English 015 - Americans Abroad
Cacciato: Enemy and Friend
Cacciato: Enemy and Friend
Category: 4E: O'Brien | Tom Lakin
Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato is a psychological novel that explores the effects of the Vietnam War on the minds of its soldiers. The novel’s plot is based on the ruminations of Paul Berlin, a lone soldier on night watch, whose memories and imagination set the scene for a story of both reality and ultimate fantasy. This story follows the peculiar Cacciato on his deserter’s journey from Vietnam to Paris – a trail that the other soldiers passionately pursue. Cacciato himself, shadowy and vague, is a very symbolic character. Through his actions and character, he embodies the people of Vietnam. He is representative of both the facelessness and danger of the Viet Cong enemy, the helpful guidance of the peaceful Vietnamese natives, and the indiscernible, often perplexing similarity of the two. Through this, he encapsulates many of the major issues integral to the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was fought against an almost imperceptible enemy. The Viet Cong soldiers were an indistinct group, impossible to catch and equally impossible to avoid. They had the advantage of knowing the land, and blended in seamlessly with the harsh jungle environment, baffling the American soldiers: “How, he asked Li Van Hgoc, did they hide themselves? How did they maintain such quiet? Where did they sleep, how did they melt into the land? Who were they?” (O’Brien 85). Cacciato clearly represents this enemy, and all its unusual characteristics. Though Cacciato is one of the principle characters of the novel, throughout the story the descriptions of his person are left hazy and indistinct. None of the other soldiers seem to really know Cacciato, and he has no close friends in the group. An early physical description reveals this peculiar phenomenon: “There was something curiously unfinished about Cacciato. Open-faced and naïve and plump, Cacciato lacked the fine detail, the refinements and final touches…The result was blurred and uncolored and bland. You could look at him then look away and not remember what you’d seen” (O’Brien 8). Like the Viet Cong soldiers, Cacciato is basically unknown to the Americans, faceless and vague.
Cacciato also resembles the Viet Cong soldiers in his occasional violent and erratic behavior. At one point in the story, the American group following him stumbles upon a smoke bomb booby trap Cacciato has set, and they react in much the same way they would upon being attacked by Viet Cong: “Stink…flung himself down and away, rolling, covering his skull…Eddie and Oscar and Doc Peret dropped flat…The lieutenant collapsed. And Paul Berlin brought his knees to his belly, coiling and falling, closing his eyes and his fists and his mouth.” (O’Brien 19). Though the mine is only a harmless smoke bomb, the men respond with genuine fear. In an unusual paradox, Cacciato, though an American solider, has transformed into a dangerous enemy. The men now view him as an unpredictable force to be hunted down and destroyed, much like they view the Viet Cong soldiers.
Perhaps the most compelling way in which Cacciato embodies the Vietnamese enemy is through his ability to avoid capture. The Viet Cong during the war were notorious for disappearing into the bush and leading American GI’s on wild goose chases. They seemed to exist in endless numbers, with an incredible talent for hiding in silence, only to suddenly appear in a violent ambush. Cacciato exposes all these elements within his character, and the Americans are forced to contend with them. He is extremely hard to locate, disappearing for days on end, only to appear in the strangest of places: “Then one morning Doc Peret showed him the newspaper. ‘Cacciato,’ Paul Berlin said…The photograph was grainy, partly blurred, but it was Cacciato’s happy face. Implausible, he realized. But so what?” (O’Brien 173). Like the Viet Cong, Cacciato flickers here and there, showing himself at times and blending in at others. The Americans are always chasing Cacciato, close on his heels, but they never seem to make any significant progress in their hunt for him. American soldiers in Vietnam faced the same trials in dealing with the Viet Cong. Occasionally they would win small battles, but it never seemed to make a dent in the state of the entire war.
Though Cacciato perfectly embodies the Viet Cong enemy, at times he also represents the peaceful Vietnamese natives who were also a major force in the war. These natives often helped American soldiers in their location of Viet Cong bases. They would guide soldiers in the right direction, and alert them of danger. Similarly, at times Cacciato is a helpful, even life-saving guardian for the Americans chasing him: “ ‘Cacciato. He’s our guide. Yes, he’s – you know – he’s out there in front. A scout.’ ” (O’Brien 60). He leaves the men hints and clues as he escapes – little trail markers to guide them: Cacciato eluded them but he left behind the wastes of his march: empty ration cans, bits of bread, a belt of gold-cased ammo dangling from a shrub, a leaking canteen, candy wrappers, worn rope. Hints that kept them going” (O’Brien 18). It is very much like an old Vietnamese villager pointing the way to an enemy camp. At one point, Cacciato even goes as far as to save the men from death when he frees them from jail on the night before their execution. He hands one of them a machine gun and then leads the way out in a blaze of gunfire: “…Cacciato’s round face appeared at the window...[Paul Berlin] blinked and reached out to grab the M16 that came sliding through the bars. ‘Go,’ Cacciato whispered.And then it started – an explosion, the great iron door shattered like a shot melon…and then they were running…’Go!’ Cacciato was shouting now, leading them through the breaking maze and over the walls and away” (O’Brien 242-243).
Similar to the helpful guidance of the peaceful Vietnamese natives, Cacciato saves the lives of American soldiers, guiding them away from danger.
Aside from merely representing both the Vietnamese enemy and allies, Cacciato more importantly captures the real issue of the Vietnamese war: the impossible task of differentiating between the two. His behavior throughout the story is greatly varied. At times he is dangerous and threatening, and at others he is helpful and guiding. The American GI’s in Vietnam had to deal with this daily, as the differences in looks between their enemies and allies were basically indiscernible. One could never be sure whom he was talking to and thus, everyone had to be feared and treated as potentially dangerous. The true horror of Vietnam lies in this inability to distinguish between enemy and friend. It is what caused both tragic American deaths - GI’s violently killed by young children strapped with bombs while trying to help them - and horrors such as the My Lai Massacre in which innocent Vietnamese women and children were mass-murdered. This very issue is why the Americans in Going After Cacciato continue their pursuit of the deserted soldier so cautiously and treat him as someone to be destroyed.
Using Cacciato as a vehicle, Going After Cacciato explores many of the difficulties faced by American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Cacciato embodies both the Vietnamese enemy and friend - a personification of danger and peace. Through this double representation, Cacciato reveals an unusual paradox in Paul Berlin’s story. He has crafted a tale in which an American soldier is both a helpful friend and an enemy to be feared. Maybe this is O’Brien’s way of revealing what he feels is the true horror of the Vietnam War: the two-sided nature of every American soldier as both comrade and foe. The Vietnam War forcibly crafted immature young men into crazed, unpredictable killers, and at times the line between the two became hazy and blurred. While Cacciato represents the Vietnamese who were so very unfamiliar to the American GI’s, perhaps he is also revealing that the Americans and Vietnamese were more similar than either side originally thought.
Posted by on December 15, 2003 at 04:17 PM