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The Pugilist at Rest | Introduction

"The Pugilist at Rest," by Thom Jones, was first published in the New Yorker in 1992 and then reprinted as the title story in Jones's first collection of short stories in 1993. The collection was widely praised by reviewers, who regarded Jones as an exciting new voice in American fiction.

The story is told by a first-person narrator who is a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Marine boxing champion. He now suffers from debilitating depression, for which he takes heavy doses of medication, and from epilepsy. At the end of the story, he agrees to undergo psychosurgery that may cure his condition but could also, he fears, ensure that he spends the rest of his life in an institution.

"The Pugilist at Rest," which takes its title from a famous Roman sculpture of a boxer, draws on the author's own experience. Jones trained as a Force Recon Marine, although he did not serve in Vietnam, and was also a boxer. Like the narrator of the story, he suffers from epilepsy. He told an interviewer for the Austin Chronicle that his best friend was killed in Vietnam, and for a while he was reluctant to write about the war because he did not feel he had the right to do so. But then he realized he was angry that his friend had been cheated of his life, so he started writing about Vietnam for his friend.

The Pugilist at Rest Summary

"The Pugilist at Rest" begins as the first-person narrator recalls, many years after the event, an incident that took place in August 1966 at a twelve-week boot camp he attended at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. One recruit got caught writing a letter to his girlfriend when he should have been taking notes on the specs of the M-14 rifle. His letter began "Hey Baby," and that became the name by which he was subsequently known by the other recruits. The narrator goes on to explain that Hey Baby was not in the Marine Corps for long. He had a habit of harassing the narrator's buddy, a small and unassuming recruit named Jorgeson. One day, only two weeks from the end of boot camp, the narrator sees Hey Baby give Jorgeson a nasty shove with his M-14, which almost knocks Jorgeson over. The narrator, who is a big man, intervenes, striking Hey Baby hard in the temple with the butt of his M-14. Hey Baby is badly injured, sustaining a fractured skull. There is an investigation into the incident, but the narrator is not caught. Even though three other recruits saw him strike Hey Baby, they do not betray him to the authorities. They are silent because they do not like Hey Baby; by contrast, the narrator is popular with the other recruits.

The story then returns to the present, as the narrator explains that he had been cleaning the attic when he came across his old Marine dress-blue uniform. He also took out the various medals he won in the Vietnam War, including the one that gives him most pride, the Airborne wings. This signifies that he was a Force Recon Marine, a member of a reconnaissance unit.

He then recalls what happened to him and his buddies in Vietnam. Only three days after they arrived, they were parachuted in on a routine reconnaissance patrol near the DMZ (the demilitarized zone that marked the border between South Vietnam and North Vietnam). His team moves across a clear field while he is sent to investigate a small mound of loose red dirt in the jungle nearby. The mound turns out to be an anthill, but as he approaches it, the Marines are attacked by North Vietnamese troops. The narrator is blown into the air by the impact of a mortar round. He suffers concussion but is mostly unhurt, although his M-16 rifle is jammed. Several of the other Marines are killed by the mortar round, but the narrator sees Jorgeson firing back at the enemy as... ยป Complete The Pugilist at Rest Summary