The novel in question was written by Tim O’Brien a noted American author who served in the Vietnam war and much of his work has concentrated on various aspects of this war and this novel is no exception. The book centres around the mysterious disappearance of Vietnam war veteran John Wade’s wife Kathy’s disappearance, whilst the two were on holiday in a cabin in an isolated part of Minnesota. Wade was an aspiring politician who was expected to be elected to the United States Senate but prior to the election process it was established he had participated in the infamous, My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, and as a result he was heavily defeated in the election.
In the novel there are various chapters regarding Kathy’s disappearance some are entitled “Evidence”, “Hypothesis” and”Titled.”Some of the work contains factual texts but others are imaginary. The author never reveals the truth about Kathy’s disappearance but poses a number of scenarios. Flashbacks, secrecy, unhappiness, poor relationship and mystery are at the core of the novel, so to is ambiguity.
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The purpose of the essay is to examine the novel and it’s themes and the links between the themes, character development and the questioning of truth and reality by examining the novel and in particular three chapters of the book examined entitled “Evidence”, “Hypothesis” and ”Titled.”
In the chapter entitled “Titled” the couple are trying to come to terms with their situation. They have known each other since college days but the marriage has not been entirely happy and led to infidelity on Kathy’s part and latterly due to John’s career they have often been apart. However, in this chapter Kathy seems to want reconciliation and the future and to make things better between the couple as well as the theme of putting past difficulties behind them. She opens by stating “It’s not really so terrible”. Again, there is the theme of secrecy as within herself she is pleased that her husband’s political career has come to an end. Kathy, in discussing their future points to what they could do such as take one day at a time, he could explore employment with fancy law firms in Minnesota, rent or buy a cheaper house draw up a budget, save for a break in Verona which she has always wanted to do and do all the wonderful things they have not done. The narrator however, early in the chapter refers to the reality of the situation in that while they are talking on the porch within 36 hours, and the fact, she would have disappeared.
In the chapter “Evidence” there is a letter from John to Kathy in 1968. Clearly this is before their eventual marriage and John writes in a kind of cocky, mannish, and jokey way but this is against a real background of hardship and violence. He hopes for the day he comes home and they can be married with plenty of sex. He writes in contrast to his dreams of the tense situation in Vietnam with booby trap and casualties. He finds the whole situation frustrating and hard to describe to Kathy. He feels a clear and distinct atmosphere of a situation like an infection with it’s distinct smell and taste. But concludes he will be o.k. and that he loves her. His language in this chapter are mixed when he talks of them as a couple he is almost banal and as with the theme of the previous chapter it is possible he has difficulty in communicating with Kathy in a personal but, on the other hand, is quite lucid in describing the reality of his circumstances.
It is possibly the case in this chapter that John, the future politician, can communicate well on facts and is realistic but in terms of personal intimacy he has a problem. This is ,of course, not uncommon in politicians who are every day dealing with the real situation as it is with facts and evidence and arguments but in their personal life find real difficulties.
In the chapter “Hypothesis” Kathy’s affair is brought to light. She flew to Boston to meet her lover Harmon. The narrator , at the outset suggests that Kathy has ,in reality, left her husband a long time ago. In the years after the affair the theme of secrecy occurs again as Kathy has kept the affair secret and that one day this secrecy will become too much for her. It is not just the secrecy of the affair the realistic situation is that everything is wrong for her and the brutal reality is that her marriage has decayed as well as her dreams being put off and a lack of intimacy that she craves. There has been clearly, a growing distance between her and her husband and the theme of poor communication between them and realistically, she does not know what to do. The future for her is not good and her life is not what she wanted it to be. Consideration is given to the extreme act of suicide and she has resorted to anti-depressants to try ad feel better about herself.
The reader of the story is invited by the author effectively to explain and outline what did actually happen to Kathy regarding her disappearance which was investigated by the police with no definitive outcome.
One possible but reasonable explanation for Kathy’s disappearance is that she has been unhappy for a long time with her dreams not being fulfilled and her relationship with her husband which from college days then marriage has clearly deteriorated. It could be argued that by going to to a vacation in the woods with John, very isolated, was Kathy’s last throw of the dice to seek rescue her life and improve relations with her husband. The reality of the situation is that despite her positive attempts to view the future John is not really listening. He is obviously devastated at the fall of his political career and is possibly dreading the future and it’s reality as far as he is concerned.
Kathy realizes that her attempts to put the couples relationship on a much better situation are doomed and , in fact, her proposals for the are not going to happen and she cannot live with this. She does not want to live with her husband’s failed political career as an ever present hair-line crack in both their lives.
She leaves during the night, again in secrecy, and walks as far as she can from the cabin in the mountains where she realistically reviews her situation. In the cool night air, she considers what her future life has to offer. She contrasts her dreams with reality and reaches a conclusion that she needs to end her life. Kathy wants to be free of the reality of her life, her dreams, which she now sees as coming to nothing . She decides to kill herself and does so by climbing into a cave which is very hidden in a mountain. Her presence of mind has led her to bring along a bottle of vodka and a large amount of pills which she has, again secretly, amassed. In the darkness she drinks the vodka and at regular intervals consumes the pills not too quickly as she stills wants to feel she is still in control of the situation. Within an hour she has assessed that she is doing the correct thing as she perceives it. Half an hour later she goes to sleep never to wake up and reality has triumphed over dreams.
The novel, in a calculated way, creates atmosphere at every turn with hardly a word wasted. The themes of secrecy, unhappiness, poor communication, inadequate relationships, and dreams against reality are all linked. The words and sentences are, at times, brief but very effective and although a fairly grim story it never fails to capture the readers attention.
