Chapter 8

"The Dentist"


Important Sections of the Chapter 


1). "When Curt Lemon was killed, I found it hard to mourn. I knew him  only slightly, and what I did know was not impressive. He had a tendency to play the tough soldier role, always posturing, always puffing himself up, and on occasion he took it way too far." (pg. 86)

ANALYSIS

This is the first quote of the chapter entitled "The Dentist." It is a paradox because in it O'Brien states that when one of his fellow comrades died he "found it hard to mourn." This is bizarre because usually, when someone dies, the others mourn his or her death as a means of respect or merely, tradition. However, the narrator leads us to believe that Curt Lemon did not deserve to be mourned because of his tendency to "play the rough soldier role, always posturing, always puffing himself up," in order words, because of lack of modesty and humility.   


2). "But afterward he couldn't stop bragging. He kept replaying his own exploits, tacking on little flourishes that never happened. He had an opinion of himself, I think, that was too high for his own good. Or maybe it was the reverse. Maybe it was a low opinion that he kept trying to erase." (pg. 86)

ANALYSIS 

Readers learn a little bit more about the character of Curt Lemon here. We understand why O'Brien considers him a man that does not deserve to be mourned. Curt Lemon was a soldier whose biggest flaw relied in the fact that he needed others to hold him in awe, to make him feel important. He needed to seem the controller of the situation, the macho-alpha, because that what his escape for feeling strong and capable to stand the war. 

However, we are presented with the truth about Lemon's personality and that all the "macho-attitude" in this man is just a mask to hide the child that lived inside of him, the one who is scared of people like the dentist. 


3). "The embarrassment must've turned a screw in his head. Late that night he crept down to the dental tent. He switched on a flashlight, woke up the young captain, and told him he had a monster toothache...the man finally shrugged and shot Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth. There was some pain, no doubt, but in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles." (pg. 88)  

ANALYSIS 

These sentences confront us, again, with the "fear of blushing," the burden for all soldiers at war. We see how Curt Lemon cannot stand the embarrassment of having fainted, in front of the Company, during his visit to the Dentist because he was scared. 

His action of visiting the dentist's tent at night and forcing him to rip out a "perfectly good tooth" is made out of stubborn pride and not out of a sense of bravery. Thus, we are demonstrated that this man cannot live with the idea that his Company does not have a high image of him as he so skillfully constructed. 

The ending of the quote when O'Brien says "in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles" shows that by proving to himself that he can stand a visit to the dentist, Lemon already considers himself a brave man again and thus his ancient pose of macho-man is back since he believes that he has shown the men in his Company that he did not let his childish fear rule his life.    

2 comments:

  1. Great point: "However, the narrator leads us to believe that Curt Lemon did not deserve to be mourned because of his tendency to "play the rough soldier role, always posturing, always puffing himself up," in order words, because of lack of modesty and humility."

    "we are also revealed with the truth about Lemon's personality and that all the "macho-attitude" in this man is just a mask to hide the child that lived inside of him, the one who is scared of people like the dentist." We learn important info. about his character in this chapter.

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  2. whoever chose this font is dumb af

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