The way O'Brien describes a war story makes it sound like a giant contradiction. He says that there is a moral but if there is you can never understand it because you have to actually be there to get the meaning. He says that war stories are never true. In the end he compares these stories to all of these contradictions that make the meaning of this story no clearer than when I started reading.
Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon’s friendship is interesting because Kiley is the medic and his best friend dies by stepping on a mine and being blown to pieces, something that Kiley obviously can’t fix; not even a wound that can heal but he ends up in pieces in a tree. His death is kind of symbolic in the way that he’s described by O’Brien as taking the “curious step from the shade to the sunlight” and then being blown upwards from the force of the mine could be seen as him ascending to heaven.
Rat Kiley brutally killing the baby buffalo was more disturbing than Lemon’s death. To me, this seemed like Kiley killed something so innocent in revenge for the Viet Cong killing his idol and his “soul mate.” Kiley doesn’t cope in the way that one should right away so he fights violence with violence. It isn’t until later where he pours his heart out and mulls over this letter that he writes to Lemon’s sister where he explains himself thoroughly and cries in remembrance, which is most likely the reason he’s do offended when “the dumb cooze” doesn’t write back.
Your text is too dark for your background. Can you change this? Wasn't the baby buffalo episode just horrific? As I said, I was very moved by the comment about Nam being the Garden of Evil which fresh, new sins. You're right, Kiley fights violence with violence which we know will only make things worse. And the "dirty" language also seems a by-product of the violence perhaps.
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