Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Man I Killed #4

Do you see any symbolic significance to the star-shaped bullet hole?
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8 comments:

  1. GwenNovember 10, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    The star is the sign of communism. There is a star in his eye because that soldier was only seeing communism in his country. America was attacking them in attempt to end their communism, and the Vietnamese were protecting themselves. The star-shaped bullet hole represented how some people were blinded from the harmful effects and deaths that communism caused.

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  2. raisinsklNovember 12, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    The significance to the star-shaped bullet hole indicates that his guilt and confusions of “the man” the narrator killed was born during the Vietnam War, in 1946; he was a not a Communist or a soldier that time; but he hoped American soldiers would go away rather than interrupting his country. It also symbolizes Americans had a profound effect on his life and Vietnam people.

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  3. chaperonesNovember 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM

    The gruesome description of the victim laying down on the ground with “his jaw in his throat, his upper lip and teeth gone” tells the tragedy and the pain humans inflict upon one another. The flowers and the butterfly suggest the beauty of life and that life is like a cycle. The star-shaped hole in the victims eye symbolizes how similar human’s life is to star’s life. Humans and stars follow the same phases of life, stars and humans are born, they grow up and at the end they die. Humans and stars also encounter accidents throughout their life that lead them to die early before their natural death. For O’Brien the” star-shaped bullet hole” on the victims eye may give hem some comfort that life goes on and that when a star dies a new star is born the same thing with human’s life.

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  4. J. KongNovember 13, 2009 at 1:12 PM

    perhaps the star symbolism indicates a person who has aspirations of becoming a scholar. The man killed wanted to become a mathematician, focusing not only on math, but also poetry and school, with utter disregard for the war. To be a patriotic Vietnamese soldier is admirable, but he wanted to become honorable through studies. The narrator killed someone who was going to become a star, and hence I believe that is the significance of the symbol.

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  5. Tsegu KahsayNovember 13, 2009 at 2:46 PM

    I don't see any symbolic significance neither as communism where the soldier was not communist but a simple soldier, nor as star itself. But I can see that the hall was made because of the grenade Tim threw and hit the Viet soldier and the hall was of a star like shape. There were so many other wounds of different shape in his body, so the hall on his other eye was on of the wounds caused by the grenade, nothing to relate with symbolism.

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  6. tee-teeNovember 16, 2009 at 7:26 PM

    I did not get the symbol of the star shape. I just thought that, that is was the narrator want us no. I took as when the bullet hit it made a star shape and how it look after the man had died. I didn't see a real significance in the star. Just that damn it took his out , one of many thongs that happen to him..

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  7. AnonymousNovember 16, 2009 at 9:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. AnonymousNovember 16, 2009 at 9:44 PM

    I also, was unable to find any significance regarding the “star-shaped hole” that now existed where the dead soldier’s eye should have been. I feel that the author only gave a very in-depth description of the wound that was in place of the eye.

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