Reading #8 Question 1

[Jessica]

In "Night Life," what do you think the night life symbolizes? Why do
you think that the soldiers seemed infatuated with, but also terrified
of night?

[Scott Cast]

That’s an interesting question Jessica; I feel the soldiers use the
phrase “the night life” to imagine that Vietnam wasn’t as scary as it
was, pretending they’re like bachelors living the night life, going to
parties and staying up late. As for their so called infatuation for
the night, I think it has more to do with a deeper rooted feeling,
like a child taking shelter under the covers and closing its eyes,
creating a place of safety and comfort. Fighting a war in a place
where their primal urges are telling them they’re safe, and never
truly being safe can rattle the foundations of a person’s mental state
as described in the quote “you couldn’t even tell you where blinking,
the blackness didn’t change. So pretty soon you’d get jumpy. Your
nerves would go” (O’Brien 209). I believe this quote further
demonstrates my point that the inability to blink to escape into
darkness shakes the man to his core. Therefore I feel that the
soldiers are not scared of the dark, but of the thought of losing the
dark.

[Abigail Seay]

I agree, Scott.  I think that night life helped the soldiers to lighten the actual events they were going through.  Night life symbolizes the opposite of the fun, nighttime events that occur in America.  During the war, it refers to a group of soldiers whose, "....platoon moved only at night, staying off the main trails..." (O'Brien 208).  Soldiers were terrified of the night because sleeping during the day and being on the move in a war at night was brutal to the soldiers, both mentally and physically.  One soldier did all he could to get away from having to go out at night.  After he had had enough, Kiley, "put a round through his foot" (O'Brien 212).  Although doing something like that isn't normally approved of by other soldiers, they could all tell that he wasn't fit to continue the night life.

[Logan Torgerson]

I agree with Abby and Scott. The term "night life" was, "A language
trick. It made things seem more tolerable." (O'Brien 208). Even
though through the night life the soldiers often felt panicked and
scared at times, the term sounded better and made things sound more
pleasant than they actually were. Soldiers went through grueling
expeditions at night and "It was the purest black you could imagine,
Sanders said, the kind of clock-stopping black that God must've had in
mind when he sat down to invent blackness." (O'Brien 209). Certain
soldiers were afraid of this blackness, because they were worried
about getting separated from the group and the things that lie ahead
of them that they cannot see. Some soldiers, like Kiley, couldn't
handle the night life and had to take the easy way out.

On Feb 19, 10:11 pm, Abigail Seay <as...@brvgs.k12.va.us> wrote:
> I agree, Scott.  I think that night life helped the soldiers to lighten the
> actual events they were going through.  Night life symbolizes the opposite
> of the fun, nighttime events that occur in America.  During the war, it
> refers to a group of soldiers whose, "....platoon moved only at night,
> staying off the main trails..." (O'Brien 208).  Soldiers were terrified of
> the night because sleeping during the day and being on the move in a war at
> night was brutal to the soldiers, both mentally and physically.  One soldier
> did all he could to get away from having to go out at night.  After he had
> had enough, Kiley, "put a round through his foot" (O'Brien 212).  Although
> doing something like that isn't normally approved of by other soldiers, they
> could all tell that he wasn't fit to continue the night life.
>

> On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 8:44 AM, Scott Cast <dudetheirsmy...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > That’s an interesting question Jessica; I feel the soldiers use the
> > phrase “the night life” to imagine that Vietnam wasn’t as scary as it
> > was, pretending they’re like bachelors living the night life, going to
> > parties and staying up late. As for their so called infatuation for
> > the night, I think it has more to do with a deeper rooted feeling,
> > like a child taking shelter under the covers and closing its eyes,
> > creating a place of safety and comfort. Fighting a war in a place
> > where their primal urges are telling them they’re safe, and never
> > truly being safe can rattle the foundations of a person’s mental state
> > as described in the quote “you couldn’t even tell you where blinking,
> > the blackness didn’t change. So pretty soon you’d get jumpy. Your
> > nerves would go” (O’Brien 209). I believe this quote further
> > demonstrates my point that the inability to blink to escape into
> > darkness shakes the man to his core. Therefore I feel that the
> > soldiers are not scared of the dark, but of the thought of losing the
> > dark.
>
> > On Feb 16, 7:19 pm, Jessica <jesswalkingonsunsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > In "Night Life," what do you think the night life symbolizes? Why do
> > > you think that the soldiers seemed infatuated with, but also terrified

> > > of night?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Brianna]

This is an excellent question Jessica. The night life symbolizes how
Vietnam really was to the American soldiers. The war was dark and
scary, they didn't know what would happen next or what they would
encounter. They were terrified by the night life because they didn't
know what to expect and it drove them crazy. "So pretty soon you'd get
jumpy. you nerves would go." (O'Brien 209). The dark scared them
because even when they closed their eyes you couldn't tell the
difference because it was the same dark. They were also infatuated by
the dark because even if something lurked in the dark the could not
see their fate.

On Feb 16, 7:19 pm, Jessica <jesswalkingonsunsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jason Guy]

Scott, Abby, and Logan said, the term "night life" was used as a mind
trick to make night missions and night marching sound not as bad as
they really were. But the truth was that everyone dreaded the "night
Life", there was nothing good about it. The soldiers, while marching
at night rarely talked and when so only in whispers. They also
experienced the purest black one could imagine. The night seemed to
isolate the soldiers from each other, and stuck out in jungle
surrounded by darkness without the comforting presence of their
comrades, "alone, you'd think and then the real panic would bang
in" (O'Brien 209). During the "night life" the soldiers not only
experienced the usual physical intenseness of marching but were also
worn down mentally by bad dreams and the loss of their nerves.
Combine the factors of "night life", being seemingly alone, surrounded
by darkness, and located in unknown hostile territory, and the reason
why the soldiers were terrified by the "night life" becomes very
clear.

