Exploration Six from Noah

Part 1   

  So far, I find the book intriguing at its best parts, but a little confusing at its poorer parts. For example, my favorite chapter is “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” because I find it has fascinating characterization and dialogue. The image of an innocent seventeen year old girl turned cold blooded killer is captivating in a messed up kind of way. I also like the characterization of Rat Kiley. The entire chapter is told through Tim O’Brien’s point of view as he listens to a story that Rat shares. My favorite quote from the chapter happens only a few sentences in and tells us that “Rat had a reputation for exaggeration and overstatement, a compulsion to rev up the facts, and for most of us it was normal procedure to discount sixty or seventy percent of anything he had to say” (85). Even more interesting, with this given information, the reader is able to decide for himself whether the story Rat tells is true or not.

     On the other hand, I found the ending of the chapter “On the Rainy River” to be a bit confusing. At this point in time, Tim has planned to retreat to Canada to avoid the draft. While on the river approaching the Canadian border, he experiences memories that affect his decision. “Chunks of my own history flashed by. I saw a seven-year-old boy in a white cowboy hat and a Lone Ranger mask and a pair of bolstered six-shooters; I saw a twelve year-old Little League shortstop pivoting to turn a double play; I saw a sixteen-year-old kid decked out for his first prom, looking spiffy in a white tux and a black bow tie, his hair cut short and flat, his shoes freshly polished” (55).  At this point, his visions make sense; however, they soon get a little confusing. “A squad of cheerleaders did cartwheels along the banks of the Rainy River; they had megaphones and pompoms and smooth brown thighs. The crowd swayed left and right. A marching band played fight songs. All my aunts and uncles were there, Abraham Lincoln, and Saint George, and a nine-year-old girl named Linda who had died of a brain tumor back in fifth grade, and…..” (55). What is happening here? I have no clue whatsoever.

    So far, my favorite character in the book is Henry Dobbins. “Henry Dobbins was a good man, and a superb soldier, but sophistication was not his strong suit” (111). Dobbins seems to be a kind of gentle giant that will fight when he has to, but is able to retain his basic humanity unlike others in the platoon.

Part 2

     My parents were 5 and 6 years old when the war of Vietnam ended. They both say that the reaction of the war, not the war itself, is what tore the United States apart. Young men were torn from their family and forced to kill others because they were told that that was the right thing to do. To avoid being drafted, my mother’s father joined the National Guard. In fact, he was one of the people sent to control the Kent State anti-war demonstration. My grandmother on my mother’s side later married a Vietnam War veteran. He was awarded a purple heart for his service. I haven’t talked to him much about the war, but every time I hear him mention it his head lowers; as does his voice. In movies, you hear soldiers talk about how just or unjust their presence in the foreign land is. With my grandfather, it is hard to get his opinion on the war itself. He merely tells the facts and leaves emotions out of the story. I am interested in learning more about his stories, yet it is hard to listen to him reminisce about the carnage and mayhem he experienced. When he doesn’t speak, he seems to inhabit a completely different world like a man who is constantly zoned out.
     My parents tell me that the War of Vietnam was also one of the first times that groups of people started questioning authority. My mom makes a comment about how sending troops overseas and then drawing them out without a conflict resolution sounds awfully familiar. My father then makes a comment about how the War of Vietnam was the first war that America lost. My mom whips out her iPhone to answer my question as to why the war happened in the first place because they both have no answer. My mother informs my father and me that American troops were deployed in Vietnam to aid France in fighting the rise of communism among the Vietnamese. I find it interesting that the start of the war is rarely mentioned by others. My parents’ tone leads me to think that they believe Vietnam was an unjust war in the same vein as the war in Iraq.
     I find it interesting that, the longest war in American history, the War of Vietnam, is still a controversial topic after over forty years. I understand that the war was not exactly America’s war to fight, but I have trouble understanding the silence that still surrounds it.