Ron Kovic enlisted in the Marines right out of high school, and was one of the unfortunate teens to serve in the Vietnam War. During the war he was seriously injured and returned to the United States. Even though his servitude of war has ended, Kovic’s war with reality would soon take place. Through out the story, Kovic describes his daily life of being paralyzed from the war. He illustrates the pain and agony he goes through living at the hospital he shares amongst fifty other wounded soldiers. Kovic illustrates the horrific, yet factual experience of war:
All these broken men are very depressing, all these bodies so emaciated and twisted in theses bed sheets. This is a nightmare. This isn’t like the poster down by the post office where the guy stood with the shiny shoes; this is a concentration camp. It is like the pictures of all the Jews that I have seen. This is as horrible as that. I want to scream. I want to yell and tell them that I want out of this. All of this, all these people, this place, these sounds. I want out of this forever. I am only twenty-one and there is still so much ahead of me (1094).
We all tend to cover up our issues from people, especially the ones close to us. While confined in the hospital, Kovic’s family comes to visit him time to time. Kovic lets his family think everything is fine and that his injury from the war isn’t very severe. He says, “ I never tell my family when they come to visit about the enema room…I hide all that from them and talk about the other, more pleasant things, the things they want to hear“ (1095). Just like Kovic, we try to portray a better image. We perform this in a way of covering up the truth. For example, when we run into an old friend, we don’t tell them our problems, we let them know about our success. We do this for different reasons, whether it is because we care about what other people think, to upkeep the image we had in the past, make others proud of you, or all of the above. You want people to feel delighted for you, not depressed. Kovic also felt this way when people from his town would come to visit, “It would seem to him that he was always having to cheer them up more than they were cheering him” (1091). Kovic felt constrained to keep up with a positive attitude in order to please those around him.
There are many different ways of covering up the truth. The most common way, is the use of material things; what we have or how we look. People base others on what kind of car they drive or how big one’s house is. We believe, if you drive a certain car or you dress a certain way, you’re doing fine. In reality that may not be the case. In Kovic’s situation he disguises his injury by learning to balance and twist in his chair. Kovic said, “I learn to balance and twist in the chair so no one can tell how much of me does not feel or move anymore” (1095). Like Kovic we all learn to conceal our true situation.
In our society, we all have a propensity to change faces when confronted with different situations, therefore learning to adapt to our diverse environment. For many various reasons we cover up the negative aspects in our lives to satisfy others. The reality in life may be too much for others to consume, just as Kovic’s reality of war was overwhelming. As Kovic said at the end of his story, “No one wants too many people to know how much of him has really died in the war” (1095).
Works Cited
Kovic, Ron. “Born On the Fourth Of July.” Literature and Society: An Introduction to _ Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Ed. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, 2000. 1085-1095.