Skip to main content

The War's Aftermath

Tim O’Brien’s chapters titled “Ambush” and “Speaking of Courage” take the reader away from the thick of the war itself and instead focus on the war’s psychological consequences. According to O’Brien, memories of the war linger in the soldiers’ minds and seem to trap the soldiers in a cycle of remembrance and guilt. We often hear of soldiers who return from war with “shell shock” or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and thus have difficulty re-assimilating into American culture, and O’Brien effectively captures this struggle. In “Ambush,” he draws from his own experiences to describe how the image of the man he killed still haunts him. O’Brien tells how he killed a man whom he believed to pose a threat to the Alpha Company, but now, as he looks back, may have not. O’Brien states, “I did not hate the young man; I did not see him as the enemy; I did not ponder issues of morality or politics or military duty” (126). In the thick of the moment, O’Brien acted instinctually and thus blames himself for not being more merciful. His guilt, whether warranted or unwarranted, is symbolized when he notes, “For me, it was not a matter of live or die. I was in no real peril. Almost certainly the young man would have passed me by. And it will always be that way” (127). The word “always” is critical in understanding O’Brien’s post-Vietnam psyche; he is constantly reminded of his war experiences, and thinking about them is inevitable. O’Brien also chronicles Norman Bowker’s similar post-war experiences in the chapter titled “Speaking of Courage.” In this chapter, O’Brien establishes a governing metaphor to symbolize how Bowker is trapped within his own memory. O’Brien describes how after the war, Bowker spends his days driving around his hometown’s lake. According to O’Brien, the lake is rather dirty, for algae blooms can frequently be seen on the surface of the water. O’Brien then moves towards portraying the shit field in which the Alpha Company were trapped and in which Kiowa died. Like the lake, the shit field is very dirty, and this analogy governs the overall message of the chapter. As Norman Bowkers constantly drives around the circumference of the lake, he is reminded of the shit field that Kiowa died in, and how he himself could have saved Kiowa. Norman Bowkers frequently wants to tell this story, the story of how he did not get the Silver Medal for valor, which indicates that the shit field is a defining moment in his life. His life literally revolves around the lake, and figuratively revolves around the fact that he could not save Kiowa in that shit field. At the same time, his mental entrapment is demonstrated when he wishes that “there were somewhere to go” (145). Through Bowker, O’Brien effectively portrays the veteran’s struggle to assume the life he had before the war. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Allusions in Song of Solomon

           Song of Solomon is peppered with many different allusions. Ranging from classical myths to traditional folk tales, these stories enhance the text and establish parallels between Morrison’s characters and well-known figures. One such allusion is the Brothers’ Grimm tale of “Hansel and Gretel.” At the start of Part II in the novel, Morrison describes the tale of “Hansel and Gretel” and compares the two children’s journey to Milkman searching for Circe’s home. In “Hansel and Gretel,” two children abandoned in the woods by their parents who cannot afford to care for them anymore come across a witch’s house from which they must escape after she attempts to eat them. The story reflects an era’s financial hardships, but also a loss of innocence for Hansel and Gretel. “Hansel and Gretel” functions in Song of Solomon in two different ways. First of all, Macon and Pilate are Hansel and Gretel. After all, their beloved father is killed by racists, and the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interesting Metaphors in Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon is peppered with many different unusual metaphors. Often appearing at unexpected moments, this figurative language enhances the text and offers more meaning into the characters’ minds. The following are a few of my favorite metaphors: “There was the pain and shame of seeing his father crumple before any man–even himself. Sorrow in discovering that the pyramid was not five-thousand-year wonder of the civilized world, mysteriously and permanently constructed by generation after generation of hardy men who had died in order to perfect it, but that it had been made in the back room at Sears, by a clever window dresser, of papier-maché, guaranteed to last a lifetime” (68) In this passage, Milkman reflects on hitting his father after Macon abuses Ruth. The act of retaliation represents Milkman’s loss of innocence and transition into full adulthood; he realizes that he no longer fears his father. Prior to this moment, his father, like the pyramid, is...
Post a Comment
Read more

"The Headstrong Historian": an Homage to Things Fall Apart

In her short story “The Headstrong Historian,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays tribute to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart while adding her own distinct voice. Like Achebe’s classic novel, “The Headstrong Historian” paints rich portraits of Nigerian tribal culture before the advent of white missionaries and the Nigerians who grapple with culture clashes and changes. The short story immediately establishes its ties to Things Fall Apart when it mentions that the character “Obierika”–a name which readers may recognize as the close friend of Achebe’s protagonist Okonkwo–is the late husband of Adichie’s protagonist Nwamgba (198). Moreover, when Nwamgba and Obierika struggle to conceive a child, Nwamgba “suggests he go and see the Okonkwo family about their daughter” as a potential wife and mother to his child (204). These developments create the expectation that the short story will have a similar, if not identical, narrative to Things Fall Apart : that the advent of the white missio...
Post a Comment
Read more