English 015 - Americans Abroad
Food for Thought
Food for Thought
Category: 4E: O'Brien | Karen Tang
In Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato, food helps the soldiers to alleviate the emotional pain from war. The soldiers’ purpose of war is not really to win the war, but to survive another day, and food crucially supports them. Besides the practical side of eating food, which is to survive, there is also the mental side. O’Brien does not clearly describe the soldiers’ daily meals, but instead emphasize the mental support food gives by paying a lot of attention to food that is eaten by the soldiers at critical moments: chocolate, wine, cans of food reappear throughout the novel at times of boredom, shock, pain, and death.
Paul Berlin’s imagination of food from America helps him to connect to his homeland, and thus, brings comfort to him while battling in the unfamiliar land, Vietnam. On the road to Paris, when the group of soldiers marches steadily and then stops along the shallow creek to avoid the early afternoon heat, Paul Berlin “closed his eyes, thinking it would be nice to have a cold Coke, or a tray of ice from the freezer, or an orange, or…” (p.31). Coke, ice, and orange are ordinary foods that symbolize home, and home is warm and peaceful. Thinking about the rich memories of food from home fulfill the soldiers’ emptiness they feel of fighting a purposeless war.
Paul Berlin’s imagination of food in Paris is a temporary exit from the war. War traps these soldiers physically, so their only way to escape violence and death threats is through imagination. It is also a way to go out of the routine, which is the unbearable daily soldier march. At the observation post during midnight, Paul thinks about what to do after the war, and then he thinks about what to do at Paris: “He would…sit in the cafes along the river and smile at the pretty girls…Rise early and walk to the open market for breakfast. He would eat very slowly, crossing his legs and maybe reading a paper…” (p.48). Going to Paris is a dream for Berlin, and by imagining the exotic cuisines, it gives him some hope and a happy idea to hold on to. Details of the food in Paris make his dream seem more plausible and enjoyable.
Food serves as a pseudo pain reliever throughout the novel. When Bernie Lynn lies on the ground still alive after he gets shot, Doc gets the M&Ms and “shook out two candies and placed them on Bernie’s tongue and told him to swallow” (p.65). Giving someone who is about to die some M&Ms does not seem usual; later on in the novel, however, we see why: “‘Swallow,’ Doc said. ‘It’s good stuff for what ails.’” (p.66). Medicine alleviates physical pain; chocolate soothes emotional pain. The sweetness of M&Ms melting in one’s mouth drives Bernie Lynn’s attention away from his physical pain and the shock of being attacked by the enemy. Besides chocolate, alcohol also does the trick. Later on in the novel, we see the lieutenant drinking beer as a way to numb his grief when Eisenhower is dead: “Inside, Doc and Eddie and the lieutenant were playing canasta in the sitting room. The lieutenant was drunk. ‘Easy does it,’ Eddie said. He motioned with his head toward the old man as if to signal something. ‘Eisenhower’s dead.’” (p.301). Getting drunk is a quick way for the lieutenant to avoid facing the sadness and pain of loss of Eisenhower.
Another situation that involves using food to overcome shocking experiences is at towards the end of the novel when the group is on the grassy hills going after Cacciato. Paul Berlin suddenly feels fear, and then he fires the rifle and wets his pants. After his embarrassing moment, Doc offers wine to him: “‘See, man? Everything’s real cool.’ He [holds] up a canteen. ‘So what’s your poison? I got Beaujolais, Pouilly-Fuisse, and this one last magnum of 1914 Goofy Grape. Which’ll it be?’” (p.332). The immediate mention of wine after Paul’s crisis shows that food plays an important role in soothing people’s emotions. For soldiers, who are often between the boarders of life and death, food is mental morphine. After experiencing all the emotional ups and downs, soldiers can bring their self-awareness back to the present by eating and drinking.
Food often appears at death related situations in the novel. Besides the scene of Bernie’s Lynn’s death and M&Ms, there is also the scene of Cacciato eating food after Buff’s death. When they drag Buff’s body out of the ditch and discuss what to do to his detached head, Cacciato suddenly starts eating peaches. “Cacciato was opening a can of peaches. The peach smell was sweet…Beside him, Cacciato was opening a can of boned chicken. Brine smells, the click of the P-38, salt and fat…Cacciato was finishing a chocolate bar” (p.280). After the can of peaches comes a can of boned chicken, and after that, a chocolate bar. This interesting relationship between death and food suggests another purpose food serves in the war: to focus on the food in the mouth and detach thoughts from death. After Cacciato’s absurd food-eating, O’Brien writes, “You couldn’t fake sadness…You were glad it wasn’t you. There was relief—it was Buff and not you. You couldn’t pretend away the relief” (p.282). Gobbling food is an active survival. Dead people cannot eat anymore. Seeing death, the soldiers chew and swallow food to tell themselves that they are still alive. At the observation post at dawn, Berlin eats a can of pears and thinks about Billy Boy’s death: “He turned off the scope’s power…then opened a can of pears. He ate slowly…Billy Boy was dead” (p.219). Recalling Billy Boy’s death, Paul Berlin also assures himself of his survival through eating food.
Food in war not only serves as practical means, but also as an emotional support. O’Brien’s Going after Cacciato shows this strong relationship between food and war. Throughout the novel, we see that Cacciato often appears with food: “Cacciato, he’d eat anything. Ham and eggs from a can, tropical chocolate bars, anything. He’d eat it”(p.282). Through this connection between Cacciato and food, O’Brien seems to suggest that maybe Cacciato symbolizes food, and that Cacciato serves as a mental support for Paul Berlin in the war.
Posted by ktang on December 15, 2003 at 04:11 PM