Genre
A novel, journalism
Setting and Context
The author writes about his experience as a war correspondent in Vietnam for Esquire Magazine.
Narrator and Point of View
The book is written from the first-person point of view. The narrator is Michael Herr.
Tone and Mood
The tone is exhausted while the mood is depressing, suffocating, and disturbing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Michael Herr is the protagonist. War itself is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is a person vs. self, for the most difficult battle is for your own sanity. However, it should be taken into account that this story has all types of conflicts such as man vs. man, man vs. society.
Climax
A bunker is the climax of the story.
Foreshadowing
I went to cover the war and the war covered me.
The author admits that the war becomes a life-changing experience for him. Even though he didn’t kill anyone, he saw enough madness to lose his mind.
Understatement
“Take your pills, baby,” a medic in Can Tho told me.
The doctor recommends taking pills as if they can help to forget the scenes of violence and move forward as if nothing has happened.
Allusions
The story alludes to the siege of Khe Sahn.
Imagery
There is an imagery of the jungle and a night.
Paradox
You know how it is, you want to look and you don’t want to look.
Parallelism
Bomb ‘em and feed ‘em, bomb ‘em and feed ‘em.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Well, they gotta be payin’ you some tough bread.” (Bread is metonymy that means money.)
My glasses weren’t even broken. (Glasses are synecdoche that means spectacles.)
Personification
Aw, jungle’s okay. If you know her you can live in her real good, if you don’t she’ll take you down in an hour.
