The Lingering Colonial Ideology

Tim O'Brien is widely acclaimed as one of the major representative writers of Vietnam War Literature. Among his prolific writings, Going After Cacciato and The Things,They Carried, are acknowledged as the most successful novels he has ever-produced. Critics at home and abroad have scrutinized the two novels from various aspects, yet it is rare to find any research on O'Brien's colonial ideologies shown in the novels. This thesis is an effort, from a new perspective of postcolonial theory, to unmask O'Brien's colonial ideologies cloaked in Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried.This thesis consists of five parts. After an introduction of Tim O'Brien's works, current research on the two novels, and postcolonial theories in chapter I, this thesis explores O'Brien humanitarian concern in chapter II. O'Brien is widely acknowledged for his depiction of the inner ordeals and psychological sufferings of the American soldiers. His condemnation of the war and compassion for the American soldiers add a humanitarian, dimension to his novels. However, through close reading, we can perceive that his humanitarian concern is flawed considering his Eurocentric obsession with the sufferings of the American soldiers and ignorance of the Southeast Asians' anguish.Chapter III conducts a thorough analysis of Tim O'Brien's disdainful representation of the Southeast Asians. In Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried, the Southeast Asians are all reduced to the "inscrutable" aliens who are subject to various kinds of debasement, or the "childlike" people in need of guidance from western civilization. Both types of characters belong to the recurring stereotypes of the "inferior others."Chapter IV elaborates on O'Brien's exalting construction of the images of the American soldiers. Most American soldiers in O'Brien's two novels are glorified as innocent and virtuous savors following God's will to save Southeast Asians from savageness and backwardness. O'Brien's construction of such a righteous "wartime self reveals his anxiety of relieving trauma. Chapter V is the conclusion focusing on the influence of Euro-centrism on O'Brien's novels. In Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried, O'Brien exhibits different attitudes toward Southeast Asians and Americans. The Southeast Asians are not only ignored in O'Brien's humanitarian condemnation of the atrocities caused by the war, but also marginalized as the "other." The American soldiers, in contrast, receive great sympathy from the author and are glorified as "heroes." Such a differentiation echoes the prevailing Eurocentric ideology in the west.