While you’re welcome to comment on anything that interested you in the stories we read for today, here are some prompts you might choose to respond to:
- Talk about the details that the narrator imagines as he invents a life for the young Vietnamese man in “The Man I Killed.” What do you think is interesting about these details? Why does the narrator even bother to imagine a life for this young man?
- Talk about how the story “Ambush” comments on and alters “The Man I Killed.”
- In “Speaking of Courage,” what do you think is the symbolic importance of the lake and Norman driving around and around it?
- Why is it significant that it’s the Fourth of July in this story?
- What do you think Norman’s relationship with his father is like in “Speaking of Courage”?
- How does the later story “Notes” comment on or make us rethink “Speaking of Courage”?
In “The Man I killed,” the narrator comes up with an intricate backstory for the young man he killed with a grenade. What I find particularly interesting, is that his life for this man is a lot like his own. The narrator imagines that this young man did not want to go to war either. That he grew up studious, and wanted to study mathematics. That the young man could not imagine himself in war, and was afraid to fight. Meanwhile, his fictitious father and uncle reminded the young man of the honor of fighting, and how proud it would make them. The young man the narrator imagines has the same motivation as him- embarrassment. The shame of abandoning the “duty” to one’s country would outweigh any moral convictions against the war. I believe that the narrator imagines a life for the man he killed as a kind of coping mechanism. He did not want to kill anyone, and once he’s done it, he can only imagine that this young man was similar to him. The narrator seems to regret his actions deeply, and manifests this life for the man to process his actions.
Though saddening, I think the story of “The Man I Killed” is a crucial part to understanding the Vietnam war. The only word I could think of when reading this section was “sonder”. Sonder is the realization that everyone is living their own complex lives such as you are. I think the boy served as a symbol for the lives of the innocent so when he was killed the narrator’s sonder played into his mind with the guilt it carried. The boy’s body is described in such vivid grotesque detail that makes the stark juxtaposition to his “back story” create overwhelming emotion in the readers. This section makes the reader realize the quickness of war. One minute he was a successful boy and the next he was lying dead on a battlefield. The story explains how some individuals didn’t want to go to war (other than the American side), just as the narrator did not and were killed in an instant. I think the narrator included this story that is similar to his own to cope with what he had experienced as well as highlight the innocent deaths the Vietnam war caused for both sides.
The lake in “Speaking of Courage” symbolizes many things. It symbolizes parts of Vietnam, especially the field where Kiowa died. In “Notes”, O’Brien discusses how the lake in this story is a hometown equivalent of the field in Vietnam. At each place, Norman has known someone who has died because of being at each place. Also, the way in which the locations are described is similar. The field in Vietnam is a muddy river basin that the village used as a latrine. The lake in Norman’s town is described as dirty and being overcome with algae. This depiction of the lake is important in that it connects the dirtiness of the field to the dirtiness Norman now constantly feels, both physically and morally. Norman carries a heavy guilt about Kiowa’s death, so driving around the lake may be representative of the measures he is taking to never forget what he views as the cause of one of his friend’s deaths. The lake also symbolizes what life might have been like for Norman. He discusses driving around the lake over and over again. Each time he makes a revolution, he observes the people in his town, thinking about how their lives have moved on after the war. Norman is clearly upset that he really has no one who he can talk to about what he’s been through. In driving around the lake, Norman is trying to stay grounded where he is and, at the same time, remain close to a place which reminds him of Vietnam.
I think that it is very interesting and speaks to the narrator’s sense of humanity that he imagined a life for the man that he killed. It is so important to understand that these soldiers were really just boys. They were so young and they were not accustomed to death prior to the war. The fact that the narrator imagined so many different aspects about this young man’s life based on his looks, his injuries and the picture he had just proved that he was also just a boy at the time. When Kiowa asked if he would switch places with the dead boy, I think the narrator really thought about it. The narrator was probably close to that boy’s age at the time and he might have been thinking about how that could be him at any point during the war. He imagined the life that this boy could have had if he grew up because he did not want to imagine not getting the chance to live the rest of his life himself. I think all of the soldiers were scared of not making it out of the war and not getting to live their lives. The fact that the narrator could not just kill a boy and then walk away proved that he had humanity. He could not talk to Kiowa after because he could not find the words to explain what he was feeling and Kiowa even admitted that he could not emphasize with the narrator because he did not know what he was feeling.
