Going After Cacciato

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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.

Purpose is more often than not a necessity that is required to accomplish most anything. The dictionary defines purpose as “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, or used” (Dic-tionary.com) . On that note, the purpose of war and the soldier are both touchy subjects for many

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people because it brings about a lot of emotion, considering that many people think we go to war for either the right or wrong re...

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... evidence given that the Going After Cacciato storyline directly correlates with Paul Berlin’s reality, and that not only was the Going After Cacciato story a complete fantasy, but it helped the reader to take a deeper look into the character of Paul Berlin. The Going After Cacciato storyline within the novel describes Berlin in such a way that it goes beyond the surface of the character. The storyline serves to reveal Paul Berlin’s ideas and thoughts on issues

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that occur throughout the novel, not just in the fantasy storyline itself. The insightful look into Paul Berlin’s dreams allows us, the reader, to see what Berlin Is really thinking and how he operates outside of the fantasy storyline. Without the Going After Cacciato element to Tim O’Brien’s novel I don’t think we would ever be able to properly dissect the complex character of Paul Berlin.

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