Week 8 Open Topic

Tim O’Brien spends a great deal of time rehashing the details of Kiowa’s death in the latrine. This was an event impacted many of the soldiers’ lives including Norman Bowker and Mitchell Sanders. Kiowa is depicted as a great man, a devout Christian, and loyal comrade, yet he did not die bravely in battle, but was swallowed by the soil of Vietnam in his sleep. This is another example of the new found treacheries of the Vietnam War, dangerous situations never before seen in previous wars. The countryside is so unknown, that the US troops seem to fighting the land and terrain as much as they are fighting the enemy. I can only imagine how difficult it must be on the soldiers physically and emotionally to never get a break from the war; the constant awareness of their surroundings would be exhausting. The days must have run together and seemed to never end. In “Field Trip”, O’Brien, during his return trip to Vietnam with his daughter, says, “Twenty years. A lot like yesterday, a lot like never. In a way, maybe, I’d gone under with Kiowa, and now after two decades I’d finally worked my way out” (187). Perhaps, O’Brien feels as if his soul died of mental exhaustion the night that Kiowa drowned in the sewage. The mind can only withstand so much distress, when it will finally shut off, shield itself from the unhealthy situation. Finally, upon a second visit to the site where his soul was lost, he is able to gain perspective on his involvement in the war. O’Brien does not honor us with a detailed description of his perspective, but I am inclined to believe that his swim in the muck is symbolic of a baptism. With his rebirth, he is now able to see the field for what it is, a small latrine used by the native Vietnamese, instead of the over-powering terrain that swallowed his friend and sense of self twenty years ago.