“Speaking of Courage” is a particularly interesting section because it describes soldier Bowker returning home and having to adjust to a very normal life. He also has to adapt to several of his friends’ moving on in terms of finding jobs, getting married, and so on. As he drives around the lake, he reflects on his experiences in the war as well as the experiences he had at home before he embarked on his journey to fight. Throughout the entire section, Bowker feels a sort of hesitancy to fully assimilate into a life that is familiar to him but also one he has not experienced in a long time. The symbolism behind the lake ties in directly with Bowker driving around it in continuous circles. The lake most likely represents Bowker’s disinclination to speak of anything regarding his life before the war and his strenuous treks in battle. It also represents Bowker’s inability to express many of his war stories to others, like the railway workers he comes across.
The story “The man I killed” was an interesting more personal approach to the tragedies of war. We have the narrator explaining, in great gory detail, the man who he had shot and killed in My Khe. The section switched between a description of the wounds the man had and the imaginary backstory the narrator is creating for him. I think this story that is being created about the victim is an attempt of rationalizing that this was a real person. It is the narrators nature to address the fact that this man may have had a love interest or family or career but that none of that matters when compared to his solemn state now. The section highlights that killing is not easy for all of these men and there is a major mental toll when it comes to taking another persons life. The way the narrator handles the death is also compared to how Kiowa is telling him to handle it. Kiowa is brushing it off easier and advising the narrator to do the same. However, the reader may wonder if Kiowa was in the narrators place, if he would feel the same way. Overall, I think this section was one of the many ways this book humanizes soldiers. Especially in a war like Vietnam these were not soldiers who had been training to handle these hardships, they were just normal people who were forced to deal with it.
In the section titled, “The Man I Killed”, the reader sees O’Brien struggle with the aftermath of killing another person in My Khe. Throughout this passage, even though we know Tim O’Brien is the narrator, his perspective fades to the background and the details of the boy are placed in the forefront as he imagines a life for him. These details are especially interesting, as they are quite similar to O’Brien’s own life. He imagines the attitude and history of the boy, despite knowing nothing about him. It is an act of humanization through his guilt. The feelings about his death are shown through this fantasy, rather than in the first person. The similarities imagined between the two men are important, as O’Brien could see himself in the same situation. It brings his own mortality to reality and that death can happen to anyone (even himself or someone just like him).
In “Notes” it is interesting to note that Bowker could not find a sense of self worth or belonging into society there resulting in an act of hamartia. Bowker wanted the reasoning of his depression to be written in a publication by O’Brien. Bowker wanted this so people can understand the consequences that the Vietnam War had on people mentally. This is synonymous to actual war veterans because the Vietnam War has caused many ex soldiers to suffer through PTSD, which leads to unwarranted paranoia and mental illness. O’Brien goes along with what Bowker wants and writes a story on it. In the story O’Brien does not mention Kiowa which might have triggered something within Bowker, because when Bowker read the book he was upset, which might have led to his death several months after reading the book. This story is an accurate representation of what many people went through and suffered from after the Vietnam War
Kiowa’s death highlights the climax within this work, especially since Kiowa was a prominent character in the company’s narrative and served as a foil for several other characters, such as Norman Bowker. When Kiowa is suddenly killed in the mud of the battlefield in “Speaking of Courage,” all characters struggle with the realization of war, especially since Kiowa was a heavy adversary for excessive violence. Norman Bowker notably struggles as he passes around the lake several times one night, struggling with the guilt from the passing of Kiowa.
In “The Man I Killed”, Tim O’Brien’s rhetorical choices are used to convey how he feels after he kills a Viet Cong soldier. The story includes many vivid physical details about the scene, as well as the narrator’s stream of consciousness as he creates a backstory for the dead soldier. Repetition of certain observations is present throughout the story, making it clear to a reader that the narrator is dwelling on the fact that he is the reason this man is dead. There are also various comments from Kiowa attempting to snap Tim back into reality, but he never responds. The fact that Tim does not acknowledge this dialogue directed at him further emphasizes how his killing of this Viet Cong soldier has made him numb to anything else. The narrator bothers to imagine a life for the young man to try to make sense of his action, however this also makes him feel more guilty about it. He can’t stop thinking about the life he just ended, so he repeats physical and imagined details throughout the story.
In “Speaking of Courage” the lake Norman drives around serves as a symbol for both his past and present experiences. The lake reminds Norman of the sewage field where Kiowa died. The image of the lake allows him to reflect on his actions the day of Kiowa’s death and what he could have done differently to save Kiowa and win the Silver Star. At the end of the story, he submerges himself in the lake to physically place himself in that state again. However, this time in a peaceful, resolute setting that foils the sewage field. Moreover, Norman circling around and around the lake represents his obsessive, spiraling thoughts about the day of Kiowa’s death. The solitary action also illustrates that Norman is stuck in this pattern because he cannot talk with anyone about his war experiences. Consequently, he cannot forget them and heal, therefore he is trapped going around and around inside his head.