I completely understand Rat Kiley's viewpoint in this chapter.
Rat Kiley starts to lose his sanity on the troops night missions, insisting that the bugs were genetically fucked-up and that they would call out his name. He constantly scratches at his skin, even ripping apart scabs and scratching at the raw sores underneath. Rat starts to envision everyone dead as well, and starts seeing his own body parts.
Rat ends up shooting himself in the foot after doping himself up to get out of the war, and the guys don't call him a coward about the situation.
If I was Rat, I would've abandoned my pride if it meant saving what was left of my sanity. You can't control the insane things that go on inside your head, and you can't escape them. So it was best for Rat to leave the war.
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Ghost Soldiers
This chapter was confusing, but very interesting.
O'Brien actually becomes a character I like now, because he shows a part of his character that doesn't sit and reflect on everything in the past with such reverence, and has no other side to him. He becomes human, and expresses human emotions, like anger and embarrassment and a thirst for revenge.
O'Brien wants to get revenge on Jorgenson, because when O'Brien got shot, Jorgenson did an awful job of nursing O'Brien to health, and got him infected with gangrene. He felt as if that was something avoidable, so he is incredibly angry with Jorgenson, and wants to cause him as much shock as he felt. Only Azar wants to help O'Brien scare Jorgenson (because Azar is practically Satan), so they come up with a plan. They scare JOrgenson a good deal, but Azar wants to continue. However, when they continue, Jorgenson keeps his calm, so Azar kicks O'Brien in the head and walks away.
I really dislike Azar.
O'Brien actually becomes a character I like now, because he shows a part of his character that doesn't sit and reflect on everything in the past with such reverence, and has no other side to him. He becomes human, and expresses human emotions, like anger and embarrassment and a thirst for revenge.
O'Brien wants to get revenge on Jorgenson, because when O'Brien got shot, Jorgenson did an awful job of nursing O'Brien to health, and got him infected with gangrene. He felt as if that was something avoidable, so he is incredibly angry with Jorgenson, and wants to cause him as much shock as he felt. Only Azar wants to help O'Brien scare Jorgenson (because Azar is practically Satan), so they come up with a plan. They scare JOrgenson a good deal, but Azar wants to continue. However, when they continue, Jorgenson keeps his calm, so Azar kicks O'Brien in the head and walks away.
I really dislike Azar.
Field Trip
O'Brien takes his daughter to the spot where Kiowa's body was retrieved, and leave Kiowas moccasins in a commemorative spot. He feels at rest with Kiowa and as if he did his memory a good justice.
I still don't know how to feel about O'Brien as a character. He's a man with good morals, but I don't find him a likeable character. He just seems like a veteran cliche.
I still don't know how to feel about O'Brien as a character. He's a man with good morals, but I don't find him a likeable character. He just seems like a veteran cliche.
Good Form
Tim O'Brien goes back to his story of killing the man with the star-shaped hole where his eye should have been, and how he isn't sure if he killed him, but being present made him guilty. So he think that he can be truthful in saying that he never killed anyone, but also be truthful in saying he did.
How many chapters are going to be dedicated to Tim O'Brien and the man he killed?
How many chapters are going to be dedicated to Tim O'Brien and the man he killed?
In The Field
Jimmy Cross is another character I have no real liking or hatred towards, but in a different way then Tim O'Brien. I feel as if Jimmy is so focused on life back home, he can't focus on the issues at hand, and then blames himself for the death of his men, but doesn't seem to learn anything.
Jimmy is leading the troops into the shit fields to find Kiowa's body, and Jimmy is thinking that he'll write a letter to Kiowa's father about how admirable a person his son was, and how he was a person that any parent would be proud of.
Azar just exacerbates my dislike for him by being incredibly detached and heartless about the situation, making jokes about Kiowa "eating shit" (ha.) and other ignorant comments, which Norman tells him to stop with.
Jimmy is still thinking about how guilty he feels about Kiowa' death, and how he is going to include that in the letter to Kiowa's father.
They unearth Kiowa's body from the shit field, and clean it off so it can be sent to the military base. It seems as a pride thing, to rescue the body, but I wouldn't want my body to rot under the defecation of countless nameless people, so I find that completely understandable.
The chapter ends with Jimmy contemplating not writing the letter, and instead staying in his safe world of golf, where you only lose the ball, not lives.
Jimmy is leading the troops into the shit fields to find Kiowa's body, and Jimmy is thinking that he'll write a letter to Kiowa's father about how admirable a person his son was, and how he was a person that any parent would be proud of.
Azar just exacerbates my dislike for him by being incredibly detached and heartless about the situation, making jokes about Kiowa "eating shit" (ha.) and other ignorant comments, which Norman tells him to stop with.
Jimmy is still thinking about how guilty he feels about Kiowa' death, and how he is going to include that in the letter to Kiowa's father.
They unearth Kiowa's body from the shit field, and clean it off so it can be sent to the military base. It seems as a pride thing, to rescue the body, but I wouldn't want my body to rot under the defecation of countless nameless people, so I find that completely understandable.
