Essay Questions

According to Tim O’Brien, what is the relationship between politics and manipulation?

The author uses the character, John, to precisely confirm that politics and manipulation go hand in hand. John, who is the primary character in the novel, is a magician and has an interest in politics. Before joining politics, he practices magic and he is able to attract large audiences. People love his magic shows and the irony is that there is nobody who is interested in the logic behind the magic. Later, John joins politics and he is able to attract many voters who vote for him. O'Brien compares the voters and the magical audiences and concludes that they are all the same because they are both blinded to perform duties for the benefit of the magician and the politician. For instance, voters do not conduct background checks on politicians because they are manipulated to vote. In the same way, magic audiences are manipulated to cheer magicians without bothering to investigate the logic behind the magic.

Why is John suspicious of Kathy despite knowing that she loves him dearly?

John meets Kathy for the first time in college when they are both students. John takes his time to learn and understand Kathy's habits before approaching her. After knowing her behaviors, John approaches Kathy and starts a conversation. As days go by, they both realize that they have many things in common and as a result, they fall in love. After college, they become deeply in love and communicate more often. However, John is a soldier and he is deployed to Vietnam leaving Kathy at home. While at war, he communicates frequently with Kathy. However, it reaches a time when their communication starts to dwindle. John started suspecting that Kathy is cheating on him that is why she does not regularly write to him. He wishes that he could be at home so that he can spy on her. Therefore, the main reason why John is suspicious of Kathy is that he thinks that she is cheating on him but he does not evidence to prove his claims.

O'Brien portrays American soldiers as inhumane and thus contradicts the expectations of many people globally who think that America has disciplined forces. Do you agree?

The actions of the American soldiers in the Vietnam War indeed prove that they are inhumane and have little regard for human dignity. During the war, the American soldiers treat civilians and Vietnamese soldiers in a similar manner. Civilians are unarmed and have no capability of harming an American soldier. However, the American soldiers are killing Vietnam civilians the same way they are killing the Vietnamese soldiers. Therefore, they acting inhumanly towards the civilians who need protection and humanitarian aid. Some of the American soldiers are enjoying killing the civilians who are innocent. John is one of the American soldiers, who is regretting his actions as a soldier in the Vietnam War. He is afraid of telling his seniors that he was part of the soldiers who massacred innocent Vietnamese civilians. Consequently, it is agreeable that American soldiers' actions in the Vietnam War were inhumane and contradicts the expectations of many people.