Having a soldier get shot in my story, does it go too far?

Question

Now I'm writing a story and I know it's going to push a few buttons out there but I'm just curious how people will feel for this one section of it.

A lot of people have seen that video of the Soldier who is shot with a sniper rifle but his body armor protects him. He falls for a brief moment and gets right back up ready to put a few bullets in whoever shot him while the two terrorists are talking in a very panicked tone.

Now in my story I have a scene almost exactly like this where the character the reader has been following is part of a sniper team and fires on a soldier. It hits him and for a brief moment they think he's dead but the soldier get's back up and points to were the sniper team is. So he along with a couple of other soldiers and the humvee mounted gun let loose on the sniper teams position. The character the reader has been following gets away but the actual sniper is killed. From that experience our character begins to question if Allah really wants them to win this jihad (this also backtracks to earlier in the story when an Imam tells him he is not doing God's work by joining this terrorist group)

Now I have to ask is this going too far in the story, am I just bordering it, or is this far from going over the line in this story?

Also I need to mention there is no real scenes where US soldiers are killed. There are a few firefights but nothing in the story describes a death of a US soldier.

Lastly I'd like to mention that this story separates what Islam is and what these terrorists are doing. Many tend to believe that being Muslim automatically makes you a a terrorist but in this story it very blatantly shows the difference between the two. By following a man who becomes a Muslim, then is persuaded to join an extremist group through exploiting a time of weakness he has early in the story, what he does while with the terrorist group, and then realizing near the end that he has been lied to the entire time and can no longer get into paradise because of what he has done. So he then has to decide what he must do on the eve of a historically significant terrorist attack, carry it out as planned since he has nothing to lose at this point knowing there is nothing he can do to get into paradise or try to stop it so he could at least do one good thing in his life and save many innocent people at the same time.

Answer 1

I see no problem with it, its what truly happens over there

-Proud child of a soldier-

dejamarie

Answer 2

I've experienced the blood and gore. I've seen people die. I've been hit. A hit on protective armor is nothing in comparison. In many cases you can shake it off and go on about your business. You have fun with your story. It's a story.

As far as the difference between Islam and terrorism, there absolutely is a difference. I've conversed with Muslims at some length. I even began reading the Qur'an under a Muslim mentor -- until he dropped out of sight. One poster suggested Islam can't be separated from terrorism. That's like blacks can't be separated from lazy and shiftless, whites can't be separate from the ku klux klan, that the Japanese can't be separated from Pearl Harbor. It's that ignorant bigotry that fosters the hate and discontent in the world today.

Answer 3

sounds ok so far

I'm a soldiers Mama and I know they get shot at. Your story sounds like it has potential.

You might want to do some research though.

See the link below.

Answer 4

No I don''t think their is anything wrong with that, a lot more stories have been worse.

EDIT: To the guy above me, you nothing about the Koran, it does not say to kill people who don't agree with anywhere in their.

Answer 5

no

Answer 6

Why don't you have scenes where US soldiers get killed? Are you a writer or not? What would be the problem with that?  Hemingway and Tolstoy described the deaths of their countries' soldiers, as did Erich Maria Remarque. US soldiers have gotten killed by the thousands since 2002 and suffered terrible wounds by the ten thousands.

Is your question as to the effectiveness of body armor? You should watch the video of the Great LA Shoot-Out in 1997. It is easy to find.

Yes, Kevlar does make people bullet-resistant.

Answer 7

In good stories lots of good guys usually die and make it an emotional and good story, plus it'd be more realistic if you killed off some soldiers no matter how sad it is.

Answer 8

You can't separate Islam and Terrorism. It is a warrior religion and a guide book for conquest. Nothing more. Your holy book is filled with demands to kill those that do not agree with you, so save your propaganda for others.