You're a noncombatant in a war. What war crime do you get charged with?

A somber battlefield scene with a journalist, a soldier, and the emotional weight of war, illustrating the themes of conflict, compassion, and moral dilemmas.

War In Perspective: A Noncombatant's Dilemma

Embark on a thought-provoking journey through the complexities of war as a noncombatant. This quiz challenges you to navigate the moral and emotional landscapes faced by those who find themselves entangled in conflict without bearing arms. What choices will you make, and how will they define your experience?

Explore the roles of different noncombatants during war.
Delve into the emotional and ethical dilemmas of warfare.
Reflect on the impact of war on humanity.

7 Questions2 MinutesCreated by WritingSoul247

Uh oh! Your country is at war! You're not a soldier however, you have some other skill that is needed on the battlefield. What are you?

I'm a journalist! Documenting the tragedy of this war as it goes on.

I'm a rabbi or a priest or something. Somebody's gotta pray for those boys on the battlefield!

I'm a nurse or a doctor! Witnessing the brutality of this war through the young lives that I find myself increasingly unable to save.

I'm journalist, but I don't think this war is brutal or horrible. Being here is actually a great career opportunity for me, and if I can get some good photos of the battlefield, I could become as famous as Anderson Cooper!

It's your first day as a noncombatant on the battlefield! What do you do?

Make friends with all the soldiers.

Become best friends with one specific soldier who is the only one that understands me.

Lament the brutality of war.

Write a letter to my lover I left behind.

As time goes on, you grow very close to a handsome young soldier on the battlefield. What is his name?

Jeremy

Mark, but he goes by Jeremy.

Chad, but everyone calls him Jeremy.

Derek, but my affectionate nickname for him is Jeremy.

So you're best friends with one very special soldier. Let's call him Jeremy. What is he like?

Aggressively patriotic in a very ultra-masculine way.

Only in the army because of the draft, and constantly troubled by its brutality.

Very naive to the horrors that surround him and acts like everything will be the same when he goes back home.

Seems like he'd be gay but always talking about the "girl he has back home" who he's going to marry when the war is over.

It's just another day as a non combatant. You're chilling at your encampment thinking about what a great job you're doing as a war journalist or battlefield doctor or whatever. Suddenly, you see a soldier from the enemy side approaching you with his gun raised. What do you do?

Grab a gun that another soldier left behind and shoot the enemy soldier.

Scream for help.

Raise my hands up in surrender.

Ask the enemy soldier what he thinks about the violent nature of humans that we engage in such warfare, and what it says about our moral values that we dehumanize certain people in times of war by labelling "enemy".

You see your life flash before your eyes as the enemy approaches you, but before he can make a move Jeremy tackles him, saving your life. The enemy is contained, and you sigh in relief. But oh god, what's that? There's a red spot on Jeremy's chest. Oh god! He's been shot! Jeremy falls to the ground. What do you do?

Hold him in your arms as he dies and cry until the other soldiers have to pry his corpse out of your arms because it's like a medical hazard and and also kind of freaking them out.

Try desperately to save him but it doesn't work, mostly because you're giving him mouth to mouth, which people keep trying to explain to you won't do anything for a bullet wound.

Take a photo of his dead body. This is going to get so much media attention. You could make big bucks from it.

Feel yourself suddenly become numb to all the horrors you've seen. This was the final straw. As Jeremy dies, so do you, in a way. You can't remember what it was like to feel things.

You cradle Jeremy as he dies. You can feel the shape of his fun against your hip. In a moment of extreme grief, you pick up his gun and shoot his killer with it.

It's a few days later. Jeremy's body has been buried. The enemy has been contained as a prisoner of war. What do you do?

This motherfucker just killed Jeremy. You walk up to where they're keeping them, and using what once was Jeremy's gun, you shoot him.

Your grief eats you up inside. You try to find salvation. Hoping for catharsis, you confront Jeremy's killer and find yourself beating him up. It's very cathartic, and you start writing a poem about the event.

You don't want to confront Jeremy's killer. It would bring you too much grief. However, sometimes when people go to bring food to the prisoner you stop them. Just to make him suffer a little bit.

When you see Jeremy's killer, again, now a prisoner, you are confronted with how similar he is to Jeremy. So young. Jeremy killed people too. You've seen it happen. This is what war is, you realize. You find some shaky amount of acceptance from that.

Seeing Jeremy's killer sounds like it would be painful. Instead, you start writing a series of short stories about all the things you've seen during this war, including Jeremy's death.

You're a noncombatant in a war. What war crime do you get charged with?

War In Perspective: A Noncombatant's Dilemma

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