The chapter ends with Jimmy contemplating not writing the letter, and instead staying in his safe world of golf, where you only lose the ball, not lives.
Notes
This chapter made me very sad, knowing the Norman Bowker wasn't as content as he was portrayed in the preceding chapter. Also, I find the concept of suicide very intriguing and saddening. How you can control your own destiny is prevalent in the concept of suicide, where you can tell yourself you're ready to leave this world when YOU want. Man has the knowledge to take their own life, so we can control our destiny.
Tim O'Brien (who is a character that I feel neither here nor there about. He seems like the pessimistic, morose vet who just talks about life lessons that I imagine veterans to be like) is telling us about how three years after "Speaking of Courage" was written, Norman Bowker hung himself in a YMCA locker room in his hometown. O'Brien says how Norman wrote him a 17-page letter on how he wants O'Brien to write about the experience of Kiowa's death in the shit fields. When O'Brien includes a chapter about it in the book, it has to be omitted because it does not fit. Norman calls him about it, sounding bitter. And 8 months later, he kills himself.
I felt so bad that Norman wasn't really content with his life, and with the death of Kiowa. This chapter made me feel weird. Like sad, but that different kind of sad. A grief that you don't realize how it makes sense to you, but somehow it does.
Tim O'Brien (who is a character that I feel neither here nor there about. He seems like the pessimistic, morose vet who just talks about life lessons that I imagine veterans to be like) is telling us about how three years after "Speaking of Courage" was written, Norman Bowker hung himself in a YMCA locker room in his hometown. O'Brien says how Norman wrote him a 17-page letter on how he wants O'Brien to write about the experience of Kiowa's death in the shit fields. When O'Brien includes a chapter about it in the book, it has to be omitted because it does not fit. Norman calls him about it, sounding bitter. And 8 months later, he kills himself.
I felt so bad that Norman wasn't really content with his life, and with the death of Kiowa. This chapter made me feel weird. Like sad, but that different kind of sad. A grief that you don't realize how it makes sense to you, but somehow it does.
Speaking of Courage
This story is following Norman Bowker after the war when he's at home, and he's driving around in his dad's car on July the 4th, thinking about a girl he used to love named Sally Kramer, and how she's married now and her last name is now Gustafon. He talks about how his father is proud of him for the seven medals he earned in Vietnam, and thinks about the Silver Star he almost earned, but didn't. He imagines himself telling his father the story.
He imagines telling a story about the night they camped in a field near the Song Tra Bong river. The field they were camping in tuns out to be a shit field (a literal field full of shit). The story takes breaks and goes to the present Norman Bowker, thinking about his father and Sally's reactions to the stories so far. This kind of made the story slow down, which built up some suspense while making sure you remember where Norman Bowker is now. He continues talking about being in the shit fields and hearing Kiowa scream, and seeing Kiowa sinking in the shit. He tries to save Kiowa, but Kiowa has sunken so low, and the smell is swallowing Norman, so Norman loses Kiowa.
He flashes back to the present, where he's eating his food, and he goes to a park, watching the fireworks with contentment.
I thought Norman was an admirable guy, and that his experience with the death of Kiowa is completely forgivable. If I'd had been in his situation, I'd have probably done the same thing.
He imagines telling a story about the night they camped in a field near the Song Tra Bong river. The field they were camping in tuns out to be a shit field (a literal field full of shit). The story takes breaks and goes to the present Norman Bowker, thinking about his father and Sally's reactions to the stories so far. This kind of made the story slow down, which built up some suspense while making sure you remember where Norman Bowker is now. He continues talking about being in the shit fields and hearing Kiowa scream, and seeing Kiowa sinking in the shit. He tries to save Kiowa, but Kiowa has sunken so low, and the smell is swallowing Norman, so Norman loses Kiowa.
He flashes back to the present, where he's eating his food, and he goes to a park, watching the fireworks with contentment.
I thought Norman was an admirable guy, and that his experience with the death of Kiowa is completely forgivable. If I'd had been in his situation, I'd have probably done the same thing.
Ambush and Style
Ambush -- In this chapter, Tim O'Brien is still upset about the guy he killed, telling his daughter when she asks if he killed anyone that he never killed anyone. He flashes back to the scene of the young man he did kill and how he panicked and pulled the pin on the grenade and killed him. Seemed like a repeat of of the last chapter, just emphasizing O'Brien's guilt again.
Style -- In Style, there's a Vietnamese girl dancing around a bunt down village, dancing with her hands covering her ears and moving her hips and taking minute steps while she dances. In the house she is dancing in front of, her family is in it, dead from the fire. Azar starts to mock her dancing, and Henry Dobbins threatens to throw him in the well if he continues mocking the girl, telling him to "dance right." THis chapter just made me like Henry Dobbins more and realize that I absolutely cannot like Azar, because I cannot see the good in him.
