Outlaw Platoon Analysis

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“Love is the only thing that will see us through this. If that love fails, or if we let circumstances and friction grind it down, we will surely die” (Parnell 245). Outlaw Platoon is different than any war book that has been written to this day. Author Sean Parnell uses his own personal thoughts and feelings in order to convey to the audience his message; war is brutal, but family is strong. He is able to brilliantly display the horrific journey the soldiers in his platoon underwent, and how they changed because of it. The tale of this platoon is now a required book for all military personnel to read due to its ability to describe verily what occurs mentally and physically to the soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Parnell uses a strong…show more content…
The mood is light and astounded by the men's ability when the odds are not in their favor. On the other hand, even though the platoon never truly lost a battle, they had some close calls and mental blows: “One by one, our heavy weapons ran out of ammunition. Brown’s 240 went silent. So did Private Dugin’s fifty that was mounted on Waites’s rig. Nobody was in Sabo’s turret now that both Emerick and LEwis had gone down with head shots. Despite every effort, Bray’s MArk 19 refused to fire. Our best weapons were all but useless. Desperate, the gunners drew their 9mm pistols, racked the slides, and fired into the onrushing waves of enemy. It was a measure of last resort I’d never thought I’d see” (Parnell 194). Sean and his men are devoid of hope in this particular fight; they know that if they do not receive reinforcements every single one of them will be beheaded by the Pakistanis. In cases like this, the tone is suffering at the thought of losing men. The diction becomes full of grief with little hope and it manages to make the audience experience those emotions when reading as they fear the death of a loved character. It also creates the anxious need to read quickly in order to overcome the mystery of how the battle ends. The difference in the book's diction allows for a stark contrast between each of the battles by the mood and tone it

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