English 015 - Americans Abroad
Counting
Counting
Category: 08B: Going After Cacciato | Meaghan Tanguay
At the observation post and on the road to Paris, there is an “incredible slowness with which time passed” (p45). Paul Berlin struggles with his obsession over the passage of time. At the observation post during his Middle-hour guard, which he believes to be the scariest guard time, “he tried to remember tricks for making time move. Counting, that was one trick. Count the remaining days. Break the days into hours, and count the hours, then break the hours into minutes and count them one by one, and the minutes into seconds” (p46). Paul reverts to using the same counting technique to pass time when, on the road to Paris, Stink sets off what the soldiers think to be a land mine. “Paul Berlin brought his knees to his belly, coiling and falling… The fizzling sound was in his head. Count, he thought. But the numbers came in a tangle without sequence…His teeth hurt. Count, he thought. But his teeth ached and the numbers were jumbled and meaningless…There was no explosion. Count, he thought. But he couldn’t get a grip on the numbers” (p19). The passage of time for Paul whether he is at the observation post or on the road to Paris is a constant struggle and Paul finds himself continually trying to coax it along out of fear. He doesn’t want to be stuck in Nam forever.
Posted by on December 02, 2003 at 01:40 PM