Character Clues

Character Analysis

Direct Characterization

Richard Perry is no distant narrator. He's got opinions about everybody, and comes right out and describes people based on his opinions. Soon after he meets Carroll, he labels him: "Lieutenant Carroll was a decent kind of guy." (5.36)

And guess what? He's right. Carroll turns out to be the guy who asks everyone how they're doing. He even buys Perry a Christmas present for his little brother. Everyone in the platoon trusts him. "Decent" is kind of an understatement.

Perry's first impressions aren't wrong—maybe because it's his story. When we see, "Lieutenant Doyle was short, nervous," (8.6) it's a bad sign. And sure enough, in the end of Chapter 6, Doyle's nerves cause the Americans to shoot at soldiers on their own side.

In this story, readers don't have to do any second-guessing about the characters. Perry's descriptions are pretty to-the-point.

Actions

What happens when you mix a bit of Perry's opinion of someone into a scene? That rare jewel: humor in a war story. At least, sometimes. Take this golden moment:

"They must have got a convoy," Brunner said. He said it to Captain Stewart, and he had his sucking-up voice on. Behind him, the cook was spitting in Brunner's coffee and stirring it up. Lobel smiled when he saw it, and turned away. (5.55)

See? Perry's not the only one who thinks that Brunner's the worst. Not only does the cook think so, but Lobel just lets the cook tamper with his food. Delightful.

The soldiers in Perry's platoon mess with each other all the time, so what they tell each other doesn't always get at their true personalities. But their actions do.

Okay, you want a more serious example? Take the moment when Monaco hallucinates, thinking he sees Vietcong soldiers dragging someone into bushes when really there's no one there:

"Some guys from another squad came over to find out what the shooting was about, and Walowick told them a guy was working on his rifle and it went off.
When they saw that Monaco was okay, Lobel and Brunner walked him over to the mess tent to get him some coffee." (20.26-27)

The guys are at each other's throats sometimes, but when something serious happens, they band together and take care of their own. Even Brunner, if you don't mind spat-in coffee too much.

Thoughts and Opinions

Brunner thinks all draft dodgers are "f**gots and commies," (12.12) but Monaco points out that they're doing what they think is right. He even goes so far to admit they might be right. And Brew goes even farther, admitting that he thought of dodging the draft himself.

What does this say about these three characters? Not to keep ragging on Brunner, but, well, it's just so easy. The author points out, through Brunner's behavior, that he's the kind of guy who writes people off, while Monaco and Brew are more open-minded, and able to think about different sides of an issue.

Which character would you rather have a conversation with?