Chapter 17

"In the Field" 

Important Sections of the Chapter 

1). "Looking out toward the river, he knew for a fact that he had made a mistake setting up here...He should've move to higher ground for the night, should've radioed in false coordinates. There was nothing he could do now, but still it was a mistake and a hideous waste. He felt sick about it." (pg. 164)

ANALYSIS

In this chapter, narrator O'Brien talks about how the men in the platoon were looking for Kiowa's body after the rain had partially ceased. We find three different perspectives in the chapter: Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's, the young soldier's, and the rest of the men in the platoon. 

This quote belongs to Jimmy's perspective. In it, we readers sense his feeling of guilt for loosing one of the men of his Company because he feels that Kiowa's death was his mistake due to his lack of intuition that something bad could happen near the shit field and his lack of courage for refuting the higher orders. 

2). "Like murder, the boy thought. The flashlight made it happen. Dumb and dangerous. And as a result his friend Kiowa was dead." (pg. 170) 

ANALYSIS

This fragment belong to the perspective of the young soldier whose name is never stated in the chapter. This is because O'Brien uses the anonymously technique as a symbol that signifies that the young soldier could represent any other soldier at war who because of some stupid event lost a comrade at war. 

The fact that the boy says "the flashlight made it happen" suggest that as Lieutenant Jimmy Cross he also feels remorse; he also thinks that Kiowa's death was his fault. Although his motives are different, he believes his action of lighting up a flashlight triggered the explosion in the shit field, he sees himself as the target to blame and considers that his actions were the ones who killed Kiowa, making this chapter's atmosphere depressive. 

3). " ' Billie's picture. I had ti all wrapped up, I had it in plastic, so it'll be okay if I can...Last night we were looking at it, me and Kiowa. Right here. I know for sure it's right here somewhere'..." (pg. 172)

ANALYSIS

This quote belongs to the young soldier's point of view. He's looking for the picture of his girlfriend that seemed to have gotten lost under the water of the shit field alleging to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross that he needs to find it that it's the only one he's got. 

This fragment suggests the importance of photographs for the soldiers are war; they are talismans and good-luck charms. They represent a life elsewhere, far from the horrors of the war and the fact that the young soldiers is so desperately trying to find it proves that it is his form of communication with the life he left behind and his manner of escaping the crudeness of war and blending in with a world of peace, tenderness and romantic fantasies symbolizing society and home. 

4). "...'That's him?' Azar said. 'Who else?' 'I don't know.' Azar shook his head. 'I don't know.' Norman Bowker touched the boot, covered his eyes for a moment, then stood up and looked at Azar. 'So where's the joke?' he said. 'No joke.' 'Eating shit. Let's hear that one.' 'Forget it.' ..." (pg. 173)

ANALYSIS

This quote belongs to one of the most interesting sections of the chapter where we readers see the effect of war of the immatureness of some soldiers represented by Azar. When Kiowa's body is found, the men of the platoon see him covered deeply in mud and water and this is when Azar is confronted with the naked truth of his own mortality; he realizes that he is still alive because of luck. 

The fact that Kiowa is death triggers a string within him and he realizes that the only reason for why he is still alive is because he is lucky he didn't get shot and because it was not his time. The joke that Norman Bowker makes emphasis in is an indirect manner of forcing Azar to make fun of death as he always done, but he's denial through the words "forget it" suggest that he has grown-up and finally understood that he's life is not eternal and that if it weren't for his own luck he could be in Kiowa's same position or worst.  

5). "Norman Bowker looked out across the wet field. 'Nobody's fault,' he said. 'Everybody's.' ..." (pg. 176)

ANALYSIS

This section belongs to the perspective of the men in the platoon and although it is pretty short, it is powerful. The sentence itself suggests that the essence of the chapter is the feeling of guilt. All men of the platoon, including the Lieutenant, are looking for a sense of closure, an answer to Kiowa's death. They want to know what happened and why did it happened the way it did. 

The quote suggests that the narrator is trying to tell the readers that death is always an event that leads to guilt and the need for finding an answer, or in other words, a culprit. The fact that Norman Bowker commences his thought with "nobody's fault" indicates that subconsciously he understands that Kiowa's death was just a consequence of the events that unfolded that night, but his contraction with the word "everybody's" suggests that openly he has not accepted this theory and hence, he still feels it si everybody's fault that Kiowa died: the Lieutenant's for making them camp in a shit field, his for not being brave enough, the young soldier's for lighting up the flashlight, and the rest of the men in the platoon for not being able to save him.   

6). "When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who had made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar round. You could blame people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics. You could blame whole nations. You could blame God. You could blame the munition makers or Karl Marx or a trick of fate or an old man in Omaha who forgot to vote." (pg. 177) 

ANALYSIS

This paragraph is pretty self explanatory and although there is not much analysis to get from it, it is important to understand the the essence of the chapter lies in the sense of guilt, remorse and responsibility. 

The purpose of the author in writing these phrases is to explain that death brings along questions, mainly about why it happened and would it have gone another way. He intends to let readers know that although you blame the entire world you will never find the real and exact cause for the death, because there isn't one. The truth is that is happened because it had to happened and not because it wanted to happen, but is this distinction that humans will never understand mainly because we don't accept death and hence, like Jimmy Cross says, "when a man died, there had to be blame"; we have to find an answer that we can understand and accept.