The Vietnam War Comes Home: " Anonymous 11th Grade

The Vietnam War is arguably one of the most controversial and debated wars in American history. The protests against it sparked a new age of anti-government feelings in the U.S. and contributed to the hippie, peace movement it’s time is known for. The Vietnam War also showed some of the worst cases of PTSD and other changes in the soldiers who returned home than had been seen up until this point. In Vietnam, A History, Stanley Karnow attempts to discern what made the Vietnam War so different from others and what caused the effects it had on its soldiers. He quotes John Kerry as saying, “the country didn’t give a shit about the guys coming back - or what they had gone through.” (27). But whether they cared or not, the government and the country began to feel the same effects of the war that these veterans felt - a shift in American culture caused by Vietnam War. In his short story, “Greasy Lake”, T. C. Boyle illustrates the dehumanizing effect of the Vietnam War on American soldiers through the use of a war motif, a nature motif, and a car motif.

Boyle uses the motif of war to show that his characters have gone through a negative transformative experience and to create a parallel between their transformation and the...