Stories

Do Wars Make Monsters, or do Monsters Make War?

This little riddle has been in the back of my mind for a week now.
Do wars make monsters or do Monsters make war?
What my brain has come up with is a cruel circle of war-made-monsters and monster-made-wars.
If you will continue to read my little explanation you may understand my thought process.

Wars are not only large, man on man blood baths. You do not need bombs and missiles and international tension to have a war. A war could be going on in your mind, in your house, in your relationship, even in your body.

Picture this, if you would. A young boy, roughly 9 years old, sitting alone in the corner of his room. He is plugged into his little tablet, volume turned up as high as it can go but he can still hear everything. The yelling, the arguments, the smashing of plates and slamming of doors.
Picture this young boy with tears sliding down his cheeks as his mother comes in and sits with him, wiping away his tears and tucking him into bed.
His house is at war. Mother vs Father with the son as collateral damage. He is still in turmoil, yet there are no bombs. No blood is shed, but yet he still is in pain as he hears his parents harsh words.

Now imagine this boy five years later. Barely 14 years old, starting off his first year in high school. Scared out of his wits he goes into class. He is seated next to the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. So, obviously he is straight. Right?
Yet two classes later he finds that the boy in front of him has a jawline to kill for, with eyes and charisma to match. So maybe he is gay.
This continues on for the rest of high school, he is only dating women because if he was to date a guy he would be a fag and he couldn't be a fag because he liked all the girls he dated. He never took a girl home though, too afraid of a fight breaking out while she was over.
Now not only is his house at war, but his mind as well. Is he gay, like Dawson? Oh is he just a normal straight boy? How can he have feelings for both genders? It's unnatural. Yet again, no blood has been spilt and there is no international tension over a single boy in a single unloving home.

Another five years later, the boy is 19. His life is kind of in the dumps. His mother and father finally decided to divorce after they raised their kid together. His college work is draining him and his relationships dead. The conflict at home is now in the courts yet the conflict in his head is still raging.
Now to add to the fire the boy has gone to a therapist. The therapist prescribes him anti depressants. It helped.

25 years old and he is still using prescription drugs, yet his dosage has tripled since then and he has found snorting them works even better. He became addicted, the reality of his mental pain unbearable without his pill sized friends. He dropped out of college, causing the pain to grow. His parents fought over his love on holidays and that deepened the gap.
The relationship he is in now is unfulfilling and his mind can't take it anymore.

30 years old. He is in federal prison for domestic violence and four accounts of first degree murder. His parents are gone, disgusted by his actions, his girlfriend is still in the hospital and his neighbouring family is up in heaven.
Now he has nothing. His brain scattered by the constant mixture of drugs and alcohol, the constant war of his sexuality combined with the reality of what he had done and his families abandonment have left him broken and dead inside.

All that is left to think about is all the peoples lives he had just ruined. How many more wars he had caused with seven bullets and a baseball bat.

After all, wars create monsters and monsters create wars. A cycle that will never end.