Happy Birthday, 1951 by Kurt Vonnegut.
Summary:
This is a short story about the repercussions of war. The story starts in medias res with an old man choosing the day for a young boy's birthday. There has been a war that ended seven years ago and the pair has been hiding ever since. They were discovered by soldiers and are now filling out their documents. The old man has made a small cart for the boy for his birthday and also takes him for a trip to the countryside. In the calm countryside they discover a rusty tank, which preoccupies the boy a lot. They have lunch and afterwards a small nap. When the old man awakens the boy is gone.
He immediately heads for the tank to look for him, fearing he may have drowned in the nearby stream. The boy is nowhere to be seen, but suddenly raises his head from the turret and says
“Gotcha!”.
(151 words)
Characterization of the boy and old man:
The boy has never known anything but the war-torn everyday. He has always had to search for food and shelter and has never had a birthday, just as he has missed out on a lot of activities that normal seven-year-olds participate in. He is very preoccupied with the war and the marching soldiers. His birthday gift, which the old man imagines is a grocery cart, the boy pretends to be a tank.
Since the boy has never experienced anything but the post-war years he glorifies the soldiers. He has never experienced the gory and bloody truth of war, or known what soldiers do in war. Hence he also doesn't understand or appreciate what the old man is offering him. A whole day away from the war and the ugly aftermath of war. All alone in the serene countryside, where the only sounds are bees buzzing and birds chirping. You can take the boy out of the war but never the war out of the boy.
The old man on the other hand has experienced the odious sides of war. He's old and might have