A Combat Reporter Read - Scott Anderson, Prisoner of War, Harpers Essay

A Combat Reporter Read - Scott Anderson, Prisoner of War, Harpers Magazine, January 1997 - Essay Example The author’s story gets clouded by memories of wars in places such as Beirut, Uganda, Chechnya, Northern Ireland, and the Sudan. The author is also physically trapped by war and thus the reason for the article’s title. At the present moment of his narration, the author is physically in Chechnya trying to relocate a man who disappeared in a war torn village. From his narration, the reader can witness that the author has physically been present in various warzones around the globe. The author explains that he feels a rush about wars that drive him to the war fields. He feels as though he has never been an observer of war but rather a participant. Through the article, the author also gets to explain how wars physically trap civilians and victims in a manner that curtails their freedom. The presence of gunships, tankers, and creation of physical barriers prevent people from living freely, and thus they become prisoners of war. Socially, the author is a prisoner of war. His social upbringing through his familial background almost destined his path to becoming a prisoner of war. He explains that ever since a young age, he always felt like war would eventually find him. His father was a foreign aid officer and this meant that he got raised in ‘frontline states’ such as south Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia where he begun to witness the impacts of war at a tender age. His father had fought in the World War II. His Godfather was an air force major. His brother was also a writer who documented on the direct impacts of war on civilians. This social upbringing shows that the author became a prisoner of war from an early age. He witnessed wars from an early age and thus he gets trapped by it. This article shows the effects that war can have on individuals. Through the author’s narrative, the reader has a feeling that wars have made him to become partly numb