Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato - Online Papers

Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato

By structurally dividing Going After Cacciato into three narrative strands- war memories, flight to Paris, Observation Post - O’Brien displays Paul Berlin’s struggle to make order out of the chaos that is this war experience in Vietnam.
In general, Going after Cacciato is convoluted and confusing. The confusion created by the narrative structure, not only through the different narrative strands but also through the random order events are presented to the reader, serves as a whole to mimic the confusion soldiers feel at every instant in war. Soldiers do not just feel confusion though. These soldiers see and often do horrific acts which forever scar them. They are plagued by memories and ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

is a kind of fantasy in and of itself as Paris is known the city of wonders, and one was extricated from the horrors of the war. In both real life and in Paul’s imagination, the squad is chasing after Cacciato, which in Italian means the hunted. It is hard to say however, whether in his imagination they are chasing in pursuit of the innocence and purity which Cacciato represents (as he never technically consented to the murder of Sidney Martin, and even tried to search for a better way to handle the situation, which was symbolized by Cacciato’s fishing), or whether they are going after him under the illusion that they are fulfilling their duties, although it is actually an excuse for fleeing the war.
For the same reason that the war memories are convoluted, these imaginative strands are strictly chronological, because they serve as the clear and logical path of escape from the tortuous memories of reality.
In these fantasy chapters, Paul’s deepest desires also manifest ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login

escape, showing how the degree of trauma is directly proportional to the magnitude of his fantasies.
However idealized his fantasies are, Paul can never truly escape the realities he tries to avoid. These chapters devoted to escape are always intruded by memories of the war. For example, in the chapter “Flights of Imagination”, Paul is in his fantasy land, riding a train in pursuit of Cacciato. The “bare, rugged country” which they drive past reminds Paul of Lake Country (177). Although he is in his idealized world, the memories of Lake Country which leads to the memory of Oscar “talking seriously about solutions” (178) still manage to penetrate his fantasy. These dream chapters ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.


CITE THIS PAGE:

Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato. (2011, March 29). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Novel-Structure-in-Going-After-Cacciato/97113
"Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Novel-Structure-in-Going-After-Cacciato/97113>
"Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato." Essayworld.com. March 29, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Novel-Structure-in-Going-After-Cacciato/97113.
"Novel Structure in Going After Cacciato." Essayworld.com. March 29, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Novel-Structure-in-Going-After-Cacciato/97113.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 3/29/2011 07:53:45 PM
Submitted By: bluepenguin
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1371
Pages: 5

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Tim O'Brien: Life and Works
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved