Going After Cacciato Analysis

The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.

Paul escaped serious physical wounds; however, he is completely destroyed by the effects of the war. After being mercilessly attacked with gas, he sees the brutality and lack of concern for the soldiers’ lives. Although he is continuously pressured by authority figures to see the opposing fighter as the main enemy, Paul understands the problem goes beyond killing other men. The war tears Paul apart and leaves him scarred by the lack of

For Paul and his comrades, who had sacrificed so much to participate in the war, the unfair leadership created tension between the ranks. For example, when Paul was on leave and strolled the streets of his hometown, a nearby Major became furious at Paul because he had missed the opportunity to salute. This man, with the considerable power to overthrow Paul’s leave, orders Paul, “Twenty paces backward, double march!” Paul complied, but was infuriated and contemplated the validity and relevance of these men. This, “ruins everything” (163), for Paul, as he abandoned wearing his uniform to avoid another confrontation. It was shown that the most controlling officers were so often those without combat experience on the front. In fact, Himmelstoss, a Corporal that trained Paul and his company, showed fear toward the battle when he was called to participate. In Chapter Six, he was found, “pretending to be wounded.” The thought of him progressing made his, “lips quiver, his moustache twitch” (131-32). Pretending to represent their country, these men showed no respect for the soldiers, resented them, and expressed the deepest inhumane actions in the name of

For example, Paul did not get rid of the thought “that he was afraid, he now knew that fear came in many” (O’Brien 2). This evidence shows us that Paul tries to get rid of his fears but his fears come back in different ways. Furthermore, Paul does these “tricks he learned to keep him thinking” (O’Brien 2) to not worry about the war. This piece of evidence shows that Paul uses his mind, which he learned from the army, to keep himself relaxed and not worry about his fears. Finally, Paul would carefully clean the breech and the muzzle and the ammunition so that next time he will be ready and not so afraid” (O’Brien 3). This shows that Paul hides away his fear by always having protection near him. In conclusion Paul Berlin tries to hide away his

During the war, Paul sees that his friends die or get injured. Kemmerich is the first of Paul’s friend to lose their leg in the battle. Paul notices that Kemmerich did not feel that his leg was amputated. Paul remembers Kemmerich as a childhood friend before they had signed up for the army. Paul finds Kemmerich dead after he tries to find a doctor to cure Kemmerich. After Kemmerich’s death, many of Paul’s friends died near the end of the war. Kropp’s leg is also amputated like Kemmerich when he was shot after running away from a battle with Paul. Kropp soon dies afterward after getting a fever from the wound. Paul finds out that another friend, Müller, dies after being shot in the stomach. Müller gives everything away before he dies, including the boots that Kemmerich gave Paul to give to Müller. Paul says that he would give the boot to Tjaden when his time is up. The next person to die is Company Commander Bertinck; he died after being shot in the chest. After Bertinck death, another friend of Paul named Leer is shot in the arm and later dies of eternal bleeding. Many of Paul’s friends also died from the lack of foods and supplies. One of his oldest and closest friends, Katczinsky, is also wounded during the battle. When Katczinsky was wounded, Paul tries to carry Katczinsky all the way back to safety. When he makes it back to

Fear drives Paul and his comrades together and drives them to live not to feel like nothingness. By Paul joining the military he makes friends with Tjaden, Albert, Kropp, and Muller they create a bond, a brotherhood. Fear of dying and war drives them together because it gives them something to bond about, To have something in common. The fear of dying drives them to survive because without fear they would not exist, but voices and memories. Paul would be all alone and have thing nothing. Paul creates a different bond with a man Gerard Duval. Gerard is an enemy, but once Paul realize that he just like me he feels survivors guilt for killing him. He calls Gerard comrade in French his language. He finds out that Gerard was a printer, friend, husband, and a father. Paul wants to make it up be writing a letter, but can not because he can not write in French but than starts thinking he can send money to Gerard's family. This is an example of Paul’s fear of getting judge for killing this man. To get confronted with his guilt. The fear of loosing himself. He does he looses that he looses his

It is generally recognized that Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato (1978) is most likely the best novel of the Vietnam war, albeit an unusual one in that it innovatively combines the experiential realism of war with surrealism, primarily through the overactive imagination of the protagonist, Spec Four Paul Berlin. The first chapter of this novel is of more than usual importance. Designed to be a self-sufficient story (McCaffery 137) and often anthologized as one, this chapter is crucial to the novel in that it not only introduces us to the characters and the situation but also sets the tenor of the novel and reveals its author’s view of this war in relation to which all else in the novel must be

At one point during the story, Paul Baumer returns home for a short leave from the front line. While at home he is faced with old faces, some who want only to hear of the war. Those who want to hear the war and stories constantly put a strain on Paul’s psyche. He describes in several occasions that when the conversation of war came up he would only others funny stories but nothing of his hardship. Some, like his mother, asked about the conditions of the front line. Paul is unable to describe world of the front line because he is afraid once the conversation starts he will be unable to control his feelings. “I am afraid they [words] might then become gigantic and I be no longer able to master them” (Remarque, 165). This is paramount to the life a soldier, he must be able to control his emotions in order to survive. In other circumstances, the older men wish to know of the progress of the war. In one part of the story, a few elderly gentlemen were speaking of strategy and how to win the war with Paul. The older men do not appear to be very sympathetic to Paul’s struggles and ask him sensitive questions. Paul, though angry, does not react to their prying. At one point one of the men talks of destroying the “froggies” and “johnnies”, in reference to the French and English soldiers, and remarks that Paul and the army should “shove ahead a bit out there with your

