Going After Cacciato: 7-16

Cacciato is still leading Paul Berlin and the rest of the third squad through the southeast area of Asia. Along the way they have picked up and lost people. More importantly, they have met a group of three women on the read to Delhi, India. They call themselves refugees from the war. One in particular, Paul Berlin has taken a fancy to. Her name is Sarkin Aung Wan. The squad decides to take her with them. While in transit, the squad falls into a hole that was a crack in the road. Down and further down they tumbled which many people believe is a reference to Alice in Wonderland.

Once at the bottom, they meet Li Van Hgoc a major from the 48th Vietcong Battalion. He explains to them that he has been stuck there for years and now they are trapped there with him. Sarkin Aung Wan comes up with a brilliant idea, "The way in is the way out," she said. "We have fallen into a hole. Now we must fall out." (O'Brien 98) The squad saddles up and Sarkin Aung Wan leads them through the terros of the darkness.

The miagery of this journey is important. O'Brien includes almost every symbol that is feared by both men and women; bats, rodents, snakes, cobwebs, blindness, unbearable heat and cold, etc. This journey through the tunnels to the light above can be compared to the Vietnam War. Soldiers endure multiple hardships and they know that in the world outside the war, there is a better life. This is why they escape, or try to.

Meanwhile, there are the two other sections that I think I figured out. The chapters that are not "The Observation Tower" or the "Going After Cacciato" are focused on past experiences from the mind of Paul Berlin. When these chapters are put together as a whole, they act as the memoir section of Paul Berlin's time during the war so far. Some chapters are happy, for example, in one they talk about basketball. In others they can be depressing, like the chapter in which the third squad plots the death of Lieutenant Sidney. When put together with the "Going After Cacciato" plotline, they balance each other out really well.

"The Observation Tower" post still continues to address abstract aspects of life. Paul Berlin thinks a lot about his fellow soldiers or what it would be like to go home. He thinks about his past, present, and future.

Going After Cacciato: 1-6

In the first chapter of Going After Cacciato, the main plot is established very quickly. A young, new member of the army and the third squad named Cacciato has gone AWOL (Absent With Out Leave). Lieutenant Corson orders the third squard to go after Cacciato.

The squad then embarks on a game of "cat and mouse" with Cacciato through the mountains of Vietnam. Every time they get close to Cacciato, he miraculously slips out of their grasp. The story is told from the perspective of Paul Berlin.

The next chapter is called "The Observation Tower". It is a short chapter, only three and a half pages long. I think that the story has either gone ahead to the future or has gone back in time. Also, even though the tense has changed, it feels as though time has come to a stand still while up in the tower.

The book continues to jump back and forth between the :"Going After Cacciato: story and the smaller :"The Observation Tower" story/stories. Somehow, "The Observation Tower" stories are relating to the "Going After Cacciato" story. They seem more philosophical. In these chapters, they also center around Paul Berlin and his time spent on watch late at night. Up there Paul Berlin contemplates the questions in life that were unanswered. The imagery in these are usually vivd, Paul Berlin seems to get his points across through nature.

So now we have two separate plot lines; one in the present, and one in the past or future. I hae no idea which it is yet. Then, O"Brien throws in another chapter/plot line. Unrelated to the "Going After Cacciato" story and unrelated to "The Observation Tower". These chapters appear to have happened in the past. They almost act as flashbacks for Paul Berlin.

It's getting a little confusing trying to keep track of the different stories and characters. We'll see what happens from here.

Going After Cacciato: A Back Cover Analysis

Conveniently, the novel Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien fits perfectly with my exploration of narratives and perspectives. Obviously I'm going to use it in my project.

The back cover reads, "So wrote the New York Times of Tim O'Brien's now classic novel of Vietnam. Winner of the 1979 National Book Award, Going After Cacciato captures the peculiar mixture of horror and hallucination that marked this strangest of wars. In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Paris. In its memorable evocation of men both fleeing from and meeting the demands of battle, Going After Cacciato stands as much more than just a great war novel. Ultimately it's about the forces of fear and heroism that do battle in the hearts of us all."

The story is told from the perspective of a soldier named Paul Berlin, but also includes multiple characters that are continuously in the novel from start to finish. Tim O'Brien conveys his war stories through three different mediums. There is the "Going After Cacciato" story, the "The Observation Tower" stories, and stories from Paul Berlin's past all by different chapters.

Since this this novel has such a unique structure, it is only fitting that I use it in my independent reading project. Although there are multiple sequences in the story, it maintains common themes. It addresses the puzzling line between what is reality vs. fantasy and also addresses the topic of desertion through it's nonlinear narrative.