Friday, August 13, 2010
Repetition
I can't tell if it's because these things are extra important or not. This is the second time O'Brien has repeated exact wording, and I don't know why he does it. The first time was with the guy that he killed. He repeated the details and description of the kid at least twice using the exact same words. This time, he repeats the description of an incident right before Kiowa's death. On page 163, Kiowa looks at a picture and says "Hey, she's cute." After that, the field "exploded all around them." On page 169, O'Brien repeats this phrase of Kiowa's and follows it up with a description of the field and the light. Why?!
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Well I'll tell you why. One of this book's themes is emotional burdens. The veterans of this war still remember the traumatic events that occured during it. Watching your friend die would probably be one of those. O'Brien is trying to illustrate the emotional stress that these events caused by showing how often those events are thought about. The soldiers had an extrememly difficult time thinking about anything else. This shows through the repetition.
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