The French soldier dies an agonizingly painful and prolonged death; his gurgling and whimpering haunting Paul, but when the soldier finally dies, the resulting silence is even more haunting and debilitating. “Paul describes the trenches, the shelling, the screams of wounded horses and men, the poison gas attack, and the rain that drenches everything. [He] describes the tension and the horror of a major battle, with the confusion, the noise, and death turning the soldiers into numbed, unthinking machines.” (All). Paul recognizes how war forces people to think and act in ways that differ from their values and beliefs, as they are desperate to survive. Remarque uses imagery and sensory details to skillfully formulate a raw and grisly atmosphere that leaves no aspect hidden. Towards the end of the novel, many of Paul’s comrades have died, and he is the only person left in his class who is alive. He expresses the desolation and misery he feels, “I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.” (Remarque 295). Paul has nothing left to lose at this point, so he faces his enemies free of fear and obligation to return back to his friends and his home. His sorrowful tone conveys his indifference towards death and his desire

As Paul’s story progresses, one by one, he watches all of his friends die. The friendly farmer Detering is driven mad by homesickness and is caught as a deserter and convicted by marshal court. Muller is fatally shot in the stomach during a battle and dies a slow and painful death. He gifts the boots given to him by Kemmerich to Paul. Leer dies after bleeding out from a deep wound in his thigh. Eventually only Paul and Katczinsky as the last two surviving friends. However Kat receives a severe injury to his shin and Paul must carry him to safety. Paul makes it to a triage station only to discover that Kat, whom he had been carrying on his back, had been hit in the head and killed by a piece of shrapnel along the way. His final friend in the entire world was dead. Though parting from his friends was “very hard”, Paul remarks that “a man gets used to that sort of thing in the army” (Remarque 269).

Therefore, after the Cruz family and Paul near the end of fighting “The Freeze”, Luis tell Paul, “‘I’m just telling you this so you’ll know. You seem kinda scared of Erik and Arthur Bauer.’ ‘Yeah. I am. Who wouldn’t be?’... Luis’s uncle walked up and started talking to him, so I drifted back inside, thinking about my fear of Erik. How could I be so totally afraid, and Luis not be the slightest bit afraid, of the exact same thing?’(229) Paul becomes aware that not everyone is afraid of Erik and he begins to question his own beliefs about his feelings towards his brother. It puts into perspective that his “big and scary” problems are not such great conflicts when one takes the initiative to stand up to them. This influences Paul to lose his trepidation for when he confronts Erik. It reduces Erik’s power over keeping Paul silent when he witnesses his older brother committing something unlawful. Adding to that, after being reminded of a familiar name, Castor, and white spray paint, Paul analyzes what really led to the beginning of his terrible eyesight. He confronts his parents and they say, “‘You were five years old, Paul. There was only so much you could understand. All you could understand was that something bad had happened… I was so terrified that you would

While on leave, Paul also visits his father and some of his father's friends, but does not wish to speak to them about the war. The men are "curious [about the war] in a way that [Paul finds] stupid and distressing." They try to imagine what war is like but they have never experienced it for themselves, so they cannot see the reality of it. When Paul tries to state his opinion, the men argue that "[he] sees only [his] general sector so [he is] not able to judge." These men believe they know more about the war and this makes Paul feel lost. He realizes that "they are different men here, men [he] can not understand..." and Paul wants to be back with those he can relate to, his fellow soldiers. Paul wishes he had never gone on leave because out there "[he] was a soldier, but [at home] he is nothing but an agony to himself." When Paul returns to the battlefield, he is excited to be with his comrades. When he sees his company, "[Paul] jumps up, pushes in amongst them, [his] eyes searching," until he finds his friends. It is then

We can hardly control ourselves when our glance lights on the form of some other man. We are insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill” (Remarque 116). Paul’s description of himself and his comrades does not sound human; rather, it sounds as if he were describing a pack of wolves. Furthermore, when Paul becomes trapped in the middle ground during a skirmish, he realizes he must defend himself. A French soldier jumps into his hole, forcing Paul to kill him. Paul “strike[s] madly at home and feel[s] only how the body suddenly convulses” without any thought (Remarque 216). The language employed by Remarque suggests Paul’s behavior is animalistic and brutal. His mad stabs into the body of the Frenchman imply the violent and impersonal nature of man that coincides with war.

    Going After Cacciato, by Tim O'Brien, is a book that presents many problems in understanding. Simply trying to figure out what is real and what is fantasy and where they combine can be quite a strain on the reader. Yet even more clouded and ambiguous are the larger moral questions raised in this book. There are many so-called "war crimes" or atrocities in this book, ranging from killing a water buffalo to fragging the commanding officer. Yet they are dealt with in an almost offhanded way. They seem to become simply the moral landscape upon which a greater drama is played-- i.e. the drama of running away from war, seeking peace in Paris. This journey after Cacciato turns into a

An ‘eye-ball’ assessment of the changes in Coke’s financial statements between 1996 and 2010—e.g., overall growth in assets, revenues, equity, debt, etc.