Style -- In Style, there's a Vietnamese girl dancing around a bunt down village, dancing with her hands covering her ears and moving her hips and taking minute steps while she dances. In the house she is dancing in front of, her family is in it, dead from the fire. Azar starts to mock her dancing, and Henry Dobbins threatens to throw him in the well if he continues mocking the girl, telling him to "dance right." THis chapter just made me like Henry Dobbins more and realize that I absolutely cannot like Azar, because I cannot see the good in him.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Man I Killed
The visual imagery in this chapter kind of disturbed me, and also confused me a little bit.
This chapter starts with the explicit visual description of what is assumed to be the man "he" killed, narrated by Tim O'Brien. It tells how his jaw was in his throat, how his one eye was shut and the other eye was a star-shaped hole (this was the imagery that confused me. I couldn't imagine a hole being shaped like a star by mere accident, so I'm sure this didn't have the desired effect on me.). It describes the miniscule details, like his earlobes and fingernails. Then it lapses into a description of what his life might have been like, what his interests might have been. Then it flashes to the same descriptions of his body again, emphasizing how his jaw was in his throat and that star-shaped hole where his eye should have been. It repeats this pattern, with some dialogue by Anzar and Kiowa, and the repetition of how the dead man looks, still talking about the star-shaped hole where his eye should be.
I like that Tim O'Brien had remorse over killing somebody, and thought about him as having an outside life and loves and interests and fears and little idiosyncrasies that everyone has. If we had everyone think about everyone they're killing in the war and how they're people too, we could probably avoid war as a whole.
This chapter starts with the explicit visual description of what is assumed to be the man "he" killed, narrated by Tim O'Brien. It tells how his jaw was in his throat, how his one eye was shut and the other eye was a star-shaped hole (this was the imagery that confused me. I couldn't imagine a hole being shaped like a star by mere accident, so I'm sure this didn't have the desired effect on me.). It describes the miniscule details, like his earlobes and fingernails. Then it lapses into a description of what his life might have been like, what his interests might have been. Then it flashes to the same descriptions of his body again, emphasizing how his jaw was in his throat and that star-shaped hole where his eye should have been. It repeats this pattern, with some dialogue by Anzar and Kiowa, and the repetition of how the dead man looks, still talking about the star-shaped hole where his eye should be.
I like that Tim O'Brien had remorse over killing somebody, and thought about him as having an outside life and loves and interests and fears and little idiosyncrasies that everyone has. If we had everyone think about everyone they're killing in the war and how they're people too, we could probably avoid war as a whole.
Stockings and Church
Stockings tells us about Henry Dobbins and how Henry is a sentimental person. He carries his girlfriends stockings with him in the war everywhere. He uses them as a sort of gas mask, and sleeps with the stockings over his face. I feel like other people would have found this fact sort of creepy, but for some reason, I found it kind of sweet. Mostly due to the situation he was in. And when his girlfriend broke up with him, I was so happy that he ended up taking it well. Whenever the soldiers go through anything tough, I get scared there's going to be a suicide.
Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong
In this story, Rat Kiley is telling a story (a story within a story, but I forgot what that's called) about Mark Fossie bringing his girlfriend, Mary Anne Belle into the war with him. Mary Anne is described as attractive, although she's "too wide" in the shoulders, and she seems cute and bubbly, which is very contrasting to the scene they're in, full of violence and filth. She starts to become more into the war, and her old habits are left behind. She stops wearing makeup, stops tending to her fingernails, cuts her hair short and wears a dark green bandana around it (Why is it that in stories and movies, when a woman cuts her hair short, it's always this symbol of her tossing out femininity or becoming more masculine, or showing that she stops caring about her apperance. I have short hair, because I want to. It doesn't make me less of a woman because of it. Is it that society can only understand symbols of femininity through shallow things, like hair and makeup? I'm letting my emotions get into this too much. Sorry.)
Mary Anne also starts to change her life plans with Mark Fossie. They're introduced as this couple who knows exactly what they want to do with their life when they get older, but Mary Anne now has some "what if's" and "maybe's" about their future together. Their relationships start to suffer when they get engaged. Their smiles are described as "too intense" and they held hands "as if they were afraid to let go." This part made me so incredibly sad, to see this couple who was so in love before the war have their love destroyed BY the war.
The end of the story wraps up with Mary Anne turning into this entirely new person, wearing a necklace of human tounges and wanting to eat Vietnam, and swallow it whole. She is corrupted fully, and after this encounter that Mark Fossie has with her, she's never seen again.
Mary Anne also starts to change her life plans with Mark Fossie. They're introduced as this couple who knows exactly what they want to do with their life when they get older, but Mary Anne now has some "what if's" and "maybe's" about their future together. Their relationships start to suffer when they get engaged. Their smiles are described as "too intense" and they held hands "as if they were afraid to let go." This part made me so incredibly sad, to see this couple who was so in love before the war have their love destroyed BY the war.
The end of the story wraps up with Mary Anne turning into this entirely new person, wearing a necklace of human tounges and wanting to eat Vietnam, and swallow it whole. She is corrupted fully, and after this encounter that Mark Fossie has with her, she's never seen again.
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