Going After Cacciato (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Tim O’Brien
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: October, 1968
- Setting: Vietnam, near its Laotian border
- Principal Characters: Cacciato, Lieutenant Corson, Paul Berlin, Doc Peret, Stink Harris
- Genres: Psychological fiction
- Subjects: 1960’s
- Locales: Vietnam
The Story
The title alludes to a character who only exists as an off-stage presence throughout this story, which opens as two soldiers tell their weary lieutenant that Cacciato (an Italian word meaning “hunted”) has left and plans to walk from Vietnam to Paris. Although the officer is almost immobilized by dysentery, age, alcohol, and disbelieving incomprehension of Cacciato's plan, military discipline triumphs over his inertia. He orders Cacciato's squad to pursue the deserter. The seven men set off in the ceaseless rain toward the Laotian border to the west.
As the...
[The entire page is 1617 words long]
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