The literary technique used most often by the author is that of wartime death. The book has an overall focus on death. Most of O'Brien's memories center around the terrible, deadly times of war. This focus makes sense because there really deaths are the most tragic, memorable aspects of war, as happy times are few and far between. A soldier is always in a panic, always facing deadly situations, never knowing whether he or she will make it to the next day.
O'Brien's use of this technique is very effective, as it drives home with the reader the horror that soldiers stationed in Vietnam faced while there. O'Brien says, "He told me that the man would've died anyway. He told me that it was a good kill, that I was a soldier and this war, that I should shape up and stop staring and ask myself what the dead man would've done if things were reversed" (127). He speaks about his thoughts after killing an enemy. Kiowa tells him it was a good kill. There is no such thing as a good kill. This shows there were many more horrible things than good things. O'Brien achieved his goal of ensuring readers of the book were made aware of the unthinkably tragic experiences soldiers of the Vietnam War encountered. Having little knowledge of what occurred in the Vietnam War before reading this book, I now feel I have a much better understanding of what soldiers went through. I think making the reader appreciate that situation was O'Brien's goal in writing this book, and as such, I believe the technique he used was very effective.
-Brice Lucas
O'Brien's technique telling us what him and his men went through gave us, the readers, and inside look about what it was like during the war. If some random guy that didn't go through the Vietnam War, wrote a story about it, it wouldn't have nearly as much depth or stories from a man who witnessed the war himself. They based a lot of everything on "killing the enemy" in the quote you used and I think it's sad how the only things that were "good" was getting a nice kill on the enemy. It's almost morbid at one point, but that was their purpose for the war and I understand that fully. I had some knowledge and understanding of the Vietnam War before I read this book, but it definitely made me open up my eyes a little bit more and think about everything they went through. -Sydney Derrow
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not believe that this is O'Brien's intentional literary technique. He is just telling his experiences in war, and death happened so regularly for these men. Regarding the "good kill," this makes me extremely sad because these men probably never thought they would ever kill one person let alone so many of them that they begin to look at them as moving targets. This book has completely changed my outlook on war, and O'Brien does a great job telling his story.
ReplyDeleteCaroline Humphrey
Sydney has a good point. The only reason that this war story is so vivid and so real is because O'Brien is a Vietnam Veteran. The reader gets first hand insight on how many thought. Vietnam in my opinion was an unnecessary war and the narrator agrees. Many of the soldiers were just trekking the Vietnam country side trying to fulfill a mission and hopefully not trigger a mine and get blown to pieces. In some cases like O'Brien's there were kills that were unanticipated and unwanted. Others would try to say that it was good but even they knew it wasn't. When a soldier is forced into a war they don't want to kill. -Brady Wood
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