stein exactly what they meant, Stein att empts to move toward the man but is hit over the head by the mute with his truncheon and forced to watch as they cut the man across his â€Å"trembling stomach† (758) Watching candy, phones, coins and other objects fall from the man, Stein faints. He wakes under a tent in a bed slowly gets up and he grabs a knife with a broken compass and follows the â€Å"phosphorescent needle† not knowing where it leads. By the end of the story is seems that he has had no other option than to realize that this is all more than a backgammon game, it’s no game at all. For this Stein is a dynamic character, he transitions from an inexperienced boy to a man who has seen men being murdered in front of his face and yet at the same time did not join in and think it was right. Etgar Keret uses third person limited omniscient which allows his readers to have an indirect access to Stein’s feelings with an exception of the beginning of the story when leaving with the patrol officers he thinks â€Å"It’s not so bad. Only a week. † Concentrating on Stein the entire story his actions and words give the reader the opportunity to form their own emotional responses to the events. Being able to feel what Stein is feeling although not physically but mentally, it’s as if the reader is watching the story unfold in front of your own eyes. At the end of the story, for a moment Stein too is guilty of dehumanizing the old Arab, when he pictures the man as an object rather than seeing the reality of the brutality he imagines things that are unrealistic, as do the officers when referring to the man’s insides â€Å"Don’t touch the candy. It’s poisoned. †(758) Had Keret used first person, the reader would be more in sync with what the narrator felt which would have manipulated the story and would not have allowed the reader to create their own ideas or emotions, it would have been the main character telling the reader how they felt.