It looks extremely different, all dry, peaceful. O’Brien sees two farmers digging in the same exact spot the soldiers had found Kiowa’s lifeless body decades ago. His daughter Kathleen comments on the stench of the place, and it reminds him of the night of Kiowa’s death; how horrid it smelled, how terrifying the bombing was. “Kathleen had just turned ten, and this trip was a kind of birthday present, showing her the world, offering a small piece of her father’s history...even during those periods of boredom and discomfort she’d kept up a good-humored tolerance. At the same time, however, she’d seemed a bit puzzled.
Zain Saleemuddin Mrs. Wyeth English 2- PAP, A1 1/7/13 “The Lives of the Dead” by Tim O’Brien Plot Summary It has been O’Brien’s 4th day in war at a village near the South China Sea. His platoon was taking sniper fire so Lieutenant Jimmy Cross called in an airstrike watching the village burn. The soldiers gathered around a dead old man and were shaking its hand. Dave Jensen tried to get O’Brien to do the same thing but he refused because he was scared. Kiowa thought his action was impressive and complimenting him of having guts to say no.
Lily was excited for her new sweater, and Jonas was ready for his assignment. It starts off with The Murmur of Replacement Ceremony, the ceremony consist of the replacement of a family unit’s child that “lost” the year before. It stated that it was an accident that Caleb the family’s child wandered off and drowned in the river. Never did it say he died or anything about death, just as a accident or “lost”. Which shows how little the community knows about death.
Since it was almost time for the war, the Taliban came to Najmah’s household and took her father and brother for war. ‘“I have no guns,” Baba-jan says, looking at the man directly. The Pashtun Talib mutters something, and the men shove and drag Baba-jan and my brother toward to Datsun pickup trucks.’ (Page 18) After they are taken away, Najmah and what was left of her family was unbearably sad. Who wants their loved ones to fight in a war when there’s a chance of them getting killed? After Najmah’s mother and baby brother are killed in a bombing accident, one of her parents’ friend’s brother takes her with his family on a road trip to Torkhum.
The finger starts to bleed and her mother says it is bad luck, Esperanza starts worrying. F. Her father is not home yet and begins to think something bad has happened. G. She goes inside the house to talk with Mama, Abuelita (grandmother), Hortensia (maid) and Miguel (her servant). H. They all hear someone coming from outside and Alfonso, who is friends with Esperanza’s dad looks down with a grieving face. I. Esperanza sees that her father’s lifeless body in the wagon and was killed by the bandits.
His life will be empty—their dream died when Lennie died. George will become the same as any other migrant ranch-hand—lonely and nomadic, just drifting from ranch to ranch, from job to job. 2. Curley's wife made Lennie curious. Lennie didn't know much about women but Curley's wife wanted to talk to him.
O'Brien creates an intentional paradox for his readers when he writes the violent, but grabbing story of Rat Kiley and then at the end of the story, tells the reader that the characters and events of the story did not happen just as he described them, but that they happened in a totally different way to other people. But he insists that the story is true. With this, O'Brien challenges the reader to discover the truth of the event. O'Brien gets the reader to figure out what fiction of this book is actually worth. Firstly, did O'Brien confuse the reader when he said that the events did not happen after the reader became involved in those events?
After Candy has brought George to the barn to show him Curley’s wife, George leaves and Candy cries. What is the true source of Candy’s sadness and why? Compare the killing of Curley’s wife to the night Candy’s old dog was shot and killed by Carlson. 2. Death is the beginning and the culminating event in the chapter, but the killing of Curley’s wife is regarded with a lack of emotion by the characters, even less than the killing of the puppy or the shooting of Candy’s dog earlier in the book.
Receiving 17 days of leave, Paul travels to his hometown, knowing he must go see Kemmerich’s mother, “I was beside him. He died at once” (180). Paul is deliberately telling Kemmerich’s mother a blatant lie. Kemmerich died in a gruesome manner after he had his leg amputated. Kemmerich’s mother is not convinced that Paul is telling the truth, saying, “I have felt how terribly he died.
Rat Kiley’s friend, Curt Lemon, is killed and Rat writes Lemon's sister a letter. He writes about her brother and the crazy stunts he attempted. Unfortunately, the sister never writes back, and Rat is offended and angered by this. Lemon's death, an accident resulting from a game of catch with a grenade, left O’Brien with the memory of his body parts scattered in the jungle trees. We, readers, then hear about Mitchell Sander’s story of a patrol going into the mountains to monitor enemy movement.