1. – I found “In the Field” very moving and traumatic in depicting the unity that surfaces among the soldiers as a result of Kiowa’s death. Furthermore, it was eye-opening to learn how collectively the soldiers accepted the blame for Kiowa’s death, as if a piece of their identity was stripped away from them. Now, I also interpreted “Good Form” in a similar fashion, as it was an honest and truthful disclosure of how captivating it is for the reader to hear the “story-truth” about the realities of war that cannot be conveyed with the same capacity when simply told from the “happening truth” that others, such as Sanders prefer. – One striking component within O’Brien’s choice of language in “In the Field” is his blatant use of vulgarity to convey …show more content…
In particular, this phrase depicts how horrified and sickened Lieutenant Cross has become of the war when O’Brien claims, “There was no way Lieutenant Cross would allow such a good man to be lost under the slime of a shit field.” (163). It also signals how drastically the battlefield can influence the soldiers by detailing the cruelties of war in a manner that is so conflicting with the soldiers’ affection and appreciation for Kiowa as a person. Therefore, the author incorporates this vulgar phrase to suggest the duality of war by contrasting the many positive memories he has of Kiowa with the horrific realities of war that lead to his untimely death. O’Brien also incorporates vulgarity to signal how difficult it is for Cross to step foot on the battlefield after Kiowa’s death when O’Brien admits, “He had no desire to command, and even after all these months in the bush, all the days and nights, even then he did not know enough to keep his men out of a shit field.” (168). In this case, O’Brien’s use of vulgarity suggests how critical and restless Cross has become over his decision to enter the