On Feb 20, 3:49 pm, Logan Torgerson <ltorger...@brvgs.k12.va.us>
wrote:

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Jason Guy]

As Scott, Abby, and Logan said, the term "night life" was used as a

mind trick to make night missions and night marching sound not as bad
as they really were. But the truth was that everyone dreaded the
"night Life", there was nothing good about it. The soldiers, while
marching at night rarely talked and when so only in whispers. They
also experienced the purest black one could imagine. The night seemed
to isolate the soldiers from each other, and stuck out in jungle
surrounded by darkness without the comforting presence of their
comrades, "alone, you'd think and then the real panic would bang
in" (O'Brien 209). During the "night life" the soldiers not only
experienced the usual physical intenseness of marching but were also
worn down mentally by bad dreams and the loss of their nerves.
Combine the factors of "night life", being seemingly alone, surrounded
by darkness, and located in unknown hostile territory, and the reason
why the soldiers were terrified by the "night life" becomes very
clear.

[Kierra W.]

I believe that Scott made a great opening argument about the reason
behind them calling life in Vietnam “the night life” because it
symbolized the life of a free going bachelor. Vietnam being called
“the night life” was a completely valid act to preserve their sanity.
If they thought the life they were being forced to live was a game
then it would make the time their easier to go through, and it could
also be used as a comforting agent. For the instance if a child is
having a nightmare they are told to think it is only a dream and
whatever happened in the dream didn’t actually happen. The reason
behind the soldiers infatuation/terror of the night comes from how the
bodies senses naturally intensifies with the night. For some it may
have the affect of a drug and it’ll keep pulling them in until they go
crazy like in the case of Kiley. Kiley had started to become over
paranoid about the bugs coming after him during the walks at night. He
would go on complaining about the, “Big giant killer bugs… [that] he
claimed the bugs were personally after [him]” (O’Brien 209). The
paranoia over the bugs was from his senses being oversensitive to the
environment. Another example of how the night could make a person
paranoid is when Kiley confessed to Sanders that he felt like he was
going crazy because he would randomly picture the still living
soldiers in his platoon as dead and how much their head might way.

On Feb 16, 7:19 pm, Jessica <jesswalkingonsunsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Meagan]

That's a really great question, Jessica, and everyone made great
points. However, I have to disagree with you, Abbey, when you said
that night life helped to lighten the events the soldiers were going
through. They may have used that phrase in an attempt at levity, but
it was simply "a language trick. It made things seem
tolerable" (O'Brien 208). In reality, the soldiers were absolutely
and completely terrified of "the night life" and everything it
entailed. The darkness was something none of the soldiers knew
exactly how to deal with. They were all scared of the unknown world
that night enshrouded them in. Only for those reasons were the
soldiers infatuated with the night life. It was mysterious and
unknown and difficult to cope with.

On Feb 19, 10:11 pm, Abigail Seay <as...@brvgs.k12.va.us> wrote:

> I agree, Scott.  I think that night life helped the soldiers to lighten the
> actual events they were going through.  Night life symbolizes the opposite
> of the fun, nighttime events that occur in America.  During the war, it
> refers to a group of soldiers whose, "....platoon moved only at night,
> staying off the main trails..." (O'Brien 208).  Soldiers were terrified of
> the night because sleeping during the day and being on the move in a war at
> night was brutal to the soldiers, both mentally and physically.  One soldier
> did all he could to get away from having to go out at night.  After he had
> had enough, Kiley, "put a round through his foot" (O'Brien 212).  Although
> doing something like that isn't normally approved of by other soldiers, they
> could all tell that he wasn't fit to continue the night life.
>

[Rosemary]

I agree with Jason and Meagan that the night life was less infatuating
to the soldiers than it was terrorizing and the name given to it was
solely for comfort. I think the darkness of the night that frightened
the soldiers represented the darkness within them. While the war may
have brought out the best in the men, it also revealed the worst
traits they possessed. They had to commit deeds seen as crimes back
home, like murder. The soldiers would have been curious yet terrified
of this inner darkness because they had never or rarely come into
contact with it in the United States. I think the men were scared of
what they saw in themselves when they were surrounded by darkness.
They would blink and "the blackness didn't change" because it was
inside of them. Rat Kiley says, "at night...I start seeing my own
body...my own heart, my own kidneys...it's like staring into this huge
black crystal ball" (211-212). He notices the darkness inside himself
and he, like many of the other soldiers, can't handle it or the
physical darkness surrounding him.

[Virginia]

That’s a really good question, Jessica. However, I have to disagree
with the phrasing of it; I don’t think it was as much of an
infatuation with the night life, as it was an obsessive craze. These
night searches were dark, ominous, and mysterious; “You’d shake your
head and blink, except you couldn’t even tell you were blinking, the
blackness didn’t change … Pretty soon you’d get jumpy.” (O’Brien 209)
The night life had overcome the men in the sense that it pelted them
with paranoia throughout the midnight hours. I’d like to bring up a
point that Jason brought up: the idea that the soldiers actually
dreaded the night life. This is clearly evident, as the chapter goes
on to describe how one soldier, Rat Kiley, is confronted with a mental
illness after ‘living the night life’ so often; his psychological
ordeal is put to an end after he inflicts pain upon himself, through
shooting his own foot. All this taken into account, I think the night
was viewed as terror. It was symbolic of a black hole of fear, in a
sense. The dread of ‘living the night life’ was almost as frightful as
the actual act was.

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