The emotions from the man I killed

The chapter titled The Man I Killed was a chapter that struck me most out of all of the reading thus far. The style of writing seems to be a very emotional and almost surreal type of writing. Throughout the rest of the book, Tim O’Brien speaks as the narrator or detaches himself somewhat from the situation but in The Man I Killed he seems sucked into the situation. By using the situation, repeating it many times and not speaking you really feel as if you were experiencing exactly what Tim was. I believe the combination between the shock of the situation and the horror of seeing that young man’s body and then the “what if” scenario’s causes you to relate to the feelings described. Another thing I feel Tim did differently in this chapter that’s different from the rest of the book is really embellish this young man’s back-story. Tim in his mind came up with an elaborate story of where this man came from, what the ring on his finger meant, what interests he had, his inner most feelings about the war and so on. He personalized the man in such great detail that it is hard not to feel the sorrow for the fallen soldier.