Interlude: The Forever War: Lit Circle Letter 3

The third section of The Forever War successfully concludes the anti-military space opera/Vietnam War allusion of Joe Haldeman. As the main protagonist, William Mandela tries to cope with his insatiable loss of humanity after returning to an unfamiliar home. He does this by spending his time with the only connection he has to his past life, Potter Marygay.

As love interests, the two are bound more by their fears of the changed future rather than actual romantic love for each other. As Haldeman puts it: "desperate fun". When the two become separated due to military service, William can only turn back to the military for any comfort. The military has trained him to obey, not to question.

This goes along with the high anti-military sentiment present throughout the novel. The military is shown as a soulless construct that cannot care for its veterans. It is only concerned for self preservation, and cannot function effectively as a bridge between humanity's survival as it's best interests.

As William gets dumped back into military service, he is subjected to an "accelerated life situation computer", which indoctrinates him for military training. This is referencing the operant conditioning American soldiers faced back during their training for the Vietnam War. These soldiers are more easily able to pull the trigger without remorse, and become trained to fight at maximum efficiency under great duress.

William also becomes a Major commander, in charge of his own strike force. He is barely older than any of the men and women he is commanding. They speak a different language than he does, and have different customs and ways. In William's time frame, he has only been a soldier for four years; for the rest of the world, it has been over 400 years. Due to time dilation, William becomes even more alienated as he fails to differentiate between the real aliens: his company of marines, or the mysterious "Taurans" they fight.

The rest of the book is more heavily focused on William in combat. Even though he is able to survive and return home, most of the ending and epilogue seem to be written with a tinge of respect and guilt for abusing a character who has been through so much. This can also be said for Vietnam veterans, who never really got past the alienation and the post traumatic stress disorders. They are to be respected.

One can only shun the United States government for starting such a war, and it is Haldeman that tries to provoke this emotion in those who become attached to William Mandela. In the long run, this is a pure allusion that will honor the forgotten veterans of the Vietnam War.