Violence (Metaphor)
Dana Stone – one of Herr’s friends and colleagues – had just come down from Danang. He “needed more equipment,” for he’d “fed all his cameras to the war again.” Contrary to a popular opinion that reporters are safe during a battle, war correspondents do risk their lives almost as much and sometimes even more – for they don’t have any weapon to protect themselves – as soldiers. Dana Stone proves it just fine. He could lose his life as easily as he lost his cameras and other equipment.
The Remains (Metaphor)
There were more awfully looking places than any sane person could cope with. There were some places that just screamed, "run away from here!" These were the places where no one wanted to stay; Herr described them as, “paddy, swamp, deep hairy bush, scrub, swale, village, even city,” where “the ground couldn’t drink up what the action spilled.” It made you “careful where you walked.” There always was a chance to step on a corpse or a piece of it.
The Land of Stories (Metaphor)
The country was full of stories, legends, and superstitions. There were old stories with “hair still growing” on them, those ones were retold and changed more times than one would be able to count. Sometimes the stories were so fresh that “the teller was in shock, sometimes they were long and complex.” Sometimes “the whole thing was contained in a few words.” Herr came there to write those stories down and bring them to the audience; he was going to be a bridge between civilians and the Marines.
Unexpectedly (Simile)
Herr remembered how he “jumped in once,” “spontaneous as shock,” during Tet when he heard “a doctor bragging that he’d refused to allow wounded Vietnamese into his ward.” That was too surreal to believe in it. A doctor – who vowed to help those who were in need no matter what – was the last person to do such a thing. That was yet another moment of realization that the war was destroying them and their hearts.
Rituals (Simile)
Rituals were valued and needed there, for they brought some stability. You could make “all the ritual moves,” “carry your lucky piece,” “wear your magic jungle hat,” “kiss your thumb knuckle smooth as stones under running water.” The Marines did all of that not because they believed in it, they just looked for something that could help them to relax.
