are greusome. In the story, O'Brien tells the story about the baby water buffalo and how Rat Kiley killed it in a horrible way. Rat Kiley was upset because his best friend, Curt Lemon, was dead. Rat killed the baby water buffalo because he wanted to hurt something the way that he had been hurt. He was not trying to torture the water buffalo, but get out some of his anger towards the loss of his best friend (p. 78-79). Being in a war zone is not nice to the soldiers. It makes them cruel and bloodthirsty, especially when they lose those close to them. This story is not one that could have been made up; it would take a very discusting human being to make up a story like this. We can only believe that this story is true because it does make the stomach believe in its truth. This is just one example of a true war story according to O'Brien and his ideas of how to tell a true war story. In the heat of the moment, a person sees what they want to see, and what they see is in their perspective. War stories have a tendency to lose their truthfulness when only one person is telling it; it can lose it's truthfulness also, though, by others telling the story. One must think and decide if the stories they hear are true by using the criteria mentioned above to figure it out.The picture I posted I think fits this story great. It is a picture of a dead water buffalo who has been shot. There are 2 men with smiles on their faces; one in camo. In the story, it never said they smiled, but I'm sure that in a way the death of the water buffalo helped them cope with the death of their friend.
3 comments:
I really enjoyed your perspective on the killing of the water buffalo. I literally felt the truth of the story in my stomach, yet still kept hoping that it was only part of the fiction that O’Brien weaves into his stories. This scene was one of the hardest for me to read because the innocent buffalo was being tortured for the sake of another man’s emotions. I don’t believe there is any way that I can comport myself to find a logical defense of Rat’s action even though it is said to have been part of his grieving process. I think you are correct in saying that Rat was most likely smiling inside because somehow killing the buffalo piece by peice helped him to mourn the loss of his dear friend and put him at peace with Lemon’s death. However, I still feel this is an example of the way in which war has the power to turn good men into thoughtless, killing machines.
I really agree that it’s true that a true war story makes your stomach believe. When you hear a true, true war story, it is really gruesome. And you can see it if many war pictures, they are all about how someone god killed in a really horrible way. And you can picture it, making even your stomach believe. The way Rat killed the water buffalo did make my stomach believe, it was horrible. Just like the way Azar killed the puppy in “Spin”.
Great, though difficult, stuff in this discussion, all.
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