The Themes Of The Vietnam War In Going After Cacciato And...

Tim O’Brien is notorious for his unglorified depiction of the Vietnam War in his novels Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried. O’Brien’s controversial method of realistically portraying the struggles of war resides in the form of two themes common throughout both novels, helping the Vietnam veteran caution against the dangers of war, while highlighting Americans’ aversion toward the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s first-hand experience as an officer stationed in the Batangan Peninsula, the location of the horrific My Lai massacres, affirmed his stance against the Vietnam War, and solidified his desire to portray the war in the truest way possible, as opposed to other writers who glorify the war effort and depict soldiers as courageous†¦show more content†¦O’Brien explores the purpose of imagination in the lives of soldiers, both as a coping mechanism and as a way to mentally escape the trials of war. In The Things They Carri ed, narrator Tim O’Brien’s platoon leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, exemplifies the use of imagination as a method for coping, pretending to be in a relationship with his high school sweetheart, Martha. Lieutenant Cross imagines Martha is in love with him, enabling him to distance himself from the horrors of the war and focus instead on fictional plans for a future. This false sense of happiness and security helps the Lieutenant fight the struggles of loneliness and isolation that torment soldiers stationed overseas and away from their loved ones. Through the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, O’Brien cautions against war, focusing on each man’s the inner point of view in order to highlight the largely unknown personal struggles faced by each soldier (Farrell). By bringing the unseen battles of American soldiers to light, O’Brien garners support for the anti-war movement, giving civilians a look into the minds of the soldiers fighting their wars. Similarly, in Going After Cacciato,Show MoreRelatedConfusion in War1394 Words   |  6 PagesThe war in Vietnam is without a doubt an outlier in comparison to every other U.S. war, specifically as the only war that the U.S. has ever lost. Losing the war may have been a direct result of a draft that placed young men in Vietnam, many of whom had absolutely no personal goals other than survival. This sets the scene for Going After Cacciato and its main character Paul Berlin. The book is told in the form of three stories. Sixteen chapters are a narrative of the real war, focusing on the deathsRead MoreTim O Brien : A Man Who Has Positively Affected The World1119 Words   |  5 Pagesthrough his literary works regarding the Vietnam War. His personal life and authorship through his military experience, have led to making him one of the most influential war authors to date. Tim O’Brien was born in Austin, Minnesota on October 1, 1946 (Glerean). He spent his childhood growing up in Worthington, Minnesota. Worthington is a small town in the southern part of Minnesota. Tim’s father was an insurance salesman and participated in World War II as a sailor (Glerean). Tim’s mother wasRead More Revelation through Experience in Heart of Darkness, Going After Cacciato, and The Things They Carri3247 Words   |  13 PagesRevelation through Experience in Heart of Darkness, Going After Cacciato, and The Things They Carried Foreign lands seemingly possessed by evil spirits as well as evil men, ammunition stockpiles, expendable extremities and splintered, non-expendable limbs carpeting the smoking husks of burnt-out villages, the intoxicating colors of burning napalm, and courage mixed with cowardice in the face of extreme peril. These are just a few examples of the spell-binding images presented inRead MoreHow to Tell a True War Story2535 Words   |  11 PagesThe story by Tim O’Brien shows how the soldiers are themselves and can also be serious. O’Brien also sees how Vietnam changes the soldiers and how they see the world now. There will be people that will ask if it’s true or not true they can asks what happened. There can be different ways to tell a story but they can ask what happen. O’Brien would know which story he really believes. O’Brien will give use by looking at Rat’s point of view, and Sanders point of view of Lemon death and how Rat co pesRead More Comparing Mary Anne in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong and Kurtz in Apocalypse Now2602 Words   |  11 PagesSweetheart of the Song Tra Bong and Kurtz in Apocalypse Now  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1979, Francis Coppola released a film that he said he hoped would give its audience a sense of the horror, the madness, the sensuousness, and the moral dilemma of the Vietnam war (as quoted in Hagen 230). His film, Apocalypse Now, based on Joseph Conrads 1902 novel Heart of Darkness, is the story of Captain Benjamin Willards (Martin Sheen) journey to the interior of the jungle of Southeastern Asia for the purpose of executing