"As we stared at each other, neither of us moving, I felt something go shut in my heart while something else swung open."(p. 179)
this reminds me of the whole "when one door shuts another door opens" quote that every person ever has said when something bad happens. but this seems like a doubly positive experience. O'Brien has returned to Vietnam to do... something. sure, technically it's to return Kiowa's moccasins to "his" burial place, but there's something else, it seems. he goes back to try to find closure, I think. I'm not sure he ever finds complete closure. I think after something like that it's nearly impossible to find complete closure, but he gets close. it seems that he's almost waiting for one of the Vietnamese farmers to wave him over to talk to him. he's waiting anxiously. and is probably relieved when nothing happens, but somehow, that solemn raising of the shovel allows O'Brien to find some sense of peace. the negativity that had kept a hold on his heart for so long had been broken. that part shut out, maybe. and then the new part swinging open is a new understanding of what happened to him emotionally, physically, spiritually, and in all other aspects. this trip was way more than returning shoes. it was about gaining new perspective.
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