"Jimmy shook his head. 'It doesn't matter,' he finally said. 'I love her.'" -- Page 28
In the chapter titled 'Love', I made the slightly incorrect assumption that Tim was the Hemingway of his Vietnam platoon and the rest of the chapters in the book would play out similar to the first two; a story was told about a member of the gang during the war, and then where he was after his return to American life was highlighted. The point of view continues to be first person; however, Tim has yet to play a pivotal role in the plot, aside from documenting the stories as they happen. As it turns out, Jimmy still loves Martha. From the persective of my normal, nonviolent, high school drama-lacking life, this seems pathetic, and slightly creepy. But then it made me think; what does war do to a person, mentally and psychologically? It's expected that a soldier may hold on to a fantasy-filled image of what his life was like back home, but for how long? Apparently, time is no magic eraser. Even more puzzling for me is that despite Lieutenant Cross' inner obsessions, other aspects of his life (like being a military leader) seem unaffected. Then again, the book is self-proclaimed fiction, leading me to ponder what parts of certain characters' personae were left as 'fill in the blanks' for O'Brien...
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