My Lai 'By Tim O' Brien: Chapter Summary

The first chapters in the novel clearly show that there is unconventional style used in the novel. There are several chapters consist of evidence while there are others that are written in the third person. A lot of evidence is based on the quotations of other people, some fictional and some real. By assessing, the occasional appearing foot notes that area written in the first person and tends to reveal that the main Character John Wade might have visited My Lai and again been in Vietnam War. The author of the book Tim O’Brien indeed did serve in Vietnam and even visited My Lai in real life. In chapter one of the novels, Tim O’Brien begins by introducing two unnamed characters who, indeed after the aftermath of a primary election, the audience

learn that, they decide to rent a cottage in what the author refers to as Lake of the Woods. The area surrounding the cottage has no people or towns. However, the same cottage has a beautiful view of a lake facing to the north of Canada.
The major characters in this book fight and struggle to cope with several traumatic events from their past.

In Vietnam at My Lai the American troops were ordered to kill children and women no questions asked. Wades reactions in relation to the Vietnam War experience is a good fit to the type of trauma that is experienced by Sigmund Freud, he is severally quoted in the book. The two unnamed characters came to the place in sought of solitude and togetherness. From this perspective, O’Brien develops his fiction story from a point of uncertainty. The audience does not know who the two characters are, and the same applies to their activities, and as we learn later in the story, the readers come to realize that the mood of uncertainty develops the theme of the

story.
The trauma that John Wade experiences is a major contributing factor to the deterioration of his relationship with Kathy Wade and has a major impact on him as an individual and a politician.

Wades actions in Vietnam made him be labeled as an evil man especially when news came in that he was involved in massacring Vietnamese civilians and an American soldier; this made the voters of Minnesota lose confidence in him. John killed many other people, one can view it as his troubled father to son relationship, his sinking marriage and his terrifying experience in Vietnam contributed to his killing . On the other side, one can view it as John felt the urge to kill and not his father and not Kathy. . After learning of his father’s death, John felt the desire to commit a murder crime. At the funeral, John had this passion to kill everyone on the scene. The idea of John of killing anyone in this chapter could link to chapter 2 where evidence is significant. Is it possible that John killed Kathy in revenge for his father, or for love reasons? However, since Katy’s body missed, the credibility of the evidence is another factor to consider. In the previous chapter, John woke up to find Kathy missing in the cabin. Coming on, the ambiguity of the story comes in when John sleeps under his pillow and imagines himself being his dead father. John’s behavior gets controversial in the sense that his father’s was not justifiable according to him. In fact, the revenge sought by John was

something that he wanted to prove to everyone that his father was still alive. O’Brien uses this scene to provide the relationship between the themes of evidence, revenge, and sympathy.
Relationships and love is well portrayed in the Lake of the Woods, first is John’s father in an alcoholic but besides that is a likable and charming man, his father abuses his son Wade and is late found dead by suicide. Johns troubled past with his dad makes him take up a political career and perform magic tricks by means of making people love him to feel better although he shows very little respect to those that do. We can see that john hides his personal history from his wife and the public thus making his relationships become based on lack of information.
Almost towards the conclusion of this book, the writer tries to hint at a new model of love. He claims that instead of being in an asymmetrical relationship where one lover demands to know all about the other while he or she keeps secrets from the partner, love can indeed exist and consist in a reciprocal exchange of information and data that is based on the mutual respect. Kathy and John did not tell each other everything even though they provided support and sympathy in the course of their love. It is left up to the reader to decide whether John and Kathy might have learned from their mistakes or not and will they live a normal equal relationship or will they fail.
O’Brien in his novel In the Lake of the Woods uses several literary analytical writing that makes him the most celebrated author worldwide. For example, the use of language, literary styles such as metaphors, and the application of fiction and non-fiction knowledge make In the Lake of the Woods a successful literary piece. Additionally, character development, truth revelation, and repetitive imagery are marked in the said and analyzed chapters of the study analysis. Therefore, I find Tim O’Brien one of the most interesting writers whose writing prowess exhibit the character of language understanding and pose the greatest challenge for college students.