caracterización

don't need a translator for that one.

"While I was overcome by these feelings, I left the spot where I had committed the murder, and seeking a more secluded hiding-place, I entered a barn which had appeared to me to be empty." p. 103

This is the creation, immediately after killing William. I mean, he says "You shall be my first victim", but then shows remorse right after that. I'll be honest, I never thought I'd be characterizing the creation. my perception was that he would never be anything more than a flat character. NO! he's multi-dimensional. dynamic, even. he feels remorse (as many murderers do, Criminal Minds tells me), happiness, sadness, anger, frustration. HE'S A REAL BOY! =} what's even more interesting to me is that he feels guilt and also fear of being caught. (he could rip humans limb from limb, why is he afraid of police?) even MORE impressive to me is that he has the capacity to frame Justine for the crime. boggles. my. mind. really quite impressive.

the things that go bump in the night - TTTC

"Out beyond the wire, the paddies would seem to swirl and sway; the trees would take human form; clumps of grass would glide through the night like sappers."

(p. 199)

here, in the middle of the night, we see a number of things personified. the paddies swirl and sway. the trees take human form (can it get more obvious?). the grass would glide. of course, none of this is really meant to be poetic right here. it's more that it's nighttime, and everything is scarier at night. trees become beings. and everything moves on its own accord. this hypersensitivity is heightened, too, by the fact that O'Brien (with the help of Azar) is exacting his revenge on Jorgenson at this point. even while he's trying to scare Jorgenson, he's being scared himself by the sheer nature of things. how's that for irony? but all of this (which has been previously forshadowed [hah!]) is overcome by the hypersensitivity and personification of everything around.

frenemies? not in the war game - TTTC

"No safe ground: enemies everywhere. No front or rear. At night he had trouble sleeping - a skittish feeling - always on guard, hearing strange noises in the dark, imagining a grenade rolling into his foxhole or the tickle of a knife against his ear. The distinction between good guys and bad guys disappeared for him."

(p. 60)

I've found so far that nearly all of these could be applied easily to my life. I hope that I'm mostly normal in the sense that they could be applied to everyone's life if you look at it objectively. I mean, obviously none of us (the class of 2011) have fought in any wars, but I've got a feeling that almost everyone can relate to a messed up relationship. or a feeling that there's no one to turn to. that's what O'Brien's really focused on here. when you've lost a friend or you've got someone "out to get you", the whole world changes. not literally of course, the world doesn't revolve around you, but that little bit of paranoia can really warp things. especially in a situation where you're completely co-dependent, like in a war, if there's one person that you feel isn't completely with you, there's that fear and doubt that there could be others. the chapter "Enemies" really highlights the devastating mental effects paranoia can have in this sort of situation. the subsequent chapter, "Friends", shows just how foolish that paranoia is sometimes. such is war. such is life.