Theme
of Grief & Sadness
It seem as if a fair share of war
stories revolve around these two unavoidable themes, Grief and Sadness.
Throughout the various stories we have looked at, characters seem to inevitably
have to deal with some form of loss, whether it’s the loss of innocence of the
loss of loved one. These two determining themes play a pivotal role in shifting
a character’s perspective on harsh realities that come with war.
Starting with one of the more recent stories, The Man I Killed, the writer is always painted as a shocked individual that keeps being haunted by the recurring image of the man he shot dead. A butterfly lands on the face of the dead victim only to flutter away after some time. Perhaps this is a nod to life leaving this certain individual, who we are lead to believe did not have intentions of being a solider. “He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole” (O’Brien, 124). We are treated to this image of a star shaped hole many times through the narrative, which is a stark description. Perhaps this may be reading too deeply into it, but since stars tend to release energy, I read the star-shaped hole as an exit point for the victim’s life.
In Sweetheart of Tra Bong, grief is a lot more apparent. We not only witness the main character lose the innocent fiancé he once knew, but we also see some members of the squad also get hit with emotions of sadness. "I loved her. So when I heard from Eddie about what had happened, it almost made me..." (O'Brien, 109). Here we get the confession of storyteller, Rat, that he grew attached to the company Mary Anne brought to the troop. It seems that losing Mary Anne to something more darker and sinister, left a lasting impression with the squadron that war has the potential to completely rewire individuals. We lose a sense of innocence with the transformation of Mary Anne.
Both characters experience grief in two similar yet different ways. In one story a character struggles to overcome the grueling reality of having ended a life, while the other story deals with the grief that comes with having a loved one unexpectedly alter their behaviors, and become something darker.
I found the interpretation of grief in this post extremely interesting, particularly in the case of The Sweetheart of Tra Bong - it subverts our expectation that mourning occurs only when someone has died. Whether it is a true part of Mary Anne or merely the soldiers' perception of her that dies in this story is something which is debatable; what is for certain is that the image of the young woman as a symbol of innocent and civilian society is shattered, and missed sorely by her fiancé above all of the others. However, we can also call into question how much the men truly grieved Mary Anne's initial loss of naive, girlish behaviour by giving thought to the moment in which Rat confesses that he, and all of the others to some extent, fell in love with her due to the liminal soldier-civilian status she adopts. It is interesting to consider whether their grief for a symbol of American "normalcy" truly overpowers the relief and fascination they seem to draw from the presence of a woman who truly understands what they go through in the war zone.
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly could also be innocence leaving O' Brian. He has now killed a man, which in war would probably now make him a full fledged solider. He has experienced the most traumatic part of war. His hope of ever returning to the innocent life he once lead is now completely gone.
ReplyDelete