¶ … Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien presents the image of the typical mystery; however, as the story unfolds it quickly becomes apparent that it is a story of complex psychological underpinnings. Almost from the opening page it is easily apparent that Kathy Wade, the main character John's wife, will disappear and that her disappearance will remain unresolved. What makes the novel intriguing, however, are the psychological factors underlying the causes of Kathy's disappearance.
The novel's main character is a 40-year-old politician John Wade suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. John is a morally confused individual who has recently suffered a humiliating defeat in his run for the United States Senate. In an effort to escape from the rigors of public scrutiny in the wake of this defeat the Wades move themselves to an isolated cabin on a lake in the Minnesota woodlands. In a twist of fate, however, old and unresolved issues from John's past come to the surface during the time that the Wades spend at their Minnesota cabin. [1: ]
One of the unresolved issues causing conflict is John's long repressed involvement in a massacre in the Village of Thuan Yen in Vietnam. John had not been much of a soldier, barely competent, but had, for the most, aside from this once incident performed competently. Subsequent to the massacre, John had dealt with his guilt over the incident by denying it. "He was a decent person…what happened here was not a product of his own heart…he hated it and wished it would all go away." Aiding in the denial was the fact that John was able to delete information of the incident from his squadron records through his good fortune of being a records clerk after returning from Vietnam. His ability to deny and his fortuitous job placement allowed the Thuan Yen to "magically" disappear at least on the surface. [2: ]
In reality, the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (hereinafter PSTD) would not allow John to escape. His imagination would allow him to escape from time to time but his dreams would ultimately bring him back to reality. Plagued by the memories of what happened John cannot escape "a place with secret trapdoors and tunnels and underground chambers populated by various spooks and goblins, a place where magic was everyone's hobby…a place where the air itself was both reality and illusion, where anything might instantly become anything else."3 Interestingly, the author himself suffered from the same effects and so was able to write with a deep understanding.4
The dream aspect of John's PTSD is an essential element of the story. Often, through the course of the book, John is confused as to where dreams end and reality begins. This confusion sets the stage for the critical moment in the novel where Kathy ultimately comes up missing. On the night of Kathy's mysterious disappearance, John got out of bed in a murderous rage, poured a pot full of boiling water on each houseplant in the cabin, and the reader is left with the impression that he could have also poured the same hot liquid over Kathy's face and that in effort to hide this fact was forced to hide Kathy's body through drowning or some other means. What actually occurs is left to the imagination and creativity of the reader. What is important is that through John's dream the reader is reminded that John is capable of such behavior as indicated by his prior actions in Vietnam. In Wade's mind, however, it was a nightmare of "impossible events." "This could not have happened. Therefore it did not."5
Adding to John's emotional turmoil is the suicidal death of his father. These realities, like the memories of his Vietnam experience, cause John serious internal conflict. Although the victim of
At the same time, the style is expected to give the reader an idea of what is happening, and that too in a more refined version. In his language there are poetic references for the brutality and masculinity of war as feminine features. He has talked about the "star shaped hole" and this reminds most about the American flag as also the expectation of the country to kill and
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