Exploration Three: By Emilee McCabe

1).  My active reading is going well, and I am staying up to date with the reading. I noted all of the character's names and I pointed out what they carried in the first chapter. I am also keeping track of important events in each story. Early in the book, I noted that Tim O'Brien did not want to be drafted into the Vietnam War; he even escaped for a few days to the Tip Top Lodge where he met Elroy.



2).  So far, the story, Friends means the most to me. I thought it was interesting how Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk did not become instant friends, but they later made a pact stating if one of them got a wheelchair wound, then the other would have to end it some how. The two signed their names and even had witnesses. Months after making that pact, Lee Strunk fell on a rigged mortar round. The way the author describes the wound really creates a clear image. "He tried to get up and run, but there was nothing left to run on. He fell hard. The stump of his right leg was twitching. There were slivers of bone, and the blood came in quick spurts like water from a pump. He seemed bewildered. He reached as if to massage his kissing leg, then he passed out, and Rat Kiley put on a tourniquet and administered morphine and ran plasma into him." (page 62-63) This section uses figurative language and imagery to give the reader a visual of what is occurring. It draws the reader in to keep reading to see what happens next.



3).   Bob (Rat) Kiley stands out to me the most so far because of the fact he wrote a letter to Curt Lemon's sister about a week after Lemon was killed. Kiley gets emotional writing this touching, personal letter because of how much Lemon means to him. In the letter, Kiley explained how good of a guy Lemon was and he explained how if felt to be around him.  I felt it was very kind of Rat Kiley to do so; not just anyone would write a letter like this. Even though he never received a response from Curt Lemon's sister, this kind act still shows what kind of character Kiley is; he is a kind, genuine man.