Quote 1:
"This is true." (page 67)
Analysis:
If we see that the author and main character of a book share the same name, and a book is based on a personal experience we know the author over went, it gives us an instinct that all of what is said in the book is true. In this quote we can see how O'Brien expects the reader to belief that most of what is said in this book is true. But then, the book is written in Tim's perspective, so in other words it is the author's definition of truth that is being portrayed throughout the book.
Quote 2:
"Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common." (page 68)
Analysis:
This quote shows the other face of the coin for soldiers. Normally soldiers tend to form strong relationships with their troop-buddies. Nonetheless due to the manliness that is looked for in the soldiers, it was really complex for the soldiers to explain what their troop members really mean for them. When "Rat pours his heart out." he starts by saying "They were soul mates, [...] ", we see how hard Rat Kiley is pushing his limits and admitting that he feels for his friend's loss.
Quote 3:
"if you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty." (page 69)
Analysis:
This quote here is a political statement in the book, and it giving us a sense that it is about the truth. Normally civilians, think that war is all gore, wreckage and bloodshed. But only those men who went to the war come home knowing things that citizens can't know or for the most part they do not want to hear. As it says in the quote "Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty.", meaning that if you send a man to war you shouldn't expect him to be the same person when he comes back.
"The Dentist"
Quote 1:
"He seemed a little dazed. Now and then we could hear him cussing, bawling himself out. Anyone else would've laughed it off, but for Curt Lemon it was too much. The embarrassment must've turned a screw in his head." (page 88)
Analysis:
Curt Lemon was known as the thrill-seeker of the troop, and of course he would be ashamed to let anybody know that he was afraid of the dentist. He is so mortified that he starts "[...] cussing, bawling himself out." In the end he "proofs" to his troop members that he is still the daredevil of the troop by asking the dentist to pull out a perfectly good tooth.
"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
Quote 1:
"The way she looked, Mary Anne made you think about those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (page 113)
Analysis:
Even after Mary Anne had turned into a creepy version of herself, Fossie's troop members still liked her being there because she acknowledged the part of them that "[...] those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand this, not in a billion years." All the ladies back at home were stuck between two worlds, Vietnam and America; but in both of those places they felt out of place. In America they felt out of place because they would never understand what the soldiers went through and in Vietnam, they felt out of place because they would never accept how the war was.
Quote 2:
"She had crossed to the other side. She was a part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill." (page 116)
Analysis:
Here, we can see how Mary Anne has "changed troops" completely, nonetheless she is still wearing the pieces of clothing that reminded them of the American girls, such as "her culottes, and her pink sweater [...]", meaning that she there is still a part of her that hasn't changed. Although it seemed at first it was Vietnam that had changed her, but the real reason of her new attitude was the ongoing war. She, as any other lady would have, change drastically because all of all the new experiences she was encountering.
No comments:
Post a Comment