Blending Reality and Fantasy in Going After Cacciato by O'Brien
As O'Brien's third novel, Going After Cacciato is one of his most acclaimed works. The book brings to the reader many chilling aspects of war while developing a connection between the reader and the narrator. After many years, Going After Cacciato still dominates over more recent war novels by providing a unique glimpse into the soldiers mind. O'Brien reflects upon his wartime experiences in Vietnam while successfully blending reality and fantasy in an original war story.
In the first chapter of the book, the relationship between the story and its title is quickly made. As the character who encites the chase, Cacciato embarks on the seemingly ludicrous journey to Paris. A voyage of eighty six hundred miles on foot is not one to be taken lightly. To get an idea of the distance that Cacciato is planning to transverse, imagine walking across the United States four times bringing only what one can carry. Paul Berlin, to whom Cacciato has divulged his travel plans, and his unit begin on a mission to retrieve Cacciato. Told from Berlin's viewpoint, the story is revealed from the experiences of a person who questions his own purpose in the war. The soldiers are literally walking away from the war as they follow Cacciato through the jungles of Vietnam. Paul's journey with the others is occasionally broken up by sudden lapses into the past. Such unexpected transitions have positive and negative affects on the reader. The latter result is immediate; the quick topic changes add an element of confusion as to what exactly is happening in the novel. However, the divisions also attribute to increased interest during these flashbacks as they break up the monotony of the mar...
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...he war. This war is not one only fought by weapons but is fought inside the soldier's mind. The minds, which O'Brien creates, reveal the convoluted aspects of war. Going After Cacciato succeeds because the story is written to create a link between the reader and the characters in a familiar, yet fictional world.
Works Cited
1. "O'Brien, Tim." Current biography Yearbook. 1995 ed.
2. "Tim O'Brien's Homepage, Novelist." 24 April, 1997. <http://www.illyria.com/tobhp.html> (10 May 1997).
3. Chisdes, Jonathan. "Moral Questions In Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato: How To Do Right In An Evil Situation." 10 August 1995. http://www.nightmare.com/~jon/cacciato2.html (9 May 1997).
4. Devine, Mary. "Love and War in the Land o' Lakes." MPLS-St. Paul Magazine Oct. 1994: 179.
O'Brien, Tim. Going After Cacciato. New York: Dell Publishing, 1978.
Going After Cacciato, an epic novel written by Tim O’Brien, is about a platoon of men going away without leave (AWOL) searching for a young man named Cacciato in the imagination of a man of the platoon named Paul Berlin. In Going After Cacciato the “tea party,” between the AWOL platoon and Li Van Hgoc contributes greatly to the novel by adding to the confusion and teaching the reader how to deal with the war and the ’noise.’
As the war progresses, Caputo requests to go to a line company in the middle of November. This is a change from the “office” position he currently held where he was largely responsible for counting casualties. At this point, the romanticized visions Caputo had of war have been completely shattered and he goes into this transfer being fully aware of this. This change in viewpoint becomes even more clear when compared to the beginning of the novel where Caputo was intrigued by the romance and action of war. While readers would expect more action and typical war stories in this section of the book, Philip Caputo writes anything but. Caputo writes, “It went like that for the rest of the month. It was a time of little action and endless misery…Almost every hour of every night, the radio operators chanted, ‘All secure. Situation remains the same’ (1996: 240). Caputo repeats the phrase “All secure. Situation remains the same” five times throughout this single paragraph. Because of this, readers see the dull and mundane side of war that is often not talked about. In addition, Caputo continues to comment of the large amounts of waiting throughout the autobiography. When most think of the Vietnam War, they picture the “main events”. Similar to the numerous documentaries we watched in class, some of the main points of the war include: The first Indochina War, The Gulf of Tonkin, and the Tet Offensive. These documentaries all focused on these monumental events and because of this, the public perceives this war as the sum of these events. However, what many fail to consider the large gaps in time between these events. It is in these large gaps that little action occurred and most of the soldier’s time was spent waiting as Caputo depicted in this scene. In connection with
There is a major change in the men in this novel. At first, they are excited to join the army in order to help their country. After they see the truth about war, they learn very important assets of life such as death, destruction, and suffering. These emotions are learned in places like training camp, battles, and hospitals. All the men, dead or alive, obtained knowledge on how to deal with death, which is very important to one’s life.
In Tim Robbin's story Going After Cacciato, the main character, Paul Berlin, seeks to tell a story in which he and the gang attempt to catch the runaway soldier Cacciato, while at the same time trying to flee from the harsh environment of the Vietnam War, to Paris. Their journey eventually leads Paul Berlin to Iran where the crew of Paul Berlin, the Lieutenant, Doc Peret, Sarkin Aung Wan, and Stink Harris to name a few become stuck at the border of the country with absolutely no way of getting in because they seem to not have any passports. Captain Rhallon, who commands the Savaks takes it upon himself to question the group, consisting of Paul Berlin, the Lt, and Doc Peret. As the three are being interrogated, all seem to become engaged in the conversation as to what the true purpose of a soldier is. This scenario brings us to our main point, In Going After Cacciato there consist a number of arguments about purpose, the purpose of the soldier, of war, fear and self respect, and in the end, purpose in relation to where you are and what you are doing, it is a subject that consumes the entire story; with that said, Paul Berlin uses the Going After Cacciato storyline in order to directly relate his ideas of purpose to his own experiences and meaning of purpose within his reality of the Vietnam War.
