Reading #8, Question #1

[Megan]

In "Ghost Stories," Rat Kiley is faced with a difficult situation and
"he [loses] his cool" (O'Brien 219). Do the other soldiers see Kiley
as a coward, or do they understand his breakdown and wish they could
do the same?

[Andre]

Great question Megan and I think the answer it pretty obvious. The
other soldiers understand his breakdown, "Everybody stood in a little
half circle, feeling bad about it, trying to cheer him up" (224).
Kiley was never referred to as coward. Personally, I believe he is a
very strong character because he dealt with wounded, mutilated
soldiers each day; the injuries that he treated were unimaginable and
they did crazy things to his mental health. He once, "finds himself
wondering how much a guy's head weighs amd what it would feel like to
pick up the head and carry it over to a chopper and dump it in" (222).
Anyone with heart and two eyes can see Rat Kiley has had too much of
the 'Nam experience. His fellow soldiers exemplify true character by
understanding his situation amd not calling him a coward or accusing
him of copping out on his duty. Ray Kiley needed help and his fellow
soldiers did not pass improper judgement.

[Nojai]

I like this question as well and I agree with Andre. Rat Kiley was
portrayed as a strong character but, just like any person when they've
had too much of something, "the strain [became] too much for
him" (O'Brien 219). The images that Rat Kiley saw and the mind frame
he developed during the war made him lose it, "his whole personlaity
seemed out of kilter" (221). I don't think that the the soldiers see
Kiley as a coward because "everybody was feeling it...always a lost
sensation," (221) I just believe that he, Kiley, got way more gore
from the war than the others. The other soldiers understood his
breakdown, "nobody blamed him" (223). It's one thing to kill in the
war but to have to look and touch what's been killed, I believe that
that has a different affect. "Always policing up the parts...always
plugging up holes," he was a medic that was surrounded with death and
wounded men. He had the insight to the killing, which is why I think
that he was use to seeing bodies without limbs. Visualizing "how much
the guys, [Bowker or Dobbins], head weighed, how heavy it was and what
it would feel like to carry it...," (222) it was what he saw on a
regular basis. I don't think the soldiers wish they could shoot
themselves to leave but I do believe that they all want to escape the
war. Kiley "shot himself...," and "Lieutenant Cross said he'd vouch
that it was an accident" (223-224). They all understood what he was
going through.

On Feb 15, 9:43 pm, Megan <soca_chic...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Trey Smith]

The other soldiers do not see Rat Kiley as coward. As a medic, he was
exposed to death more so than most soldiers. His job included physical
contact with gory corpses. Unlike the other soldiers who became
accustomed to the death around them and were able to ignore it,
Kiley's job was to hope for life as long as it was probable. This
inability to become detached from the war was a constant travail for
him and, "the strain [became] too much for him" (O'Brien 219). At the
end of the reading, which Andre referenced, the soldiers showed that
they understood his pain, and they tried to cheer him up. The other
soldiers did not see him as a coward.

[Kevin]

I agree with Trey on this one. The other soldiers don't see Rat as a
coward, they sympathize with his situation and wish they could do the
same. The stress just happened to make Rat crack instead of one of the
others. I kind of agree with Trey on the medical part as well, but I
disagree with how just being the medic made him more prone to
snapping. I think the condition was already existent, but the medic
role just added to the drama until he cracked. It's also evident the
other soldiers understood his problem when Lieutenant Cross
sympathized with his pain. "Lieutenant Cross went over and said he'd
vouch that it was an accident," (O'Brien 223-224). The soldiers were
able to comprehend his feelings and had the decency to respect his
escape from the war.

[Natese]

Good question Megan, and Andre made a very good point. Rat Kiley was a
very strong person and could handle almost any situation without
almost any complaints even as a medic. Over time, he had seen so much
violence, it made him think about what could happen to him or the
other soldiers within his company. He could no longer control his
sanity and his friends began to feel sympathetic for him and even
stated that "It was a sad thing to watch" (O'Brien 221). Although I
believe they understand his breakdown, they did not want to be in his
place, not even for a second.

[Shelly]

I agree with Andre. Kiley is in no way a coward, but he is insanely
brave for coping with things in the way that he does. When he "finally
hit a wall (O'Brien 210), he would "stare at guys who were still okay,
the alive guys, and he'd
start to picture how they'd look dead" (O'Brien 211). He had gone
through so much, and had been so traumatized that he couldn't even see
other, uninjured soldiers without imagining the worst. The way he
responded to his situation, by shooting himself in the foot, it was a
brave thing to do. He knew that he had to seperate himself from his
surroundings or else his mental state would become even weaker and he
would slowly lose himself.

On Feb 15, 9:43 pm, Megan <soca_chic...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[John]

Rat Kiley should not be seen as a coward. As pointed out by Trey, he
was a medic and saw multiple tragedies and deaths among his fellow
soldiers. Most of the soldier understood his breakdown and that way
he could not cope with the stress that came with sleeping in the day
and trekking at night. Every soldier had to deal with the stress and
each individual had a different way of dealing with the symptoms. Rat
Kiley "At first it just sank inside himself, not saying a word, but
then later on, after five or six days, it flipped the other way. He
couldn't stop talking." (O'Brien 220). This was Kiley's way of
dealing with stress, keeping to himself and minding his own business.

[Jarrett Talley]

I believe you have all made good points and what a great question
Megan! I believe that all of the soldiers see him the same as everyone
else who is in the war, a young man that wants nothing more than to
survive. Rat Kiley simply just had too much and could not bear walking
through the dark anymore. Rat was not the only man who suffered from
the night life, "Jensen popped special vitamins high in carotene.
Lieutenant Cross popped NoDoz... Dobbins and Norman Bowker even rigged
up a saftey line... The whole platoon felt the impact. (Obrien 220)"
No one viewed Kiley as a coward he just simply lost his mind before
everyone else did. Every man in that platoon was scared for their life
each night they went on a patrol.