One of the chapters in The Things They Carried by Tim
O’Brien that stood out while I was reading was The Man I Killed. One of the
things I found to be amazing was the vividness of the description of the
aftermath of the kill. This event has been etched into his mind permanently. Him
standing over his kill and seeing what he has done really resonates in his head
to the point where he has to stop the unit and think. His friend Kiowa even
tells him that he needs some “mental R and R”. He also wants O’Brien to talk about it but he is so lost for
words that he can’t. These kind of events are what leads people to PTSD,
especially someone who was drafted into service and probably had no idea that
they would kill someone in such a gruesome manner. He thinks about it to the
point where he actually comes up with a story about what the soldier’s life
might have been like. He sees this soldier in a similar light to himself in the
sense that both of them served to not be ridiculed in their hometowns. I think
that he comes up with this as a way to cope with what he just did. He knows
that it could be him laying there in the path dead and bloody. Personally, I
can’t imagine the variety of thoughts that raced through O’Brien’s head
afterward. This memory of what he did will last with him forever and since he
sees this image so often he is able to form such a vivid description of the
event in this chapter.
I really like how O'Brien breaks the story line and tells the story of the dead man's life. I think at an even greater level, O'Brien's "mental R and R" is a reflection on each and every soldier's own worry of mortality. O'Brien tells the story of the dead man's life because he cut it short. If O'Brien were killed in the war, he would not be able to tell his story, just like the soldier he killed. The guilt he feels over taking another man's life in a sense makes him turn inwards. I believe that this is the closest O'Brien ever felt to death because he was the one that caused it.
ReplyDeleteI like how Tim O'Brien guesses how the dead Vietnamese soldier is raised, his expectations, and obligations. O'Brien obviously does not know the man he kills. All he knows is what the dead soldier looks like. The author makes an educated guess that he is not made for the war based on the guy's physique. I like how O'Brien paints a picture of a guy who would be teaching math, having a wife to contrast with the gruesome image of the dead soldier. The dead man is like a symbol for all other soldiers out there whose stories are unheard, who die because they have no choice but to participate in a war.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that O'Brien makes the Vietnamese guy to enjoy solving differential equations. I took differential equation so I know. It's intellectually stimulating but it is not really enjoyable. I guess people have always thought of Asians as being good at math.