In the Lake of the Woods, by Tim O'brien Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

In the Lake of the Woods, by Tim Obrien - Essay ExampleHe pictured the lake itself as huge and coldinfinitely blue and beautiful and always the same (OBrien, p.1). This allowed the reader to feel that the lake by itself is peaceful yet elicits feelings of isolation. With this OBrien builds mystery and fear, the lake brings a standard to the reader that something is going wrong or might go wrong while the couple settles in the cottage by the lake. Vietnam, on the other hand, is describe as full of mud, mines and maze. This depicts clearly a view that this is a place of danger. backsides traumatic experiences in the Vietnam War, particularly the My Lai massacre, is a proof that he has deep inner conflicts and guilt that plagues his mind resulting not only to a crack in his psychological fitness but also deepens the gap in the midst of him and his wife.Situating the story back and forth the primary settings while inserting settings of the civilized and modern world in the form of th e university campus in Minnesota, Minneapolis-St Paul and Las Vegas symbolizes the contrast between realism and delusions. This created an impact on the reader that both Vietnam and the lake symbolizes horror and secrets, both of which can destroy a person and his relationship with other people. This in fact is what happened with John and Kathys marriage. It has been destroyed by the secrets of both. It may seem that the settings symbolized the main characters, Vietnam for John and the lake for Kathy. The mystery and secrets behind Vietnam and the lake both resulted to their