O’Brien’s unique verisimilitude writing style fills the novel with deep meaning and emotion. Analyzing the novel through a psychological lens only adds to its allure. Understanding why characters act the way they do helps bring this novel to life. The reader begins to empathize with the characters. Every day, the soldiers’ lives hang in the balance. How these soldiers react to life-threatening situations will inspire the reader. Life has an expiration date. Reading about people who are held captive by their minds and who die in the name of war, will inspire the reader to live everyday as if they are currently in the
...ome aspect of war, from battling with enemies to how battle spiritually destroys young men. The one positive point of this novel is how friends cared for one another when going through tragedies and stressful experiences. It also portrays how strong a soldier needs to be, in order for them to be in the war.
Very little clothing is required. There is very little pressure, very little rush, and very little reminiscent of the world. The Cancun area is undeniably a fabulous place to take a vacation. It has luxurious hotels, exciting activities, and mysterious sightseeing tours.
allowed to do a lot more things and they no longer had to go out with
Gladiator. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Dreamworks L.L.C and Universal Studios, 2000. DVD.
In the autobiography A Rumor of War, Philip Caputo shares his experiences of the Vietnam War with the world. Caputo introduces the American people into this world they had never seen. What most Americans considered a "meaningless" war, was changed by Caputos perspective and his accounts. At the time Caputo released his book, most Americans were not aware of the damage it causes every soldier on that front line. The beginning of the novel introduces us to Caputo in his early twenties. Caputo enlists in the Marine Corps because he wants to show off his "meaningless" and find an adventure to get him out of his small town life. Caputo wanted to do something that would make him a hero. Caputo dreams, of returning home as an honorable man, and being applauded for his amazing work in Vietnam as he was a hero for this country. Unknowingly, when he does return he endures kaos of people resenting him and his fello...
Throughout the history of literature, the quest for a goal has always been evident in an assortment of writing styles. A hero normally tries to obtain something or someone; whether it would fill a void in his life or if it was stolen from him, they would always try their hardest. However, in Going After Cacciato by Tim O’brien, Paul Berlin’s goal was aspiration and bravery. To many readers it was more than just a war story, it was a look into the minds of the soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War, and how some of the soldiers dealt with the things happening around them. Thomas Hardy said it best with this statement,“ A story must be exceptional enough to justify its telling; it must have something more unusual to relate than the ordinary
In his short story, O’Brien unravels step by step the irony in the double meaning of truth, implied in this first statement, “This is true”, to the reader which is then woven through the entire story. By trying to characterize what constitutes a true war story, but never really achieving this goal, the true irony of his short story is revealed. Even though in some instances giving away his opinion explicitly, the sheer contradiction of honesty and reality becomes even more visible in an implicit way by following O’Brien’s explanations throughout the story while he deconstructs his first statement. The incongruity between his first statement and what is actually shown in his examples does not need any explicit statements to drive home his message.
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried has readers and critics alike scratching their heads with wonder about the meaning of “story-truth” and “happening-truth.” Although, he served in the Vietnam War from 1968 until 1970, he fabricates the events of the war throughout The Things They Carried. At the same time, he insists that the truth lies at the heart of the emotion in the story, an idea that many readers question. Furthermore, it is pointless for the reader to attempt to sort through the stories and differentiate between the “story-truth” and “happening-truth,” because it is nearly impossible. This tactic is one of O’Brien’s more ingenious writing methods. He does not want the reader to know the difference between the two because in his opinion that fact is irrelevant. O’Brien obviously thinks outside the box and has everyone questioning reality. However, this fact is truly ironic, because the point is not to care what type of “truth” it is, but to instead feel the raw beauty of the emotion and to accept it as the truth. While trying to define “story-truth” and “happening-truth,” a couple chapters in particular focus on the idea of truth, “How to Tell a True War Story,” “The Man I Killed” and “Good Form.” O’Brien believes that the most important thing for a reader is to experience the emotion of the story, be it “story-truth” or “happening-truth,” as long as the real emotion is conveyed and understood by the reader, then it is as true as it could possibly be.
...is story, Hemingway brings the readers back the war and see what it caused to human as well as shows that how the war can change a man's life forever. We think that just people who have been exposed to the war can deeply understand the unfortunates, tolls, and devastates of the war. He also shared and deeply sympathized sorrows of who took part in the war; the soldiers because they were not only put aside the combat, the war also keeps them away from community; people hated them as known they are officers and often shouted " down with officers" as they passing. We have found any blue and mournful tone in this story but we feel something bitter, a bitter sarcasm. As the war passing, the soldiers would not themselves any more, they became another ones; hunting hawks, emotionless. They lost everything that a normal man can have in the life. the war rob all they have.
Usually when someone is murdered, people expect the murderer to feel culpable. This though, is not the case in war. When in war, a soldier is taught that the enemy deserves to die, for no other reason than that they are the nation’s enemy. When Tim O’Brien kills a man during the Vietnam War, he is shocked that the man is not the buff, wicked, and terrifying enemy he was expecting. This realization overwhelms him in guilt. O’Brien’s guilt has him so fixated on the life of his victim that his own presence in the story—as protagonist and narrator—fades to the black. Since he doesn’t use the first person to explain his guilt and confusion, he negotiates his feelings by operating in fantasy—by imagining an entire life for his victim, from his boyhood and his family to his feeling about the war and about the Americans. In The Man I Killed, Tim O’Brien explores the truth of The Vietnam War by vividly describing the dead body and the imagined life of the man he has killed to question the morality of killing in a war that seems to have no point to him.