Essay Comparing O’Brien’s view of war with a photograph
Sample written by Bonnie Thoreson
Tim O’Brien in “Speaking of Courage” – one of the short stories that comprises
The Things They Carried – and photographer James Nachtwey in “Hutu Man With
Machete Scars” both show how war leaves permanent scars. Tim O’Brien’s story
focuses on Norman Bowker, a character who returns from Viet Nam but is unable to
leave his past behind. Bowker lives with his father, a man who views war as a glorious
and heroic enterprise; in fact, Norman Bowker’s father is primarily interested in how
many medals for valor his son earned. Unable to talk about war with his father, and
disconnected from his friends and old girlfriend, Bowker endlessly drives around the lake
in his town “feeling safe inside his father’s big Chevy” (137). Bowker is particularly
haunted by his guilt over the death of a fellow soldier. On Bowker’s “eleventh
revolution” around the lake, he imagines a conversation with the ex-girlfriend: “If it had
been possible, which it wasn’t, he would have explained how his friend Kiowa slipped
away that night beneath the dark swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was
part of the waste” (155). While Bowker returns from the war physically intact, mentally
he is deeply scarred. The story is set on July 4th, and Bowker’s continual and aimless
circling of the lake mirror the perpetual senseless patrols in Viet Nam; indeed, the story
ends with fireworks, a peace time echo of the mortar fire that lit up the night in Viet Nam.
In Bowker’s aimless wandering, he is drawn back, again and again, to replaying the time
when his friend died. Bowker is consumed with guilt that he could have saved his friend,
and that it was only his repulsion for the field of human excrement that prevented him
from saving Kiowa. “In the Field,” a subsequent chapter retells he incident and shows
how three other soldiers also blame themselves for Kiowa’s death. Despite the fact that
Bowker is truly no more guilty of Kiowa’s death than Azar who feels that if he had not
made repulsive jokes than Kiowa would have lived, Bowker is unable to rid himself of
his internal scars and some years later he commits suicide, hanging himself after a game
of basketball. Though less visible than the machete scars on the Hutu man’s face,
Bowker’s internal wounds of guilt and remorse eventually proved fatal.
Nachtwey’s photograph of the aftermath of the Rwandan conflict between the
Tutsis and Hutus is a compelling view of the lasting violence of war. Nachtwey shows
the profile of a man who was clearly a victim of violence, and his title “Hutu Man with
Machete Scars” makes it clear that his wounds were a result of the bloody tribal conflict
in Rwanda. The way that Nachtwey frames the photograph reinforces his emphasis on
the aftermath of this violent conflict. Nachtwey’s arranges his composition so that the
man’s head fills up the entire right side of the photograph, and a grainy out of focus
background ensures that the focus remains entirely on the figure. The man has four large
parallel scars running across his face; the scar tissue is raised up, a lighter color that the
man’s dark skin. The man’s hand is resting on his neck, and his fingers form a visual
counterpart to the four lines of scars, and serve to reinforce the scarring. The expression
on the man’s face seems empty; his mouth is open and since the picture is in profile the
expression of his eyes is hidden. In this compelling photograph, Nachtwey has captured
a lasting testimony to the extreme violence of the Rwandan conflict. In fact, Nachtwey
shows us nothing about this man beyond his pattern of scars. Does he have a family and
children? Is he bitter and angry about the event or has he forgiven his attackers? Since
the background and the man’s facial expression are both left blank, the viewer is given no
clues about the man’s current life. Tim O’Brien develops the inner conflict of war;
Nachtwey’s photograph is a testament to the outer, physical scarring of war. Together,
these two works show how war leaves a permanent mark on people.
VERSION TWO: Different parts highlighted –
corresponds to notebook entry where students have
labeled the different parts of this essay.
Essay Comparing O’Brien’s view of war with a photograph
Sample written by Bonnie Thoreson
Tim O’Brien in “Speaking of Courage” – one of the short stories that comprises
The Things They Carried – and photographer James Nachtwey in “Hutu Man With
Machete Scars” both show how war leaves permanent scars. Tim O’Brien’s story
focuses on Norman Bowker, a character who returns from Viet Nam but is unable to
leave his past behind. Bowker lives with his father, a man who views war as a glorious
and heroic enterprise; in fact, Norman Bowker’s father is primarily interested in how
many medals for valor his son earned. Unable to talk about war with his father, and
disconnected from his friends and old girlfriend, Bowker endlessly drives around the lake
in his town “feeling safe inside his father’s big Chevy” (137). Bowker is particularly
haunted by his guilt over the death of a fellow soldier. On Bowker’s “eleventh
revolution” around the lake, he imagines a conversation with the ex-girlfriend: “If it had
been possible, which it wasn’t, he would have explained how his friend Kiowa slipped
away that night beneath the dark swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was
part of the waste” (155). While Bowker returns from the war physically intact, mentally
he is deeply scarred. The story is set on July 4th, and Bowker’s continual and aimless
circling of the lake mirror the perpetual senseless patrols in Viet Nam; indeed, the story
ends with fireworks, a peace time echo of the mortar fire that lit up the night in Viet Nam.
In Bowker’s aimless wandering, he is drawn back, again and again, to replaying the time
when his friend died. Bowker is consumed with guilt that he could have saved his friend,
and that it was only his repulsion for the field of human excrement that prevented him
from saving Kiowa. “In the Field,” a subsequent chapter retells he incident and shows
how three other soldiers also blame themselves for Kiowa’s death. Despite the fact that
Bowker is truly no more guilty of Kiowa’s death than Azar who feels that if he had not
made repulsive jokes than Kiowa would have lived, Bowker is unable to rid himself of
his internal scars and some years later he commits suicide, hanging himself after a game
of basketball. Though less visible than the machete scars on the Hutu man’s face,
Bowker’s internal wounds of guilt and remorse eventually proved fatal.
Nachtwey’s photograph of the aftermath of the Rwandan conflict between the
Tutsis and Hutus is a compelling view of the lasting violence of war. Nachtwey shows
the profile of a man who was clearly a victim of violence, and his title “Hutu Man with
Machete Scars” makes it clear that his wounds were a result of the bloody tribal conflict
in Rwanda. The way that Nachtwey frames the photograph reinforces his emphasis on
the aftermath of this violent conflict. Nachtwey’s arranges his composition so that the
man’s head fills up the entire right side of the photograph, and a grainy out of focus
background ensures that the focus remains entirely on the figure. The man has four large
parallel scars running across his face; the scar tissue is raised up, a lighter color that the
man’s dark skin. The man’s hand is resting on his neck, and his fingers form a visual
counterpart to the four lines of scars, and serve to reinforce the scarring. The expression
on the man’s face seems empty; his mouth is open and since the picture is in profile the
expression of his eyes is hidden. In this compelling photograph, Nachtwey has captured
a lasting testimony to the extreme violence of the Rwandan conflict. In fact, Nachtwey
shows us nothing about this man beyond his pattern of scars. Does he have a family and
children? Is he bitter and angry about the event or has he forgiven his attackers? Since
the background and the man’s facial expression are both left blank, the viewer is given no
clues about the man’s current life. Tim O’Brien develops the inner conflict of war;
Nachtwey’s photograph is a testament to the outer, physical scarring of war. Together,
these two works show how war leaves a permanent mark on people.