The Theme Of Redeployment

Words: 702
Pages: 3

Reaction chart for “Redeployment”
DPs
• The ending of the story was very depressing for me because I love dogs. However, I think the author made the narrator’s experience with redeployment very realistic and relatable.
• One very surprising aspect of the short story is the reoccurring motif of shooting dogs. Throughout the story dogs are constantly mentioned. For example, the story starts out with the jarring and powerful phrase “We shot dogs” (1). In addition, during the marines’ training they shot at targets called “dog targets”, but “they don’t look like fucking dogs” (3). Finally, at the end of the story the narrator shoots his own dog, Vicar, because he is old and sick. The dog shooting motif contributes to the overall theme of the difficulty
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For example, he open’s the story with the short impactful sentence “We shot dogs” (1). Then the narrator contradicts the first sentence by frankly stating that he is “a dog person” (1). This indicates that the narrator feels conflicted with the dog shooting but does it anyway. Then he opens the next paragraph with another short impactful sentence, “First time was instinct” (1). It shows how he is naturally horrified by the fact that a dog was lapping up blood. The next paragraph is interesting because the point of view switches from first person to second person. As a result, the reader is drawn into the moments of the narrator clearing out a house with his platoon. Another important thing to note is Klay’s repetition of the word “time” in the beginning sentence of almost every paragraph on the first page, such as “At the time” and “when they give you the time” (1). This shows how the narrator often loses himself in the moment and avoids deeply contemplating about the horrors of the war that he has witnessed. In addition, the author repeats the word “decompress” and even gives the word its own sentence, emphasizing it. The usage of the word shows how the military is trying to ease the transition for the narrator, but the narrator is having a hard time with the transition. Another example of how syntax reveals aspects of the narrator is the rhetorical question “What the fuck?” (2). It displays how the narrator can find irony in his transitional situation. Another interesting syntactical choice of the author is the unusual sentence order of this sentence “The problem is, your thoughts don’t come out in any kind of straight order.” (2). The jumbled word order shows how jumbled the narrator’s state of mind it. This is further explained with horrific descriptions of bits and pieces of horrific moments in the war that may have left