The novel “Point Omega” is a story about an 83 years old retired secret war adviser who has retreated to a sad house in a desert. But one day, his quiet isolation is perturbed by a young filmmaker. This novel reminds me about the function of a war adviser.
The common thought should be to say: “This guy must be inhuman to take on this job.” However, after reading this novel, particularly the page 63: “I hate violence. I fear the thought of it, turn away from news reports on television that show dead or wounded people.”, my thought was quite different. We are very far from the common thought. I think a person can perform this task because he thinks that wars are inevitable, and try to keep the casualty count as low as possible is the most we can do.
The first thought is to say that war advisers are unhealthy. Also, they do this job because they like strategy, manipulate soldiers and enjoy feeling they manage their life. Furthermore, war advisers are most of the time described like unsocial men and do not feel sensitive to know that families are broken because of wars. Moreover, people think that most soldiers die because of them. That is a common thought a little bit ill guided I think.
All within this novel, we can see that the war adviser, Richard Elster, is someone quiet. For sure, he is living in a desert, hates violence and avoids anger. (Page 63: “I had a fight, I was a kid, I went into spasms. Violence freezes my blood”). This is absolutely not what we said in the first paragraph, but is it really “science-fiction” that a war adviser could be so sensitive? I don’t think so...
We also said that war advisers are unsocial people. Elster is often described as someone who does not like to be alone and love company. Page 51: “What the hell am I here for?” asked the filmmaker. “Company” Elster’s daughter said. “The man totally physically hates to be alone”.
In addition, Elster’s family is broken. He is divorced from 2 wives and does not see his sons and his daughter really often. We often see in this novel that he feels sad to have offered this childhood to his children. For instance, page 79, he refers to it: “Childhood is lost life reclaimed every second.” He feels responsible of his children’s childhood lost because of him and his trade.
Unfortunately, I learnt during my studies that wars can be used to boost economy. The best example is the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, we need a good economy to live to the detriment of poor countries. I feel ashamed to say it but I am not far from the truth. That is why my advice is that a person can find the motivation to do this job because he thinks that the 1st enemy of the war is the war itself!
