![]() ![]() He imagines that his father will be disinterested, thinking that he has his own World War II stories and that he would call Norman's courage and valor into question. He imagines that his former girlfriend Sally's response would be one of horrified disapproval of the vulgarities of war, of the vulgarity of Kiowa's death in the shit field. O'Brien underscores Bowker's hesitation to tell others about his experiences in Vietnam, as he believes that they don't want to hear them. Norman's problem is one of not having an audience to which he can address the stories of Vietnam that weigh heavily on him emotionally. Instead, O'Brien employs a stream-of-consciousness technique that allows readers to learn the details of Kiowa's death by "overhearing" Bowker's interior dialogue. It is important to note that, like the first chapter, this chapter is told by a third person narrator - the narrator "O'Brien" is largely absent from this chapter as a witness or commentator, though he comments on it in the chapter that follows. Of the characters O'Brien revisits in a post-war story, Norman Bowker is by far the one who has the most difficult time carrying - to draw on the metaphor O'Brien presents in the novel's title - the burden of memory. Later he stops and watches the fireworks show. After he finishes eating, he presses the intercom button again and begins to tell his story to the voice at the other end of the intercom, but he changes his mind and resumes his drive around the lake. Later, he pulls into an A&W drive-in restaurant and tries to place an order with the carhop, who tells him to talk into the intercom. He thinks about how he would explain the incidents that led up to Kiowa's death and recalls the scene with great detail as the memories play again and again in his mind like a movie. He contemplates telling his stories about Vietnam to four railway workers he sees.Īs Norman continues to drive around the lake, he listens to the radio and thinks more about bravery. Norman wants to talk about nearly saving Kiowa's life and about how he feels he failed in not doing so. Norman wants to talk about Vietnam, and he imagines how he would tell his father about almost earning a Silver Star, but his father is too busy to listen. He thinks about how his friends have gotten married or moved away to find jobs. He recalls driving around the lake with Sally before the war and remembers how a childhood friend drowned in the lake. In the late afternoon on the Fourth of July holiday, Norman drives around a local lake, passing time and thinking about his life before the war, as well as what he saw and did in Vietnam. After his service in the Vietnam War, Norman Bowker returns home and has difficulty adjusting to the normalcy of everyday life.
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