Going After Cacciato

After reading Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Briens, in some ways, Cacciato represents the Vietnam War. The novel begins with Cacciato leaving his squad in order to pursue his dream of Paris; therefore, his comrades must catch this deserter. Cacciato’s dream of Paris is similar to the American dream of freedom for South Vietnam during the war. As time passes, Cacciato moves further away from Vietnam and closer to Paris. Similarly, as the war progresses, the American people lost track of reality and Vietnam and continued to pursue the war for their dream. The war continued not on the behalf of the Vietnamese people but on the American dream. Furthermore, the number of people in the squad pursuing Cacciato diminishes as he continues to pursue Paris, hence the number of American supporting the American dream in Vietnam also diminished. In some cases, as the Vietnam War prolonged, the American people lost sight of the American dream as the squad has lost sight of Cacciato at various times in their journey.

The Violent Bear It Away- Bildungsroman

It is difficult to characterize The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor as a bildungsroman because when people think about growth, it is usually positive.  Nevertheless, Francis, the protagonist, depicts a boy coming-of age even though as the novel progresses, he falls further from the ways of heroic figures such as Harry ad Huck.  This fourteen years old boy struggles with how to live his life.  In his case, he has only two types of life to pick, one of Old Tarwater and the other of Rayber.  Old Tarwater's extremist life is based on blind religion while Rayber's extremist life is based on intellect and reason.  These two isolated extremists' lives foreshadow the doom awaiting Francis.  It is evident from the beginning of the novel, when O'Connor shows Francis's deteriorating mental condition as he struggles to free himself from Old Tarwater.  Hence, Francis burns all the memories of him and run to this uncle, Rayber.  He escapes from one extremist into the house of another where Raybe manipulates him to murder Bishop, which leads him to lose another part of his sanity.  At last, he encounters Lilac man and was raped, which causes him to lose the last part of his sanity.

The Violent Bear It Away- Mason Tarwater

Mason Tarwater embodies all the negative aspects of religious missionaries as his overbearing persistence to save souls has brought animosity between him and his family who send him into the asylum. He has insisted on saving his sister even though she does not desire it. When he forces religion upon his sister and her family, he infringes on their freedom to choose freely their faith. He displays the same characteristics of the missionaries in Africa during the colonial period. Mason and these missionaries regard unbelievers to be inferior and doomed; therefore, God has summoned them on the mission to save their souls. Their extreme behaviors such as chastising their behaviors and religions and executing nonbelievers discourage many from following in their footstep and accept religion. As they push people against the wall, people will retaliate and disregard their invitation to seek religion. At the end of the day, only hostility arises among the missionaries and the people rather than the conversion of faith.

The Bear: Bildungsroman

The Bear represents a bildungsroman because it shows the growth in Ike, the protagonist, through the various hunting trips he participated. When Ike is a boy, he is fascinated with hunting down Old Ben, the legendary bear, due to civilization’s desire to triumph over nature. Nevertheless, each year when he returns to hunt Old Ben, he sees more of nature and begins to understand its beauty and essence through the guidance of Sam Fathers. On his last trip into the hunting ground, he sees civilization slowly destroying it and forcing Boon to insanity. Witnessing these things and discovering the sins of his grandfather, Ike rejects his inheritance because he wants to cut off his relationship with the land which causes many people to suffer. As Ike becomes more synchronized with nature, he finds strength to reject his inheritance and worldly possessions, the compass and stick. He further understands that no one is the rightful owner of land because it belongs to nature. From a boy who accepts his role as part of civilization, Ike has grown to become a man who rejects civilization’s most precious possession, land, in order to find peace within him.