The Characters
Tim O’Brien develops his characters in a variety of ways. Because Paul Berlin provides the point of view for the entire novel, it is through his eyes that the reader comes to know the other characters. The character of Paul himself develops in several ways. First, in the “Observation Post” chapters, the reader is inside Paul’s mind as he considers the nature of courage and of his own past actions. In addition, the reader comes to understand Paul as a thoughtful, reflective young man, someone who thinks about the role of memory and imagination in the creation of reality. Second, the reader comes to know Paul by the way the other characters treat him. When Paul reflects on the past six months, he seems to be a naïve and clumsy young man, someone who does not always know what action he ought to take. In short, he seems to be much less in control of himself in these chapters than in the others. Finally, the reader comes to know Paul by the idealized version of himself that he creates in his own imagination in the fantasy journey chapters. In these chapters, Paul is a kind, brave young man who ends up with the girl they find along the road.
O’Brien also develops characters by pairing them with other characters. For example, O’Brien develops the character of Doc Peret, a realist, by contrasting him with Paul, the dreamer. Likewise, O’Brien develops the character of Lieutenant Corson, an older, sick commanding officer, by contrasting him with the platoon’s earlier commanding officer, Sidney Martin. Martin, a young man fresh out of a military academy, knows little about the war he is fighting and violates any number of standard operating procedures. This ignorance leads to the deaths of Bernie Lynn and Frenchie Tucker and earns Martin the hatred of every man in the unit. Whereas Corson seems to understand the war as something to be survived, Martin tries to fight the war. Consequently, the men “frag” Martin before he can order them to clear any more tunnels.
Two additional characters are products of Paul’s imagination: Sarkin Aung Wan and Li Van Hgoc. O’Brien develops these in a complex manner. As the products of Paul’s imagination, the characters are in some ways caricatures. That is, O’Brien first imagines how a young soldier might picture an Asian refugee and a Viet Cong officer. Consequently, the two characters are not “realistic” in the same way that the other characters in the story are. Rather, they correspond to the stereotypes O’Brien imagines might be floating around in Paul’s head.
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